HEllo and Welcome

Hello parents and new students,

I am happy to be your child’s 2nd grade teacher for this new school year. We will be learning so much this starting month. I want to be able to get to know everyone well so that we can get rid of the first day jitters and move forward as a class.

A little bit about me is that I love sports. I am a huge soccer junkie and plan on seeing my class as a team where our daily matches are to be win in learning our objectives.  I have much planned for us this year and will do my best to provide your child with the necessary skills to move forward academically to meet our states standards.

Parents am also counting on you to help push this knowledge at home. These new skills will help your student be able to apply them from the class to outside in your home. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Once again, I am happy to be a part of your students’ academic journey and look forward to getting to know them as individuals.

Classroom philosophy 

My philosophy on classroom management will be a mixture of being able to understand cultural responsiveness. There are many interpretations into why a student may behave the way they do and it is not fair to just punish out of first instinct. That is way learning to get to know each student as an individual will help in using any method from the ones I researched.  I became very interested in the S.T.A.R method and how it allows for the whole school to unite under this concept. I feel this method helps because, it starts to give students a view into real world approaches or situations they might experience as they move up in grade level and outside of school. Another method I feel confident in implementing is the Tribe method by Jeanne Gibbs. The concept of this method helps by forming unity within students and teachers (Tribe Classroom Management). The tribe approach has the benefit of establishing a positive school and classroom environment. Which is essential in having so students feel comfortable, safe to participate and be motivated. By taking into consideration and embracing the diversity and the special needs of each individual student in schools and classrooms. As a team with the district and community we can work together to apply age appropriate strategies to motivate learning.

Rewards and Consequences

I created a list of five basic rules that fit the class profile and grade level I selected. These rules are 1. Respect yourself, others, and classroom. Rule 2 be prepared and ready to participate. Rule 3 listen and let other have a turn in speaking. Rule 4 be safe by following directions and Rule 5 be kind. I chose to use these five classroom rules for my future classroom for second-grade level students. These five rules are simple yet provide an overall guide to what this classroom will be like. It will be a positive safe environment where respect for ourselves and others will be honored.  Second, even with the simplicity of these five rules students may come across a day where they are not being followed. Consequences and rewards are two system which can help in making sure the rules of the class are being followed. To help address consequences I have seen the effect color charts have on young students. For this grade level I feel it is a good fit to implement this this strategy. I like it because it is versatile in serving as both a consequence and a reward system. Consequences must “fit the crime, you (and parents) must see that consequences are reasonable, age appropriate, and in the best interest of the student” (Bianco, 2002, p. 123). This chart will be posted and made visible for all students to see. It will have the colors starting from the top as purple-outstanding day, blue-excellent, green-good, yellow-warning, and orange-bad. At the beginning of each day it will be a clean slate and students will be placed on green. Through good merits students will have the opportunity to go up in color if they reach the color purple in that day. The student will have a punch card where after eight they are able to collect a prize. If student is not being respectful or honoring the rules they might have to clip down in color.

Lets Stay in Touch

It is extremely important we staty in touch. I will be avaiable through the schools main phone number and I will be gicing out my school email to be reached via email. I will also let parents know of any apps to notify you of small new around the week or month. Please make sure to check your student take home folder as any current day to day information will be included. Please make sure to add in any notes you would like to add in the parent log section. I will look into any inquiry you may have.