Mr. McIlrath’s 3rd Grade - Willagillespie 2015-2016

Rules:

BE SAFE – Examples: hands to self, use tools appropriately, walk in hallways

BE RESPECTFUL – Examples: positive language and gestures, active listening, raise hand and take turns, include others in games

BE RESPONSIBLE – Examples: clean up after yourself, always stay on task, follow directions the first time, turn in work that is neat, thorough, on time and good quality

Behavior systems:

Home support: I ask your support at home by backing up decisions I make regarding your child here at school. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I want your child, and all children in our class, to reach their full potential.

Proactive: I strive to proactively minimize misbehavior in the classroom through:

•building a relationship with each child and family

•stating clear behavioral and work expectations

•supporting each child to be challenged appropriately and to succeed

•positive behavior reinforcement with intermittent individual and group rewards

•following through consistently with the behavior systems in place

Classroom Clip Chart: Each student has a clothespin on a ladder chart. I move it up (for good behavior) or down (for poor behavior) to give students feedback. A “clip up” reinforces a student for staying focused on work, making a quick and quiet transition, helping clean up a mess or showing active listening. A “clip down” is for small misbehaviors in the classroom (calling out of turn, horseplay during transitions, playing instead of working during work time.) I reset the clips back to the middle “Ready to Learn” section each morning.

WOW tickets: School wide positive slip when students are caught doing the right thing. Usually accompanied by verbal affirmation, these tickets can be entered in drawings for prizes.

Whoa tickets: School wide behavior ticket for minor misbehaviors (running in halls, etc.) Periodically, students earn a “No-whoa recess.” Students who earn a whoa often write a brief reflection on their behavior for me.

Incident Reports:  For major infractions of school rules (example - stealing, bullying, property destruction), the principal gets involved and families get a call home.

Conflicts between students: I facilitate these discussions as necessary. Students use respectful words, “I statements,” cool down time and other conflict resolution strategies.

Box of Distractions: This is for toys and other things that distract a student or her/his neighbors. I will direct a student to put the thing in this box and pick it up at the end of the day. No toys allowed at school. Cell phones must remain in the backpack with the ringer off.

Absenses: Notify the office if your child will be missing school.  Missed work or homework will be made up when the student returns to school. 

Tardiness: Help your child start the day off right by making sure he or she gets to school on time.  Our day starts at 8:35, but it is most helpful if your child can be here by 8:25 when the doors open.  If your child is late, he or she needs to get a tardy slip from the office.

Snack: We have snack each day after morning recess. I ask that students bring a healthy snack. Examples of this would be fruit, granola bars, crackers, cheese, veggies, yogurt, etc. Please do not send chips, cookies, cornuts or candy. It has been proven that proper nutrition enhances academic performance. If you are able, consider making SNACK DONATIONS throughout the year for the whole class. Not all families are able to send a daily snack with their child, and these donations really matter for the kids. Typical donations have been bags of pretzels, big boxes of crackers, big bags of string cheese, etc.

Birthdays: Birthday celebrations at school are optional – we’ll sing “Happy Birthday” to students during snack, if they request.  If you would like to supply a special snack, please keep in mind the 4j Healthy Snack Guidelines.  As an alternative you could donate a book or game to the classroom in acknowledgment of your child’s birthday.

Permission slips for bus riders/pick up/walking: Children who don’t usually ride the bus, or children who will be getting off at a stop other than their usual stop, need a written permission slip from you.  The slip needs to be given to the bus driver after being signed by the office.

Desk inspections: Each student puts everything on top of the desk and organizes it. Extra papers and things must go. Only the necessary school supplies remain in an organized pile. We’ll start the year by doing this daily, and then as needed later in the year. This procedure helps students keep organized and makes for quicker transitions.

Partner work: Your child will be a partner with every other child in the class sometime during the year. Please work with me to support her/him in doing her/his best, no matter with whom they work. Please encourage them to develop flexibility, politeness and good manners.

“I’m stuck” strategies:

Students should not just sit with their hands up when they need help. In class, when a student is “stuck” I ask he/she to do one of the following as they are waiting for help:

•re-read the directions

•study the example on the board or in the book

•underline key vocabulary words; look up the unfamiliar ones

•copy down the problem, prompt or question

•re-read the reading passage

•make a try at a first step

Juggling: Students will learn to juggle scarves, beanbags and perhaps even rings and clubs in class. This is a fun routine that helps develop gross motor skills, self-discipline and provides a “brain break” from academics. I’ve been teaching juggling to students for 15 years and I’m convinced that each child can learn this skill with their effort and my guidance. When I run into my former students now as adults, juggling is all they seem to remember about our time together.

Classroom library: I loan out classroom trade books to students. They must give me a slip of paper with their name, the date and the title of the book they are borrowing. Then, when they return it, they should let me know.

Monday papers: Monday (or the first day of a week) is the day I aim to have students bring home school announcements and returned work.

Book orders: Every month or so, I’ll send home book order flyers. You can submit them to me or set up an online account for ordering. Scholastic provides many good books at reasonable prices and when you spend money on book orders, I get points towards free books for the classroom. Most of our classroom library was acquired this way.

Rubrics and scoring guides: These are designed to help each student meet his or her full potential and not just do enough to get by. One size does not fit all. Examples are the statewide writing, science inquiry and math problem solving scoring guides. Students will also have assignment-specific scoring guides for big projects and other work.

Homework: Family comes first. Contact me if we need to adjust homework expectations for your child. The standard expectations fit the middle the best. Your child will bring home a packet on Monday that is due back Friday. It includes the following:

•“Tons of Reading” record sheet to keep track of daily reading practice at home

•2-4 math sheets that reinforce work we’ve been doing in class

•The weekly Math Challenge – you are encouraged to work on this with your child as you see fit

Sometimes there will be special project homework and I’ll send home directions ahead of time for this.

PE is on Fridays - – your child should wear appropriate shoes!

Music is on Wednesdays and Fridays

Library day is Tuesday