Class Information- 2008-2009

Attendance:
Your child’s daily attendance and punctuality is required and expected. Frequent late arrivals and early checkouts are disruptive for everyone. Much of the work in first grade is done orally and cannot be made up. We are not a worksheet driven classroom. If your child gets sick, please send someone to pick up his/her work at the end of the day. Please try to schedule appointments after school and take vacations during school holidays. If you choose to take your child out during the year, any work missed will be kept in a folder for him/her upon returning to school. Special projects/events will not be made up or duplicated. Please help instill good attendance habits in our students from the start!

Supplies:
2008-2009
In an effort to save you time and money, we are asking that you not send school supplies with your child this year. Instead, we are requesting a $25 donation and your child's supplies will be purchased for him/her. This will help us by eliminating waste, saving money as we buy in bulk, and saving classroom space as we purchase supplies throughout the year as needed. If donating money is not something you are able to do at this time, but you would still like to donate supplies, please email me and I will happily share my wish list.

Read every night!
In addition to the homework packet, please read to your child every night for 20 minutes. Children who are read to at home have larger vocabularies, understand story structure, and know that reading is valued. In the beginning of the year, you will be doing most of the reading to your first grader. As the year goes on, your child will start to take over the reading. By the end of the year he/she should be reading to you for at least half of the reading time. This should never be silent reading time, even for the most fluent readers. Please sit with and listen to your child read.

Homework:
Homework is a link between school and home. It is an opportunity for you to see what we are learning and to observe how well your child is grasping new concepts and skills. First graders at Channing Hall are expected to spend 20 minutes per night on homework and an additional 20 minutes per night reading with an adult.
We will begin the year with light homework. Homework, like classwork, will increase in difficulty over the course of the first few months as we add spelling and more math. Please use this time to get into the habit of reading to your child each night for 20 minutes and helping him/her get plenty of sleep. The children will be exhausted the first few weeks (sometimes months) of school!
This year I will introduce Bee Books (Bring Everything Everyday). This will serve as your child's homework folder and a record of communication between school and home. As the name implies, your child will need to bring his/her folder to school everyday.

Enrichment Projects:
Your child will have one enrichment project for each of our six units. These will count as 25% of your child’s homework grade and a significant part of his participation grade each quarter. This is a project that is to be done with, not by, a family member. Enrichment projects will usually have a technology component, providing your child one-on-one help with the computer. This will also provide the opportunity to explore, in depth, an aspect of our unit of inquiry that is of particular interest to your child. Each child will share the project in class, providing oral speaking opportunities, which are an essential part of the IB curriculum.

Data Notebooks:
Each student in my class keeps a data notebook. This is where your student records his own goals, grades, behavior, tardies, and attitude. These notebooks stay in the classroom, but feel free to drop by after school to have a look! This is a great way to motivate students to do their personal best, without being compared to the whole class, or feeling despair after receiving low scores. Students will graph their scores on spelling and math tests, as well as writing assignments. They will be able to see their progress and make short and long term goals. Data notebooks are also useful tools during parent conferences.

Water Bottles:
Please send a water bottle to school with your child. Your child must be able to screw the lid off and on independently. It must have a pop top to sip from to prevent spills.
Remember, ONLY water is allowed in the bottles. No mix-ins.

Lunch in our Classroom:
To help ease the crowding in the lunchroom, first grade will be eating in our classrooms. Remember that there will only be one adult to supervise 25 children during lunch. Your child needs to be able to eat lunch independently, without needing help to open packages. Please consider this when packing a lunch and practice with your child if necessary.
There is absolutely no soda or candy allowed at school.

Parent Volunteers:
I am anxious to get you in the classroom working with our children! We will have sign-ups at Back to School Night. I only have two requests when it comes to parent volunteers:
1. Please do not bring other children. This should be a special time focusing on your first grader.
2. If you commit, please come! If you tend to be frequently late or unable to volunteer at your regular time, I will not continue to count on your help. I will gladly put you to work when you do come, but it will most likely be in a different capacity.

During certain times of the day I will need parents to teach a small group of children. Please let me know if this is something you are uncomfortable with.


Bathroom Policy:
I believe children should be treated with respect. Children will be encouraged to use the restroom during breaks, but will be excused during class if needed. However, if a child cannot handle this responsibly (playing in the bathroom or hallway, etc.), it will be changed on an individual basis and you will be notified.

Toys at School:
Students will be well aware of my strict policy regarding toys (with the exception of special items for sharing). The first time a toy is brought to school, it will be returned to a parent. The next time, it will be your responsibility to retrieve it from me.

Any candy at school will immediately go in the trash. Please help us maintain a safe, on-task learning environment.

A Note about Birthdays…
Birthday treats continue to be a problem in first grade due to several issues. First graders who have allergies or special dietary restrictions are extremely hurt and feel very left out when, time and time again, they are not able to participate in the celebration. Because of this, we have created a new first grade policy. There will be no food, period, allowed for birthdays. This means no cupcakes, carrots, or candy in a treat bag.
Classroom birthday activities include singing and making birthday cards. Summer birthdays will be celebrated on half birthdays.
If you would like to do something special, please consider donating a copy of your child’s favorite book to our classroom library. Please let me know ahead of time if you would like to read the book to our class on your child’s special day. If you would still like to send something for the students, please consider stickers or even new glue sticks or pencil grips. They get excited over anything! They are just happy to share in a friend's birthday.

Discipline:
I am excited to revisit class meetings this year. I have used these in the past and found them to be a powerful tool in motivating student behavior. At the end of each day, we will meet as a class to reflect. We will give appreciations, tend to any school business, and address any issues that the students feel are important. Our intentions at Channing Hall are to make sure that students feel involved in the process of defining rules, consequences, and solutions. Even in first grade, students are very capable of learning to develop their own solutions- sometimes more capable than the adults trying to help!

We have an area of our classroom called the Friendship Fix-It corner. This is where students may take a friend to discuss a problem and find a solution. There is a chart available to help them through each step. This was highly successful last year and I look forward to using it again. It is something you can mention to your child if he/she is having problems with someone in the class.

We will be implementing a new behavior system at Channing Hall this year. It will include a three-step model.
Step One- Students will be given a verbal warning and if the behavior persists, he/she will sign my behavior book.
Step Two- Continued disruptive behavior will result in Think Time. The student will spend a time-out in a neighboring classroom and reflect on his/her behavior in a written form and with the teacher. Parents will be notified.
Step Three- The student will meet with the administration. Parents will be notified and called in for a conference if necessary.

Communication:
The best way for you to get a message to me is in a note sent to school with your child. This way I can find a convenient time to answer you. If it is urgent, please leave a message with the office, or call after school. Before school is a very busy time, as I am preparing for your little ones.
Even though my children attend Channing Hall and my home phone number is available for play dates, I would appreciate it if you would use the school phone number to contact me when discussing school related issues. I am charting new waters this year and want to do my best to keep healthy boundaries!