Welcome!

Dear Parents,


It was good to meet so many of you at "Meet the Teacher" night. I felt a lot of enthusiasm from students and parents alike, and I am looking forward to an exciting year.

I feel I have a lot to tell you about the classes I teach and the structure of the fourth grade classrooms. I want you all to be well-informed about your children's academics. At the same time, I do not want to overload you with all the information at once. Therefore, I will confine myself to explaining a few things each week until I have covered everything.

This week, I would like to discuss the Reasoning Mind ( or RM) math curriculum in more detail. As many of you know from my presentations last year and from my letter on Friday, the Reasoning Mind curriculum blends traditional classroom instruction with online learning. Every day, students will have two math classes. For the first two weeks of school, both of those classes will be traditional classes. However, starting in the third week of school, the first math class each morning will take place in the computer lab.

In the first two weeks, before the introduction of the computer, we will go over a number of easy topics deeply but rapidly. These topics include place, value, digits, expanded form, comparing numbers, writing numbers in words, rounding, and simple addition. Students should have seen most of these topics before, perhaps many times. However, because they are older they can now examine these fundamentals with more depth. This exploration will help them develop a common experience of math that they will use in class discussions throughout the year.

If students do find these first weeks easy, rest assured that math will not be so easy for long! By the end of first quarter we will be doing column multiplication by two and three digit numbers. By the end of second quarter we will be dividing four digit numbers by two digit numbers using long division.

After the first two weeks, the morning math class will be presented through the online program. Students will log into online accounts and work on a math lesson in the lab. Every student will start on the same lesson, but the computer will use the students' responses to individualize instruction for each student according to what they need most. Students who have shown understanding of a particular concept will be given harder problems. Students who find a concept challenging will be given extra instruction in that area and also extra problems.

As the students work, Mr. Conklin and I will be in the math lab, assisting students as necessary. The program gives teachers real-time information about how well students are performing, which students most likely need help, and what their misunderstandings are. This allows us to help them in the most efficient way possible with their individual needs. At the same time, if the data tells us a student is exceling, we have the ability to pull that student off the computer for further enrichment on the topic they are studying.

The second math class of the day will continue to be a traditional, homeroom math class. During this class, we will learn topics that are not covered by the online system or explore more deeply topics that are presented in the online system. We will use physical manipulatives to help explain math concepts and work together on problems that are too difficult for any one student to solve on their own.

The other main topic I would like to explain this week is the infraction system of discipline used in fourth and fifthe grade. This is a system we use to be objective and fair when giving consequences for minor issues. It is also a way for us to communicate with parents about students' habits, so there are no surprises if a consequence becomes necessary.

Here's how it works: If a student breaks a rule in a minor way, like talking in class without raising their hand or arriving in class without the necessary books and supplies, a teacher will write an infraction code in the student's homework agenda. This is a series of letters that is short for a particular offense. The four infractions we will use are as follows:

TLK: Talking out of turn
UPL: Unprepared to learn (missing books or supplies, incomplete homework)
DIS: Disrespect
FOL: Breaking any other clearly stated school rule

The infraction written in the student's agenda is intended to be a gentle reminder that they have made a mistake and they can do better. Most students do get a few infractions each month because everyone makes mistakes from time to time. In general, infractions written in the student's agenda are intended to be opportunities for students and parents to have a conversation about how students can strive to do better, but they are usually not indicative of a serious problem. Of course, you can always ask the teachers any questions you may have about an infraction, and we will be happy to respond.

Since communication with parents is one of the main goals of the infraction system, students are required to get these infractions signed by their parents before school the next day. If not, they will recive an FOL in fraction with a large box saying, "Sign here!" If they continue to come to school with unsigned infractions, they may have to call their parents during recess about the infractions. This is to ensure that parents are seeing the agenda and infractions.

If a student receives four of the same kind of infraction in one week, he or she will receive an after-school detention. This will give us an opportunity to sit down with the student and discuss why they are having trouble following a particular rule. Then we can come up with a plan to help students do better. If a student has four fractions in a week, but they are of different kinds, no consequence will result. Teachers will simply remind the student to follow the rules and do better next week.

For the first week, though, infractions will not result in a detention no matter how many of the same infraction a student receives. We want to give the students a fair chance to get used to the rules and the system before attaching consequences to their actions.

I hope this is helpful and useful information as we start the new school year. Next weekend I shall post again on other topics. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message through your Jupiter Ed account, and I will respond within 24 hours.


Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt