Classroom Policies
and Procedures
Rules & Discipline
My philosophy of discipline follows the
model known as Cooperative Discipline. I took a Graduate level course on
Cooperative Discipline and learned the importance of self-esteem and the
outcome it has on children. I have a strong understanding of disciplining with
dignity. Recognizing that all children are different with respect to pace and
style in which they learn, a safe, secure, positive, and supportive learning
environment optimizes children's learning. Cooperative Discipline is a theory
of discipline that seems to work for children of today; it offers corrective,
supportive, and most important, preventive strategies. It is important to
identify the goals of the misbehavior, intervene at the moment, then build self-esteem and a positive future to ensure
continued success. Cooperative Discipline fosters teamwork between the teacher
and student and good decision making. The ultimate goal of Cooperative
Discipline is to inspire children to make smart choices and develop positive
behavior.
Your child will always be praised for the work he/she does. If I feel that your
child did not try his/her best, I will let him/her know and perhaps ask for it
to be redone.
Your child is rewarded and can lose privileges based on the class, his/her group, and him/herself. Working as a class or in-groups, the children can gain or lose "bears" on our class chart. Depending on their behavior, bears are added or taken away and students will be rewarded or lose a privileges.
Your child is also responsible for his/her own actions as an individual. We have discussed appropriate classroom behavior and created a "First Grade Code of Conduct". If the students comply with the code of conduct, they can expect: praise, positive notes sent home, certificates, stars, stickers, coupons, and extra privileges. There is a classroom chart with each child's name on a brown bear. All children will start the new day with only a brown bear in their pocket. Each "code" is represented by a different color. If a child breaks one of the codes of conduct, a bear representing that color will be displayed. This will help the children to recognize and understand the inappropriate behavior. The first bear is a warning bear and will serve as a reminder for the child. It gives the child another chance. However, if a second code is broken, the child would need reflection time. At this point your child will lose some special privileges; commonly, a loss of 5 minutes playtime, center time, free time or games. Should your child's behavior result in an additional broken code, all special privileges will stop. Serious misbehavior will result in principal intervention. If you have any questions regarding these matters, please feel free to contact me.
The First Grade Central
Code of Conduct
Our Team Pledge
I will be responsible.
I will respect myself and others.
I will choose to learn.
I will allow my teacher to teach.
I will do my personal best.
Student Goal:
To make smart choices that show good behavior.
If a student breaks a code, he/she must take the bear card of the broken code
and place it with their brown bear. This will help students to remember to try
harder in class.
Team
Penalties
One penalty: Reminder
Two penalties: Reflection
Three penalties: Referee Involvement
Cooperative Learning
None of us is as smart as all of us!
Key to Cooperation: We instead of Me.
What is Cooperative Learning?
It involves student's in small-group learning activities that promote positive interaction resulting in improved learning. Students are accountable for working cooperatively to accomplish a group task. Cooperative Learning offers every student the chance of success. Each child is given a job card. Some jobs include: Coach, Cheerleader, Materials Monitor, Quiet Keeper, Secretary, Checker, Encourager, and Praiser. Our changing world requires that people interact and work together harmoniously. Our future depends on our ability to cooperate locally, nationally, and globally. (Adapted from Cooperative Learning: What You Need to Know, NEA, 1991) Each student in the class has an individual, small group, and class responsibility.
Our Cooperative Learning Pledge
We, the Students of First Grade Central, want our classroom to be a friendly, happy place. Therefore, we agree to do these things:
Take turns talking quietly.
Listen to each other's ideas.
Praise each other's ideas.
Help each other when asked.
Stay together until everyone is done.
Talk about how we worked well together and how we can improve.
Snacks & Lunch
We have a daily snack time mid-morning. I encourage and prefer that the children eat healthy snacks in the morning, saving the "goodies" for lunch time. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule on birthdays and special celebrations.
Recess is scheduled first, and then the children eat. The children are with their friends in third and fifth grade. Games are always welcome on a rainy or cold, winter day.
Children must bring lunch every day, unless other arrangements are scheduled. Special Lunches are offered through the P.T.A. on numerous days. Notices will be sent home regarding information.
The P.T.A. provides ice cream for 50 cents. Notices will be sent home regarding information.
Birthdays
When it is your child's birthday, you may bring in a small treat for the children to share at snack time. Drinks are not necessary since most of the children bring drinks for their regular snack. However, if you would like to send in drinks, small juice boxes are preferred.
Birthday Books
Please consider having your child donate a book to our classroom library. You may write your child's name and birthday on the inside cover.
Remember, these are only ideas. Contact me if you have questions or suggestions.
Field Trips
Currently, we are
only allowed to schedule one field trip. Our field trip in years past has been
to The Marine Sciences Consortium in
Permission slips and further details will be sent home as we near June. Class moms will accompany us on the field trip as chaperones.
Scholastic Book Orders
Throughout the year, I will be sending home a Scholastic Book Order. The Scholastic Book Company offers a variety of their publications at reduced prices for classroom orders. If you would like to place an order, be sure to complete the order form and send a check for the exact amount made out to "Scholastic Book Club". (Sorry-no cash will be accepted!) The books should arrive at school 2-3 weeks and will be given to the children to bring home promptly.
Homework
Homework is a fact of life, along with soccer practice, dance lessons, and all the other demands on a student's time. Start homework routines when children are young, so healthy study habits are implanted by the time homework becomes more complex and time consuming.
- Establish a homework routine, preferably the same time and place every day, with some flexibility.
- Treat homework as an important activity, something that needs to be scheduled and not just squeezed in between activities.
- Establish appropriate study settings, distraction free.
- Be aware of your child's best time to do challenging work- usually when they have the most energy.
- Parents can set a good example by doing their homework at the same time: paying bills, reading the newspaper.
- Draw the line between helping your child do his/her homework and doing it for him/her. That can be difficult to determine but it's crucial that parents do so. Help your child when he/she becomes frustrated, but do not do the work.(Adapted from the Star Ledger-Heading off homework hassles by Dave Curtin, October, 1996)
Please check your child's folder daily for notices, letters, schoolwork and assigned homework. Homework will be assigned three to four times per week. The assignments given should take no longer than 15-20 minutes for your child to complete. If your child should experience difficultly completing an assignment, please inform me, via a note or call. Any tests that come home should be signed and returned. In this way, I know you have seen it. Some assignments will require your child to read aloud one of their stories or journal entries. Please sign the notebook for the same reason.
Please do not hesitate to call me any time about any questions you may have regarding the homework.
I would hope and expect that each student will be spending time every night reading to and being read aloud to by parents or older siblings. Research has demonstrated that there is no other factor which is helpful to emergent readers than constant exposure to quality literature, at home as well as at school. Please take time to read to your child.
Homework calendars will be sent home at the beginning of each month. These calendars are not required homework. They are for enrichment and extra practice in skills.
A homework notice will be sent home in the event that homework is not completed by the due date. The missing assignment will need to be returned to school by the following day. Absences from school will be taken into consideration and ample time to complete assignments will be given at my discretion. Plausible excuses will take exception, again, upon my discretion. Please send me a note if your child was unable to complete an assignment. Too many missing assignments will result in a lower grade but can be redeemed by completing extra credit assignments.
Visit our Parent Resource page for more information about Homework.
Classwork and Centers
After our morning "hustle and bustle" of daily routines and instructional time, the children begin their independent classwork. This is a time for quick review of skills already learned and is able to be completed independently and relatively quick. It also allows individual time with me for children who might need one-on-one time spent on an earlier math or language arts lesson from that day. This is also a good time for individual portfolio assessment and writing workshop times. When the children complete their classwork, they may choose a center to go to. Children that were working with me during that time are exempt from the classwork. It will be sent home. In most cases, I do not require it to be completed as homework, although, I do recommend it. Any unfinished classwork will be sent home as an incomplete and will need to be returned the following day, unless other arrangements have been made with me. In some cases, I will stop classwork early and allow the unfinished children to go to a center. The work may be put away until the afternoon, the next morning, or sent home to do as homework. Some days, center time may be carried into the afternoon, after B.E.A.R. time. Again...flexibility is KEY in first grade.
Clubs and Coupons
In our class there are five clubs that the children have the opportunity to become members of: (The clubs usually begin around half-way through the year, depending on the students. Children are able to earn free-work passes prior to the clubs, based on performance.)
- Handwriting Club
- Math Club
- Spelling Club
- "Green Bear" Club
- "Beary Nice" Club
Each club has different criteria for joining.
- The Handwriting Club requires six good handwriting stamps. A child will receive a good handwriting stamp and a handwriting coupon if the handwriting shows good size, shape, slant, spacing, and smoothness. After the child has obtained six coupons, he/she can trade in to receive a "free handwriting pass" (to be used on the next handwriting assignment of his/her choice) and automatically becomes a member of that club.
- The Math Club works in the same way, requiring six correct math papers. Students may also earn 2 coupons for a perfect math test, and 1 coupon, for 1-2 wrong. He/she can trade in to receive a "free math pass" (to be used on the next math assignment of his/her choice, excluding new material and pages from our math book.)
- The Spelling Club only works for Spelling Tests and the child must receive a perfect test to earn a coupon. After six coupons are earned, the child has the option of not taking the next Spelling Test or saving it until a later time.
- The "Green Bear"Club is based on good behavior. Using the "Bear Chart", children who have maintained a "Green Bear" throughout the week will receive a coupon. Four weeks of good behavior equals membership to the "Green Bear" Club.
- The "Beary Nice" Club is used in a couple of ways. It can be used for almost anything, but standards are high. It can be for doing a great job reading aloud, helping a friend, writing a beautiful story, trying your hardest. As individual as the children, this coupon is different for every child.
Coupons do not expire but each marking period requires the new chance to enter clubs. Children who enter at least two clubs display "brown bears" behind their "green bear" on the behavior chart. Children who enter at least four clubs trade in the "brown bear" for a "white bear".
I believe the simple incentive of earning "coupons" to earn "free work passes" keeps the children interested and involved to do their best at all times. I am not looking for perfection, only the child's best work. He/she knows when they have worked hard, as do I.
Show & Tell
I believe "Show & Tell" is an important aspect of first grade, however, time does not permit daily show and tell. Fridays are usually our theme days and special events. Notes will be sent home and will encourage show and tell related to the theme.
Every day after calendar time, we have a sharing time. During this time, I will not deprive a child that wants to share personal stories or items, as long as they run it past me first. I do not encourage toys for show and tell unless it relates to a specific theme.
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