Sunday, September 17, 2017

General Information
  • The students will be expected to come to the teacher to receive help if they are struggling. They will be able to come in at 7:45AM Tuesday-Thursday and Noon recess Monday-Wednesday.
  • Homework will be a big part of the student's grades. This part will consist of 60% of their total grade. Homework will be assigned 3-5 days a week and is expected to be completed by the start of class on the due date.
  • The children are welcome to call me after school hours for help on their assignment. They may call M-F no later than 9 PM. On weekends, they may call no later than 10 PM.
  • Late assignments will have 5 points taken off for every day they are late.
  • The students must show their work on the assignments. If there is no work, they will only receive half credit for the problem.
  • Graded assignments will be handed back within two days after the due date.
  • Students will receive grade updates every other Friday.
  • Extra Credit is not given until the end of the 2nd and 3rd quarter.
  • I am in my office from 3:30-4 PM Monday-Thursday if you need to reach me.
  • I will be sending home weekly newsletters with the schedule of events for he following week every Thursday. I will set up an the Remind App to send out reminders on important events. IF there is any other issues that need to be discussed, please feel free to contact me personally.
  • Contact Info
  • All assignments and tests will be graded according to the following scale.
Image result for grade scale

Friday, September 15, 2017

Rules, Consequences, & Rewards
In my 7th grade math classroom, the children will be expected to:
·         Treat others with respect.
·         Bring materials to class.
·         Leave cell phones in lockers.
·         Turn in homework by the due date.
 
 
5th Offense 
 
Teacher calls parents to determine next step.
 
 
4th Offense
 
Stay for after school detention.
 
 
3rd Offense
 
Stay in for noon recess.
 
 
2nd Offense
 
Give teacher last “Late Homework” pass.
 
 
1st Offense
 
Give teacher one “Late Homework” pass.
 
If the student has all of their late homework passes at the end of the semester, they will receive 10 points extra credit for each of the passes. The consequences for each of the rules are the same. 
 

Content Summary
We will be covering so much this year. Here is a quick overview of the content we will be covering:
·         Ratios and Proportional Relationships
 
·         The Number System
·         Expressions and Equations
·         Geometry
·         Statistics and Probability
·         Other Mathematical Practices
 
Reference
Grade 7 Introduction. (2017). Retrieved September 15, 2017 from http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/7/introduction/
 
The children will be expected to use the computers on school grounds. The school really tries to help the children to learn the technology skills they will need later in life. Technology is a great tool but it also opens up a new window of negative behaviors. The procedure for using the computers on school grounds is:
  • Once they get to the computers, they need to make sure the computer is not logged on with another user. If it is, then they need to log off. This is to teach the children to respect other people’s belongings.
  • They then need to log onto the computer using their accounts only. They will be banned from the computers if they are caught using other accounts.
  • Once they are done using the computer, they need to make sure to log off the computers so others do not have access to their accounts.
  • They then need to clean up the area around the computer so it is ready for the next person. This includes pushing in their chair.
This procedure is designed to help the children learn “digital etiquette which is teaching them to be aware of standards of conduct” (“Nine”, 2017, para.7). The children will learn at the beginning of the year that it is wrong to alter or look at others electronic articles. I will give them a short lesson on “digital laws” so they have a little bit of an understanding of the consequences that can happen from unethical technological use (“Nine”, 2017, para.8).
Reference
Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship. (2017). Digital Citizenship: Using technology appropriately. Retrieved September 9, 2017 from http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html
 


Thursday, September 14, 2017

My Teaching Philosophy
 The philosophy I will use in my classroom for behavior management is the Win-Win Discipline model. This model is designed to have a “cooperative school structure” by allowing the staff and students to work together on behavior management (Bluestein, 2011, pg.1). By letting the children take part in their discipline, it helps them learn to self-regulate their behavior and their emotions. Self-regulation is a skill that the children will need their whole life. The earlier they can learn it, the better off they will be. The Win-Win Model allows for the child and the teacher to work together to determine what the best disciplinary actions will be. The child then feels like they have some control over their life and this could help them have the desire to behave better. Some children have a problem with discipline because they see it as a battle of power. This model helps to alleviate this battle. It gives the student a feeling that they are a part of the team that molds their education.  
 
Bluestein, J. (2011). What's so Hard about Win-Win?. Educational Leadership, 69(1), 30-34.

About Me
This is my first year teaching and I am so excited to meet your children. I have my Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education with a middle school endorsement. My minor is in mathematics. I graduated from Grand Canyon University in 2018. I have been with my husband for almost 9 years now. We have two beautiful boys that are very wild and covered in dirt. One is 6 years old and the other is 1. Our older son has had some serious health issues so I am very companionate when it comes to finding a way for all children to succeed. I believe every child and parent deserve to be involved in the education process.