Mrs. Kentop's Class Newsletter
September 3 2015
School is IN!
Well we have all survived our first few days of school and everyone did GREAT! I cannot wait to get to know this amazing group of kiddos even better!
Madison!
Our 4th grade class field trip to Madison is set for Friday, October 9th. We will be taking coach busses down there and the students will need to be to school by 5:45 am and picked up later in the day after the busses leave (approximately 5 pm). If you are interested in chaperoning and riding the bus you need to be on the approved chaperone list. If you are not sure if you are on this, or are new and need to do the paperwork to be approved please click here to follow the steps on how to fill out the paperwork. The district needs about 6 weeks to process this so please do this ASAP!
Classroom Rules and Expectations
I have gone through Tribes, Advanced Tribes and Conscious Discipline training. All of these ideas embrace our K-4 Discipline plan. Basically the two plans consist of creating a sense of community and “family” in the classroom so everyone feels cared for and safe. It also deals with teaching the students to problem solve and think for themselves. It teaches them to know how to solve certain situations that they are presented with on their own, or with a friend, instead of always relying on an adult. It also focuses on the importance that all students learn differently and allowing many different ways options for students to learn. Most importantly, it talks about the importance of reflection. When students take ownership in what they learn and talk about it, they retain %50 more of the information!
I REALLY enjoyed these training programs and can’t wait to continue them in my classroom! I found much success with them in past years and I am excited to continue them this year. Through going through the training myself, I came away feeling really loved and cared about by my “teachers” and this is what I want for my students to feel by me also!
Here are the 4 tribe rules that we will follow in class:
- Attentive Listening
- This means that all of the students will listen to me, and I will show them the same respect when listening to them.
- Appreciations-No Put-Downs
- We are going to try to more often tell people what we appreciate about them. We do not make fun of others because it makes us feel bad and this doesn’t show how much we appreciate them.
- The Right To Pass
- We all become better students by participating in the classroom activities but sometimes students just don’t feel comfortable sharing certain things. With this Tribes classroom, you then have the right to pass and not use your voice to participate, but you still must be participating with your ears, eyes and heart.
- Mutual Respect
PBIS
PBIS
PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Intervention Support. This model is being put into place in our school this year and I am very excited about it! Through the use of Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS), Forest Glen is committed to providing all students with the opportunity to succeed in a safe and positive school environment. All staff and students follow the behavior expectations to be safe, be respectful, and be responsible.
Students are taught the expectations through lesson plans called “Cool Tools.” When students demonstrate positive behavior they are recognized with “Timbertail Tokens” which they can exchange for activities each month. When students struggle with following the expectations they have opportunities for continued practice and intervention through a referral process.
This is a big initiative we are taking on and it is just as important for our parents to be knowledgeable on PBIS as it is our staff. Please look for weekly information that will be going home regarding PBIS in our schools newsletter.
Specials Schedule
Monday: Music
Tuesday: Phy Ed and Library
Wednesday: Phy Ed and Music
Thursday: Art
Friday: Lifeskills and Phy Ed
Lunch and recess: 12:15-1:15
Snacks and Water
Please send a healthy snack to school with your student everyday. We do not eat lunch until 12:15 and I even have a hard time going that long without eating something in-between! We will have snack in the morning before lunch.
Also, water bottles are allowed in class as long as they have a secure cover, and only water is in them. Water helps the brain think and research has been proven that drinking water during learning, aides in the learning process.
Volunteers
Anyone interested in helping out in the classroom, please send me a note or email stating your name and days of the week and times that work well for you. I try my hardest to get everyone in somehow.
Incentives!
I really want to focus on rewarding positive behavior and not pointing out negative behavior, therefore, I have a couple of incentive programs that I will be putting to use.
Ticket Trader: In my classroom I do an incentive that I call Ticket Trader. At the beginning of the week, I will attach 15 tickets to every student’s desk (3 tickets for each day). According to our PBIS school policy, a student is to be taught expected behavior 2 more times in a day after they are off task. If they need a 3rd reminder in that day, it becomes a minor. These tickets can be used on Friday for special incentives. Basically ticket trader works as follows. During the week, if I see a student talking out of turn, or turning in late work, or not being prepared for class, I go and rip a ticket off their desk without having to stop class to verbally warn them. I feel that this is a great way to keep classroom structure without having to single out a child in front of their peers. They can also earn tickets back during the week for doing what they should be doing. With this program, I do not expect them to be perfect therefore please do not be too hard on your child if they lose a ticket or two at times!
Along with these tickets comes DET or “drop everything time”. If they have 13, 14 or 15 tickets left at the end of the week, they will get 20 minutes of free time to bring in a game or other electronic device and play with it. If they have 9, 10, 11 or 12 tickets left, they will get 15 minutes, 6, 7 or 8 tickets earns them 10 minutes, 1, 2 or 3 tickets earns them 5 minutes and if they have zero tickets left they will get no free time. I collect their electronic devices when they come to school in the morning and store them safely but I do tell the students that they bring them in at their own risk!
We will also be doing other challengs as a class such a spelling out words like "transitions" or earning a certain amount of classroom tokens to earn classroom incentives. Some examples of classroom incentives are popcorn parties, tailgate parties, no desk day and extra recess time.
Contact me!
Thanks again for taking the time to read this newsletter! If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 662-7904 or email me at erickent@hssd.k12.wi.us. If you need to get a hold of me after school hours, you may call my cell phone at 920-203-1785. And please do not feel bad about calling me on my cell phone, even if you feel like its something little and silly and you’re not sure if you should bother me, please call. I wouldn’t give you my phone number if I didn’t want you to utilize it if you need it.
Thanks again, this is going to be a great year!! J
Reminders
- TIS fee is $35 and is due ASAP. Students will not be allowed to take their iPads home if this fee is not paid.
- iPads were distributed Wednesday and will go home today (Thursday) if TIS fee has been paid and apple id has been set up.
Mrs. Erica Kentop 4th Grade Teacher, Forest Glen Elementary
Email: erickent@hssd.k12.wi.us
Website: kentop.weebly.com
Location: 1935 Cardinal Lane, Suamico, WI
Phone: 920-662-7904