ABC's of Our Classroom
Attendance:
Much of our learning will take place together in class. We do lots of hands-on activities and group work. Regular, on-time attendance is vital to ensure that learning is happening. Please plan to attend school every day, on time, except in cases of illness or emergency. If your child is absent, make sure to send in an excuse note the next day.
Bucket Fillers:
We are Bucket Fillers in our classroom. This is a program which helps people focus on positive reinforcement. Students can “fill a bucket” by catching a classmate doing something good, like exhibiting one of the IB Learner Attributes, and filling out a form. We will share some positive remarks each morning!
Class Dojo:
My students and I have worked together to create classroom rules (called Essential Agreements) which we all must
follow. Students will be awarded Dojo points based on positive behavior. They can also lose points based on negative behavior. You will be given a parent login to your child’s Dojo account online and can access their points
daily http://www.classdojo.com/parentsignup. You can view the ways your child earned points as well as the way your child lost points. Students will have a Reflection Journal as part of their weekend homework which will require them to reflect on their behavior and participation in class/at school during the past week. Students will also get paid Cat Cash each Friday based on their Dojo points.
Dismissal:
School ends at 3:40 pm. You must send a note if your child is to go home a different way than his/her normal
schedule. Please do not rely on same-day e-mail. We are unable to accept changes in dismissal over the phone or
via your child. This is for your child’s safety. Remember every Wednesday is early release at 2:40 pm.
Emergencies:
An emergency card for each child must be on file in the office. In addition to your home phone number, please list all work and cell phone numbers where you can be reached. Please notify the office if there are any additions, corrections, or deletions during the school year.
First Class Globetrotter:
Each child will have the opportunity to be the First Class Globetrotter, our version of Student of the Week. Your child will bring home a special bag to fill the Friday before his/her week. They are asked to bring in 6-9 photos for display, a favorite book, and a two “special items.” Everything will be returned the following Friday. Your child will be highlighted and honored during the week.
Graded Work:
Most graded work will come home in the Family Communication Binder every couple of weeks. You should review the tests with your child, sign the sheet, and send the sheet back the next day (you keep the work). Some graded items must be kept for documentation purposes, but can be viewed by you during parent conferences.
Homework:
The homework that is given to the children is intended to enrich the learning that has taken place in the classroom. It also fosters responsibility and helps your child establish good work habits. Please look in the agenda or homework folder for homework each night, including Friday. Your child will have homework nearly EVERY NIGHT and most homework will be due Friday morning (Math is due the next morning). This is to help you and your child manage extracurricular activities and homework.
Important Papers:
Important papers will go home with students the day I receive them. Please look each night in your child’s agenda, and if required, sign and return them the following day.
Jazzy Snacks:
Healthy snacks and bottled water can be sent into the classroom. No candy, large bags of snacks, soda or colored drinks (ie: kool-aid, drink mixes for water bottles, lemonade, etc).
Kindness:
Thacker Avenue Elementary for International Studies has a zero tolerance for bullying. We will learn about being kind to others and ourselves everyday during through our IB Programme of Study and by being Bucket Fillers.
Luggage:
Our classroom theme is Mercado Airlines: Where Learning Takes Flight! This theme ties directly to our Social Studies curriculum as well as our IB Curriculum since we are a school for International Studies. The students will learn about the world around them and how they can make a positive contribution to that world. Students will unpack each morning and stow their luggage in the luggage compartment.
Money System:
A major part of the positive behavior system at Thacker is Cat Cash which is our way of paying students for positive behavior. To further encourage this positive behavior, a money system was set up in our classroom. Students get paid for good behavior, and once a week for class jobs. Students can use this money at the Duty Free Shop each Friday and buy special items.
Newsletters:
Newsletters will be sent home every month by Thacker’s Administration. Please look for them in your child’s
Family Communication Binder. You can also find them on the school’s website in the virtual backpack.
Open Communication:
I value open communication between home and school and I encourage you to contact me at any time. You can write a note on your child's agenda, reach me by e-mail at mailto:[email protected]or call Thacker at 407-935-3540 and leave me a message. I will schedule a conference to discuss your child’s progress in the fall (after the first round of testing) and in the spring. If you would like to meet additional times, please write me a note in the agenda.
Postcard Project:
One way for students to learn about the world around them is to receive postcards in the classroom. If you have friends and family around the country and world, please ask them to send a postcard to our class and share a few interesting facts about the place. Thank you in advance with your help!
Questions:
If at any time you have questions about anything going on in the classroom, do not hesitate to contact me.
I will be glad to talk with you. I love hearing from families of my students!
Reading Logs:
Students are expected to read at home every night for at least 20 minutes, as part of their nightly homework (including Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Each night should be recorded on the Reading Log, which is turned in at the end of the month, but should be signed nightly and remain in the homework folder. Students are honored for completing these logs.
Scholastic Book Orders:
Scholastic book orders are a great, inexpensive way to build your child's library with quality books and encourage a lifelong love of reading! When you place an order you also help me earn bonus points. I use these bonus points to obtain free books and materials for our classroom, to use as rewards as well as for our class store. Now you can easily order online with a credit or debit card and earn free books for your child or to use as gifts! Look for book orders each month.
Testing:
All students in second grade will take Common Assessments in Reading, Math, Science, and Writing several times a year. They test students on end of the year expectations, and student scores are expected to increase throughout the year. STAR Reading and STAR Math testing is done by your child four times a year on the computer. These assessments test your child’s reading and math ability and will help me to instruct them on their level.
Uniform Policy:
Your child is required to wear a uniform to school every day. This includes a red, white or blue polo, Thacker spirit shirt, and jean, khaki, or navy blue bottoms. Athletic shoes must me worn (no sandals, open-toed shoes or boots of any kind).
Volunteers:
We love volunteers! Moms, dads, grandparent, look for information on how you can help out in the classroom. There are many ways to help out directly with the students or behind the scenes organizing and paperwork. Begin by becoming OASIS approved.
Website:
My classroom website is updated regularly and has a lot of useful information. Please visit anytime by visiting the
Thacker homepage or at: www.tae.osceola.k12.fl.us
X Y Z:
I am eXcited to work with You and Your child this year! Make sure he/she gets plenty of Zzzzz’s each night as I have exciting days planned for this year!
Attendance:
Much of our learning will take place together in class. We do lots of hands-on activities and group work. Regular, on-time attendance is vital to ensure that learning is happening. Please plan to attend school every day, on time, except in cases of illness or emergency. If your child is absent, make sure to send in an excuse note the next day.
Bucket Fillers:
We are Bucket Fillers in our classroom. This is a program which helps people focus on positive reinforcement. Students can “fill a bucket” by catching a classmate doing something good, like exhibiting one of the IB Learner Attributes, and filling out a form. We will share some positive remarks each morning!
Class Dojo:
My students and I have worked together to create classroom rules (called Essential Agreements) which we all must
follow. Students will be awarded Dojo points based on positive behavior. They can also lose points based on negative behavior. You will be given a parent login to your child’s Dojo account online and can access their points
daily http://www.classdojo.com/parentsignup. You can view the ways your child earned points as well as the way your child lost points. Students will have a Reflection Journal as part of their weekend homework which will require them to reflect on their behavior and participation in class/at school during the past week. Students will also get paid Cat Cash each Friday based on their Dojo points.
Dismissal:
School ends at 3:40 pm. You must send a note if your child is to go home a different way than his/her normal
schedule. Please do not rely on same-day e-mail. We are unable to accept changes in dismissal over the phone or
via your child. This is for your child’s safety. Remember every Wednesday is early release at 2:40 pm.
Emergencies:
An emergency card for each child must be on file in the office. In addition to your home phone number, please list all work and cell phone numbers where you can be reached. Please notify the office if there are any additions, corrections, or deletions during the school year.
First Class Globetrotter:
Each child will have the opportunity to be the First Class Globetrotter, our version of Student of the Week. Your child will bring home a special bag to fill the Friday before his/her week. They are asked to bring in 6-9 photos for display, a favorite book, and a two “special items.” Everything will be returned the following Friday. Your child will be highlighted and honored during the week.
Graded Work:
Most graded work will come home in the Family Communication Binder every couple of weeks. You should review the tests with your child, sign the sheet, and send the sheet back the next day (you keep the work). Some graded items must be kept for documentation purposes, but can be viewed by you during parent conferences.
Homework:
The homework that is given to the children is intended to enrich the learning that has taken place in the classroom. It also fosters responsibility and helps your child establish good work habits. Please look in the agenda or homework folder for homework each night, including Friday. Your child will have homework nearly EVERY NIGHT and most homework will be due Friday morning (Math is due the next morning). This is to help you and your child manage extracurricular activities and homework.
Important Papers:
Important papers will go home with students the day I receive them. Please look each night in your child’s agenda, and if required, sign and return them the following day.
Jazzy Snacks:
Healthy snacks and bottled water can be sent into the classroom. No candy, large bags of snacks, soda or colored drinks (ie: kool-aid, drink mixes for water bottles, lemonade, etc).
Kindness:
Thacker Avenue Elementary for International Studies has a zero tolerance for bullying. We will learn about being kind to others and ourselves everyday during through our IB Programme of Study and by being Bucket Fillers.
Luggage:
Our classroom theme is Mercado Airlines: Where Learning Takes Flight! This theme ties directly to our Social Studies curriculum as well as our IB Curriculum since we are a school for International Studies. The students will learn about the world around them and how they can make a positive contribution to that world. Students will unpack each morning and stow their luggage in the luggage compartment.
Money System:
A major part of the positive behavior system at Thacker is Cat Cash which is our way of paying students for positive behavior. To further encourage this positive behavior, a money system was set up in our classroom. Students get paid for good behavior, and once a week for class jobs. Students can use this money at the Duty Free Shop each Friday and buy special items.
Newsletters:
Newsletters will be sent home every month by Thacker’s Administration. Please look for them in your child’s
Family Communication Binder. You can also find them on the school’s website in the virtual backpack.
Open Communication:
I value open communication between home and school and I encourage you to contact me at any time. You can write a note on your child's agenda, reach me by e-mail at mailto:[email protected]or call Thacker at 407-935-3540 and leave me a message. I will schedule a conference to discuss your child’s progress in the fall (after the first round of testing) and in the spring. If you would like to meet additional times, please write me a note in the agenda.
Postcard Project:
One way for students to learn about the world around them is to receive postcards in the classroom. If you have friends and family around the country and world, please ask them to send a postcard to our class and share a few interesting facts about the place. Thank you in advance with your help!
Questions:
If at any time you have questions about anything going on in the classroom, do not hesitate to contact me.
I will be glad to talk with you. I love hearing from families of my students!
Reading Logs:
Students are expected to read at home every night for at least 20 minutes, as part of their nightly homework (including Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Each night should be recorded on the Reading Log, which is turned in at the end of the month, but should be signed nightly and remain in the homework folder. Students are honored for completing these logs.
Scholastic Book Orders:
Scholastic book orders are a great, inexpensive way to build your child's library with quality books and encourage a lifelong love of reading! When you place an order you also help me earn bonus points. I use these bonus points to obtain free books and materials for our classroom, to use as rewards as well as for our class store. Now you can easily order online with a credit or debit card and earn free books for your child or to use as gifts! Look for book orders each month.
Testing:
All students in second grade will take Common Assessments in Reading, Math, Science, and Writing several times a year. They test students on end of the year expectations, and student scores are expected to increase throughout the year. STAR Reading and STAR Math testing is done by your child four times a year on the computer. These assessments test your child’s reading and math ability and will help me to instruct them on their level.
Uniform Policy:
Your child is required to wear a uniform to school every day. This includes a red, white or blue polo, Thacker spirit shirt, and jean, khaki, or navy blue bottoms. Athletic shoes must me worn (no sandals, open-toed shoes or boots of any kind).
Volunteers:
We love volunteers! Moms, dads, grandparent, look for information on how you can help out in the classroom. There are many ways to help out directly with the students or behind the scenes organizing and paperwork. Begin by becoming OASIS approved.
Website:
My classroom website is updated regularly and has a lot of useful information. Please visit anytime by visiting the
Thacker homepage or at: www.tae.osceola.k12.fl.us
X Y Z:
I am eXcited to work with You and Your child this year! Make sure he/she gets plenty of Zzzzz’s each night as I have exciting days planned for this year!
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