HERE is a link to the presentation I gave on the Meet the Teacher's evening. Below is the letter I handed out.
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
This letter is to introduce myself as your child’s teacher and to outline the expectations I have about learning and behaviour in room 16 in 2015.
Learning and Behaviour
Children should all understand by now that the main reason for them being at school is to Learn and that the best way to become better Learners, is for them to become better self managers. I will be continually encouraging children to manage their own behaviour and learning, and to take increasing responsibility for their own lives. Please assist me by encouraging your child to take responsibility for themselves, in every area of their lives, as much as possible, considering the fact that they are still young children. Poor self management will lead to ineffective learning and can disrupt teaching.
Teacher Contact Details
Please note that we have a class blog up and running this year and that I will be using the blog for all communications with parents about news, events, homework and anything else that may be going on around the school. The Blog address is: http://room16stmarysrotorua2015.blogspot.co.nz/
You may contact me by email at any time. I check my mail at least twice daily Sunday to Friday. My address is davidb@stmarysrotorua.school.nz
I am also happy for you to contact me by cellphone, for urgent matters. Texting is usually best as I will often not be able to take a call and can always call you back. My number is 0277168881
If you have any other questions about room 16 in 2015, or if you have any issues or problems you wish to discuss, please contact me sooner rather than later. I have an open door policy, but please, be aware that some days can be very busy. The mornings are not a good time, unless it is brief, or in an emergency. After school, especially later in the week, is the best time for me to meet parents.
If you were unable to make it to the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening, but would still like to talk to me about something, please contact me to make a time for a meeting.
Homework
Homework is a delicate subject that arouses a variety of opinions among parents and I wish to make my philosophy clear from the beginning. The most important homework for young children is personal reading and this will be my main homework focus for the year and the only absolutely compulsory homework. It is often apparent, at the beginning of the year, that some children are not reading anywhere near enough on a day-to-day basis, outside of school. When possible children should be reading for a minimum of 20- 30 minutes a day, outside of school, (usually in the evenings) including holidays and attempting to read a range of materials at their level e.g. fiction books, non-fiction (fact) books, children’s magazines, and appropriate online materials aimed at children.
Putting in the reading mileage (reading a lot, often) helps learning in all areas. Many independent learners even at 7-9 years old are reading for several hours a day. Please note it is free for Rotorua residents to join the Rotorua Public Library and children’s books are free to take out. Children may also borrow books from St Mary’s School Library and my own personal class library.
Reluctant readers can be hard to motivate at home. One technique that I found worked well with my own son at 7-12 years old was to model reading behaviour by reading my own book or newspaper on the bed next to him as he read (and be ready to answer questions). Of course some of the younger members of the class will need direct assistance in reading their books to you. Some children, who need extra help will go onto the Home Reading Program and will receive books to take home on a Monday, to be returned on Friday. Children under the National Standard will also receive one-on-one tutoring in reading, to try and give them an extra boost in order to catch up. Books are not systematically sent home with all children at the Middle School Level.
There is a homework presentation posted on the class blog under the homework link, which is the same one being used across the whole middle school team. Please refer to here for term wide homework suggestions. Homework can be done in a homework book or on a computer. For spelling in 2015, we will be running our Smartwords program again, but essential word lists are available on request for those parents who like using these lists.
Some families are very busy and some children are very tired by late afternoon, so it is up to parents to judge how much a child is capable of doing each day and week. Again, please note that the 20-30 minutes reading a day is the only ‘must do’ homework on ‘most’ nights. If a child is too tired or angry, forcing them to read is not advised, it’s better to leave it until tomorrow. If a child persistently refuses to read please come and see me.
Middle School Teaching Program
The children will be learning a range of writing genres this term. The main focus initially will be in increasing the opportunities to write (quantity) and the quality of the writing (structure and content) . In RE we will be doing a range of topics as well as looking at Lent. In reading I will be looking at introducing the children to a wide range of comprehension strategies. The children are currently being grouped for maths and will receive teaching, at their stage, on place value, and addition and subtraction strategies. We are looking at the Geometry and Measurement Strand in math. Here’s hoping for a productive year of learning in Room 16 in 2015.
Yours Sincerely
David Bach
Classroom Teacher
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