1. Hand in completed "Dismissal Information" sheet (on the webpage)

2.  Hand in completed "Photographic Permission Slip"  (on the webpage)

• Introduce student worker, Bekah Cantwell

• Shae Johnson--My background: 8th year eMINTS teacher; Associate Professor; beginning my 36th year of teaching; 25th year at Greenwood (4 yrs. as 6^th grade teacher; 21 in the 4^th grade). Started my career as high school behavior disorders teacher; taught remedial reading, junior high reading, 1^st grade in Illinois public schools

BS in Special Education/Elementary. Ed. Illinois State University, Normal, IL.

MS in Language Arts Northern Illinois State University, DeKalb, IL.

Certified in special ed. for LD, BD, EMH, Orthopedically handicapped, K-14 and elementary ed., 1-8 grades

Certified eMINTS teacher and have earned my eMINTS Education Technology Specialist certification  (ETS);  eMINTS began in Missouri - its name an acronym for the project enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies. Today eMINTS can be found in classrooms across the United States and in Australia.
 
Family:  husband, Dick, custodian supervisor at Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts since its opening; daughters Kory, 34, graphic design artist, St. Louis; Sara, 32, homemaker, Paola, KS; dog, Bubba James, 7 years old

• Read The Greenwood Student Handbook. This publication is updated each year.

• See office for parent parking permit if you don’t already have one.

*• Birthday Celebrations: You are encouraged to buy a book to donate to the library in honor of your child’s birthday. Please, no refreshments. In class, we sign a card and sing to celebrate the birthday person.  If you must bring treats, they may be shared in the cafeteria at lunch time.  Cupcakes really are messy and really are discouraged.

*• Nutrition: In class we study good nutrition habits. Carbonated beverages and over amounts of sweets (chips and white bread have sugar, too) are highly discouraged at lunch. It is important to include a source of protein and limit the amount of starchy carbs and saturated fats. Children are encouraged to drink water—8-8oz. glasses per day. They may have personal insulated water sipper bottles to keep at their desks in order to reach that goal.

*• Recess snacks: Students may bring nutritious snack, but they must be responsible for trash, disposing of it appropriately. Again, avoid high sugar content, such as fruit roll-ups. Fresh fruit (pears, apples, cherries, a peach), dried apricots, nuts, or part-skim string cheese work well, giving your child a boost of energy for the rest of the morning. Candy and other sweets are not an option. For the good of your child’s health, please adhere to these guidelines.

• Zip cards (debit cards) –If you need replacement of your zip card, our elementary counselor, Mrs. Jane Perryman will take students to the Student Union get their cards on Monday. Money for zip card use is to be deposited in the Missouri State Bursars' office, Carrington Hall. We keep those cards at school and hand out for lunch and library book check-out. Please replenish your child's account as needed.  go to:  http://www.missouristate.edu/zip/ to deposit money as needed.  I have this site listed on the For Parents link on the website.

• Classroom Standards, expectations, and norms of behavior for a great learning environment, will be discussed and developed by the students during the first days of school.

●Test Dates:  Advanced notice of scheduled tests will be given in student and/or parent communications, such as in planners and on weekly newsletters published on the web.  Quizzes may be unannounced.

● Progress Reports: Progress reports are given out 3 times per year. Points will be given for all assignments.  For progress report and major tests, those scores will be converted to percentages.  Progress reports will list percentage scores for Mathematics, Science, Word Study, and Social Studies as follows:
     100% - 90%            Excellent
       89% - 80%            Above Average
       79% - 70%            Average
       69% - 60%            Below Average
       59% and below     Failing

Other areas of study will be evaluated as follows:
     E – Exceeding Expectations
     M – Meeting Expectations (performing at the level they should be at this time of the year)
     D – Developing concepts (making progress)
     C – Area of Concern (needs to do better or make improvements)

● Evaluations on Progress Reports may be based on the following guidelines, but weights may change depending on the learning activity:
     Classroom work                                             10-15%
     Classroom participation                                10-15%
     Homework                                                       10-15%
     Projects                                                            25-35%
     Tests/Quizzes/Performance Assessments  25-35%

*● Periodic progress reports will be sent home with the student with a sign-sheet for you to return; mid-term progress reports will be sent home for all students who have a 76% or lower so you have a heads-up.
 

::  Multi-faceted Assessment Program includes  ::

*• Sign and return policy: Many times papers are sent home for signatures, especially tests. Tests are sent home as soon as they are graded and reviewed in class. During that review time, children have the opportunity to ask questions or defend their answers—before the tests go home. In this way, your child has the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and learn to be assertive in defending answers. If they can convince me they know what they are talking about, I will make changes to their grade accordingly. 
     After you see the tests, they are to be signed, then returned the day after in order for your child to gain 3 credit points. Signing tests is an effort to keep you informed of your child’s progress. If the test comes back late, no points are awarded.  This is one of your child’s easiest homework assignments. All tests must be returned, please! (The only exception to this rule is spelling tests; they don't need a signature.)  If you want to keep the test for a couple of days in order to review, send a note explaining this.  After you are done with the test, please return it to school.

• Weekly Newsletters: Every week I write a newsletter with the parents in mind.  They are normally ready and posted on the website by Sunday night, but always by Monday morning. 
     In the letters, I inform you of announcements, deadlines, areas of concern, hints to help your child, and a summary of what will be covered in each of the subjects for that week.  I expect you to take advantage of this information in order to keep informed. 
     Unless I know you have a computer problem at home, no hard copies will be sent home on Mondays.  I also provide links to various topics within the newsletter.  If you need to learn more about how to use the website and/or email, please, do not hesitate to ask for a lesson or two from me.  I would be more than happy to help out. (If ever you find an error of any sort on the newsletter, please inform me ASAP so I may correct it.  We all strive for perfection, but many times we have to depend on our friends to help us out! I try to learn from my mistakes, just like I expect the children to do!)

*• Home Connection Envelopes: These are sent home every Monday. Please sign and return empty envelope on Tuesday. These envelopes will include some graded papers, announcements, etc. This is another effort to keep you informed.  Note: Some graded papers are handed directly back to the children during the week.

• Holding files: Files will be kept at school for conferences, in order to demonstrate strengths and areas needing improvement.

*• Personal Goal setting: Students are expected to develop their own learning goals. This effort will remain an important focus in the assessment process; short and long-term goals will be developed at school and home. Goals help foster students taking responsibility for their own learning—academic and social.

Goal sheets will be written up by your child and kept in your child’s binder. They can be renewed and changed at any time, although we will formally review and renew at conference times. Students at this age need to develop their goals with input from both teachers and parents. Your help would be most appreciated.

Mark your calendars:

Parent-Teacher Conferences: November 13 and 14
Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences: February 26 and 27

End of the Year: Progress reports are mailed home within two weeks of school ending.  We end on May 15, 2009.

**Special area reports and conferences: Progress reports will be sent home one week prior to first conference; area teachers will have a sign up sheet outside the Elementary Counselor’s office for their conferences which will be held on the same days as above. These include the following:  Choral music- Dr. Cathie Weir; Instrumental music- Mr. Richard Ruhe; Art- Ms. Susan Baldwin; Computer keyboarding- Mr. Jason Barlowe; Library skills- Mrs. Dea Borneman; Wellness and PE - Mr. Kent Hedgpeth, and Elementary Counselor, Mrs. Jane Perryman.

Parents sign up for conferences approximately 10 days prior to conference dates. Sign up sheets will be posted outside the elementary classroom or office doors. At Greenwood we expect all parents to come to conferences, and we do not make up conference dates if you choose to leave for vacation instead of coming to conferences on the scheduled days.

Standardized testing: in the fall, Terra Nova Achievement Tests are given and results are used diagnostically; 4th grade state assessments (MAP) given in April for math and communication arts.

Performance Assessment Events: various forms of assessment according to what is learned within the classroom.

Expectations for Success...Our goals include, but are not limited to:

1. An emphasis on teaching, learning, how to solve problems, how to find answers and information, all utilizing critical thinking skills.  I am teaching your child how "to learn how to learn" and preparing them for jobs that don't even exist yet.

2. Developing better written communication skills, using the writing process.

3. Developing ways to improve the areas of Respect and Responsibility--focusing on important character virtues of honesty/integrity, fairness, wisdom, respect, responsibility, citizenship, and caring/compassion. (See Core Ethical Virtues sheet at the end of this handbook.)

4. Using neat, cursive and manuscript handwriting and doing one's very best at all times.

5. Learning from one's mistakes and taking responsibility for the consequences of their own choices. (Love and Logic--Love allows children to grow through their mistakes.  Logic allows children to live with the consequences of their choices.) Go to:  www.loveandlogic.com
Go to this site to sign up for weekly e-mail tips from Love and Logic.  I encourage you to purchase any of their materials.  The techniques really do work!

Characteristics of a 4^th Grader

•This is a transition grade
• We are expecting a more independent worker
• Students should be taking more responsibility for their own learning
• Students will learn study skills, including:
            taking notes
            budgeting time
            planning for and meeting deadlines
            keeping track of assignments (These will be on the board each morning—some       homework most every night except Fridays—with some exceptions).

 1. Students are to copy down all assignments and check them off as they are completed.
 2. Completed assignments are then to be placed in the homework folder. 
 3. When all work is completed, homework folder should be placed in the backpack, ready to pick up in the morning to bring to school.  Parents are encouraged to check and sign assignment books daily until we see habits forming. Remember, it takes at least 17 consecutive times to establish a new habit!

At home, have a designated study area/drop spot: Try to have a set, or routine, study time. Beginning homework at 8:00 at night is not good for anyone. Watch to make sure your child is not "over scheduled" in outside activities. Kids need "down time" just to read, relax, or dream. Have a routine for packing books the night before. That way, in the morning when everyone is in a hurry, things needed for class are not forgotten.
            Students learn how to better read and write non-fiction, informational textbooks
                and other materials
            Students learn to evaluate what they are reading and what they are hearing

::  Warnings to parents about 4^th graders  ::

Some become whiny—they are trying to manipulate you into doing their work for them or to solve their problems for them--encourage independence, use love and logic, and teach them strategies for solving their own problems!

Sometimes a pecking order emerges—As parents, don’t get too involved with personal and social problems. Instead of taking over, teach your child strategies to learn how to solve their own problems. Check the parent pages on the website for tips. Encourage your child to talk to me if they have concerns about studies or social matters. I also can give them tips for coping. Let me know if problems emerge at home, or if there are social concerns. Sometimes, just knowing those "little things" can help me deal better with a child in class. Keep students off the phone unless they are checking on an assignment!

Parents, please allow your child to make mistakes—but make sure to encourage learning from them. Many times allowing students to "fall on their faces" or "suffer the consequences" for their actions helps to them develop self-esteem.
   When they do well, they will appreciate earning good grades and take pride in their accomplishments. Cushioning every step or fall will only disable them and make them become more dependent on you. In this way you convey the idea that you don't believe your child can do well on their own.  
   Keep in mind, the fourth grade is teaching them how to take tests, how to learn better study skills, how to be more independent. We need to support the independence (and the mistakes getting there). Success will not be met at all times for all kids.

Daily Reading: Students are expected to spend 20 - 30 minutes of reading a book or magazine article each night, including weekends. This may be a book that you share together, or reading material just for enjoyment. We want to develop a daily habit and love for reading. These 30 minutes are not considered part of homework time; it is above and beyond, but essential.

Did you know... What you call "homework", I call "independent practice"?
     Did you know what the research on homework, or independent practice, tells us? It says...
     Parent involvement in homework should be kept to a minimum.*  "It is probably sage to say that many parents assume that they should help their children with homework."  While it is good for parents to know what the homework is, "it does not seem advisable to have parents help their children with homework. Specifically, many studies show minimal and even somewhat negative effects when parents are asked to help students with homework (see Balli, 1998; Balli, Demo, & Wedman, 1998; Perkins & Milgram, 1996).  This does not mean that parents should not help "facilitate" homework...Parents should be careful, however, not to solve content problems for students."

That being said, the following are my recommendations when it comes to homework.  (They are also stated in the book I am citing below.)

1.  If your child is taking more than 40-60 minutes per night to complete homework, let me know.  Something is not right.

2.  Help set up a consistent organized place for homework to be done.

3.  Help your child establish either a consistent schedule for completing homework or help him/her create a schedule each Sunday night that reflects that particular week's activities.

4. Encourage, motivate, and prompt your child, but do not sit with her and do the homework with her/him.  The purpose of homework is for your child to practice and use what she/he has learned.  If your child is consistently not able to do the homework by her/himself, please contact me.

5.  If your child is practicing a skill, ask him/her to tell you which steps are easy for him/her, which are difficult, or how he/she is going to improve.  If your child is doing a project, ask him/her what knowledge he/she is applying in the project.  If your child is consistently unable to talk about the knowledge he/she is practicing or using, please tell me.

6.  Although there might be exceptions, the minutes your child should spend on homework should equal approximately 10 times their grade level (a 2nd grader would spend 20 minutes, a 3rd grader, 30, and so forth). This is an average only.

7.  When bedtime come, please stop your child, even if she/he is not done with their homework.

*Information from Marzano, Pickering, Pollock, Classroom Instruction that Works, Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, ASCD publication. Adapted for individual classroom by Shae Johnson

Homework:  Independent practice of subjects/topics learned will take anywhere from 30-60 minutes per night.  I try to avoid homework over most weekends and holidays. 

Note:  Until students learn how to use class time efficiently, some students may spend more time than I intend them to spend.

 It is helpful if during long-term absences due to illness that you come to pick up homework and bring in finished homework periodically.  If you let me know by 8:15 that your child will be absent, I will have assignments ready on their desk when you can come by to pick them up.  We can send them home with a sibling or neighbor, too!  Just let me know who they are. Or, we can bag up and drop at the main office for you to pick up.  Completed work can be brought to the classroom or left in my mailbox in the office.

Regarding Assignments: All assignments are to be turned in on the due date.  All assignments need to be labeled with name#, date, and subject, plus page number, if appropriate.  Ten percent will be deducted for each day an assignment is late.  Assignments not handed in after 2 days will result in a zero percent.  All points will be totaled and averaged for progress reports.

Make up work:  Students are expected to make up work for excused absences.  Students get one day for each day absent to make up their assignments.  If the assignment is not made up promptly, the same procedure as explained above will be followed.

Regarding Cell Phone and other Electronic Devices Policy:  Use of a cell phone or other electronic devices such as Game Boys, iPods, MG3 players are not permitted during the school day while on school premises unless we need them for a special, prearranged project. 
   If a student chooses to use his/her cell phone at any time while on school property without teacher permission, the student will be asked to turn it off and place it in their backpack.  If the student is asked again, the cell phone will be taken and will be returned only to the parent.

*Mark Twain Nominee Books (12) Students must read at least 4 to qualify to vote in March for their favorite author. I encourage students to read as many as possible. These are listed on the webpage Reading Links along with sites students can visit in order to learn more about the book or the author. I had these on the website this summer. I have about 1,000 books in the classroom for reading, too. Children are welcomed to take any of my books home to read. We work on the honor system. They simply take them, read them at school and or home, and bring them back when done.

Book Reports: Students need to read a total of 18 books. Fourth graders are required to read at least 12 fiction books (most of the Mark Twain Nominees fit into this category, but the 12 fiction books do not have to be from that list) and 6 non-fiction books by May 1.  Mark Twain Nominee books read can be reported orally to the librarian.  Mrs. Borneman or Mrs. O'Connor will ask specific questions about the book.  Oral reports then require a coupon from her.  I will then give credit on the book report list for that book.
     Other books need to be summarized, and book reports have to be written.  If summaries are not written well, credit for reading the book is not given until the book report is rewritten. The basic book report form is located on the Reading Links page, but other sorts of reports when we are studying certain genres of books may be used as the teacher assigns them. There are all sorts of book report forms available on the Reading Links.
      I keep a running record on the web of the book report summaries for each child.  You can always check that list on the Reading Links of our webpage. 

*Labeling papers:
(Labels should be located in the upper right-hand corner above the top  line, (in the white space) on all papers, especially if work is written on notebook paper.)

Example:

                   

Step A  Name. class number (All students are assigned a class number for the year).
Step B  date of assigned work
Step C  subject,  page #, and problems or exercise name
               (examples: Math, p. 24, 1-7, or Science, magnets, lab conclusions