Welcome to Second Grade!

Dear Parents,

Hello and welcome to second grade! Our names are Ms. Alexander, Ms. Aker, and Ms. Schumacher and we will be your student’s teachers this year. Our goal is to build a community of students who inspire and encourage one another in the learning process. The mission statement for this year reads as follows; “In this classroom, we will be respectful participants of our community, give our best effort in all that we do, and expand our knowledge through critical thinking skills and problem solving. We will always strive to be a better person than we were the day before.” As teachers, we believe that each and every student who comes into our classroom has the potential to make an irreplaceable and unique positive impact in this school and community. We believe in the ability of your students to learn and make great strides towards their goals.

In order to ensure that this year gets off to an incredible start we have created this website containing the classroom rules and the basic procedures as well as numerous other helpful resources for you and your student. We firmly believe that an open line of communication between the student, teachers, and parents is the most important aspect to creating an educational climate that is conducive to learning. We ask for your assistance in creating a positive learning environment at home in order to foster the growth seen in the classroom. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any of your questions, comments, or concerns about your child as they are our top priority.  We look forward to our partnership with you during your child’s second grade year!

Sincerely,

Heather Alexander, Sydney Aker, Heidi Schumacher

Our Philosophy

All students can learn when they are respected and acknowledged for their unique differences and strengths that they bring to the classroom.
I am a teacher because I want to have the privilege of helping my students achieve the unimaginable and I want to give them the best experience both personally and academically by teaching them lessons that impact their lives and carry on with them for years to come. My lessons and activities that I will provide in the classroom will encourage engagement and participation because those are vital aspects that help lead to learning. I will do my best to incorporate all of the multiple levels of intelligences in order to cater to each student because children learn in different ways between kinesthetic, visual, auditory, and tactile methods. All students are capable of learning; they only need guidance to have it brought out. As students are learning, the teacher is learning as well. There is no end to the path of knowledge. All questions are important and everyone should be given a fair chance at finding the answers. I want my students to be in a comfortable environment where they are not afraid to take risks and be incorrect at times. My classroom will be set up with groups of students sitting together and with some individual desks in case some would rather work independently. I will be using the student-centered teaching approach. Schools should teach students to think for themselves and to be individuals using their own levels of creativity and critical thinking skills. Students also should be prepared to collaborate with others in the community and the world without resulting to conformity. Students all learn at their own paces and should be seen as different and unique. One way to have them understand that differences are fine is to provide them with opportunities to understand the different cultures that make up our community by having students share their family backgrounds with the class for example.

In Our Classroom

 Classroom Rules:

• Be respectful to the classroom, myself, and others
• Demonstrate active listening skills and follow all directions
• Be responsible and try your best in all that you do
• Be willing to succeed with a positive attitude

Basic Procedures:

• Enter the classroom politely and professionally
• Turn in homework folders and start on bell work
• When leaving the classroom line up in two lines with designated line leaders for the week (Line leaders are chosen by moving a binder clip down the list of names for the class posted on the wall by the door so the students are always aware of who’s turn it is)
• In the hallway students must hug and “bubble” to discourage disruption of other classes
• If a student becomes overwhelmed in the classroom they will quietly get up and go to the teachers desk. Upon arriving, the student will move a popsicle stick (the green stick for the nurse, the purple for the drinking fountain, and the orange the resource room) from one cup to the other. If the student is gone more than ten minutes, the teacher will call the adult in the student’s room of choice to evaluate the situation.
• When a student needs a fidget during a lesson, they will raise their pencil in the air to let the teacher know. The teacher will acknowledge the student with a nod, letting the student know that it is an appropriate time, and the student will move to the front of the classroom to choose a fidget from the box. They will have 30 seconds to do so. If the fidget becomes a distraction instead of a tool, the teacher will quietly walk over to the student and offer them a choice of picking another fidget or not having one at all. If the second fidget is still a distraction, the teacher will ask the student to return it to the box and they will not be allowed to have one for the rest of the day.

Demographic Classroom:

• Total students: 20
• ELL’s: 3
• Intro level: 1
• Advance level: 2  
• Auditory Processing
• Expressive Language Disorder
• General L.D- Mathematics
• Autism: High Functioning
• Dyspraxia

Classroom Management

• Caught Being Good!
• The classroom is divided into five teams of four.
• Groups are chosen by the teacher and based on varying levels of ability, personality types, and function, in order to foster collaboration and interaction between all students.
• Caught being good is a classwide system which requires the students to work collaboratively as a team in order to earn positive reinforcement. Throughout the week, the teacher will closely observe the class and monitor their behavior. If they are caught being good i.e. they went out of their way to help another student or set a positive example for the rest of the class, then they will have a popsicle stick moved into their team’s designated bucket located at the teacher’s table
• There is no limit to how many popsicle sticks each team can earn. At the end of the week, the teacher will go through and count up the amount of popsicle sticks each team earned. They will record this number on a chart posted above the teacher’s table. The chart will change each month and is corresponding to a specific lesson or theme discussed in class .
• If the students earn enough points to fill up an entire chart: 
  the entire team receives a prize from the treasure box which includes but is not limited to: a coupon to have lunch with the teacher, a classwide movie party at a designated time, a bring your stuffed animal to school day….    
  That team also graduates from caught being good to caught being extraordinary. The caught being extraordinary is for individual students. These prizes can include: a coupon for 15 extra minutes of recess time for the class, a homework pass, having a special job during class discussions   
  At the end of the week when charting the popsicle sticks of each group, the group that has filled up their chart has an opportunity to send one person to the caught being extraordinary bucket. As a group, the students will discuss which student showed extraordinary character (keeping in mind that each person gets a turn). The group will then present to the class why they chose this member and what the student has done to receive this recognition.Their name will go in the caught being extraordinary bucket which the teacher will pick from at the end of each month.