Class News
Mrs. LeCroy and Ms. Pickering's Crazy Cats - August 22
We are having the best first week ever!
Ms. Pickering and I are both thoroughly enjoying getting to know your children more. We are so excited to see what the new year brings. Your children will learn as much from us and we do from them! This year, we hope to send a newsletter at least once a month, but more frequently when possible.
More about Mrs. LeCroy
My husband and I have been married 7 years and have a four year old named Cullen, a three year old named Maddox, and a one year old named Mayseigh. Along with our sweet Ella, our Jack-Russell Terrier, our family is complete. While I absolutely LOVE being a mommy, I am equally excited about teaching! I am going into my eighth year of teaching, four of which have been as Sunset Park in third grade. I LOVE my job, and think there is nothing more fulfilling than what I do everyday with your children. Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of their lives every day. I know we'll have a fantastic year!
More About Ms. Pickering
I am currently a student at Winthrop University majoring in Early Childhood Education. I will also be receiving my certification for Elementary Education as well. I am originally from Barnwell, SC and plan on moving back down there after I graduate in May to teach. I have one brother, Luke, who is 13, and two dogs, Angel and Duke, who are nothing but a ball of energy! I love working with students and being able to be a positive influence on them as well. I look forward to working with each of your children and getting to know you as the year moves forward!
Our five classroom rules are below. Be sure to ask your child about our gestures. We practice these rules quite often, after all, practice makes PERMANENT!
Behavior Policy
Our classroom management plan is based on www.wholebrainteaching.com. We use gestures to learn many things, including to remind ourselves of our rules. Our saying is practice makes permanent, after all, no one is perfect! As we begin the year, students may need a little more practice with a particular rule. If at any point a child makes a mistake, we simply remind them. In the event that they need more practice with a rule, we ask that they think about it during recess. If they use gestures to practice the rule during recess, they may go play in half the time. I do not have a behavior chart displayed in the room. I believe one child's behavior is no one's business, and other children shouldn't be worried about your child's behavior unless your child makes it their business. At any point a student makes a decision to harm someone or disrupt learning, Ms. Pickering and I may remove them until they are ready to be reintroduced into the classroom. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please email me.
We will also celebrate our successes. As a class, we earn "one second parties" where we have decided as a class to play our air guitar for 1 second. If we have more tallies on our scoreboard under the smiling face than the frowning face, then we will get a 30 second party at the end of the day to listen to music, or enjoy another reward. Students will soon be using Class Dojo (another website) to earn points for completing homework, returning Thursday folders on time, and other good behaviors. These points can be cashed in for rewards.
Homework Policy
As stated above, Edmodo will be used to turn in homework on many days. Students are expected to read 20 minutes EVERY DAY, even though they only are required to complete two reading responses. Occasionally, students will have math homework. This would be something that is completed independently, no new content. If students turn in homework, they earn points on Class Dojo. If they don't, they are still required to complete the assignment during silent lunch and recess, until it is completed. Studying is expected every day. Students will have a math journal, a science/social studies journal, and a reading/writing journal.
Assessments
For science and social studies assessments, students will log in to Quia.com. There will be a variety of questions, but the purpose is to learn what they know while preparing them to take virtual assessments. Assessments will come home on Thursdays in the purple folder. Please sign the progress report each week. It will begin coming home two weeks from today. Science and Social Studies assessments will be accessible on Quia.com using your child's login.
Here are your children organizing the classroom library. They found so many good books they are ready to read!
Edmodo/Reading Homework
Next week I hope to have every student up and running in Edmodo! On Monday, we will have our first homework assignment for reading in Edmodo. I will post a question on Monday and students will have Monday night and Tuesday night to respond. Again on Wednesday, I will post another question and they will have Wednesday and Thursday night to respond. This worked really well last year because students were able to see what other students were reading and have more meaningful conversations about their books.
MobyMax, Math, and Aleks
Many of you may be familiar with TenMarks. This year, Sunset Park is using MobyMax, and it is similar to TenMarks. What I love about the program is that it places students using an assessment. There are videos and hints to help teach them new things. (There is actually a word study part of it as well.) It also has activities to help practice basic facts. Students will be logged into MobyMax in TechLab each week. Aleks is an additional program similar to MobyMax that we will be piloting in our classroom for the district. We will most likely begin in September with Aleks. We are excited about all of these new math tools!
Stability Balls
As most of you know, because of your generous donations and support, we have fully funded the Donor's Choose grant for stability balls! IN UNDER A WEEK! I am absolutely blown away! As I know many of you are as excited as I am, I will be keeping you informed on our timeline for introducing the stability balls into the classroom. There are so many great resources from teachers who have been so successful with this. I can't wait to implement these rules, routines, and procedures in order to make this experience an even better one for your children. Thank you again for all of your support. We couldn't have done this without you.