PLANS & PROCEDURES 4 PROSPEROUS PUPILS
Dear Students,
Last week, we had some changes in our spelling tests (no more make-up tests), and in turning in our reading logs (they are due on Fridays and will not be counted for a week if they are not turned in on time.)
This week, we are going to make some procedural changes that will help you prosper more as students. Our days should flow more smoothly, your grades should improve, and we should all be happier!
1. As St. Benedict taught, obedience is doing something with a good attitude the FIRST time one is asked—not eventually, when one gets around to it. So, I am going to be helping you remember to do that by rewarding you when you do! You will have an incentive chart on your desk. When you are following directions, on task, working, paying attention, participating in discussions, respecting me and your classmates, you will get stickers on that chart. Once you have 10 stickers, you will get a ticket to put in the jar. At the end of the week, I will pull several tickets out of the jar, and those people will get to choose a treasure from the treasure chest.
2. There will be a new place for you to keep your things—in the reading room. You will each have a peg for your jacket, lunchbox, and backpack. Your desk will also need to be a place where there is room for you to work. I appreciate you wanting to make your personal space colorful and individualized—but other than pencils, your desk needs to be clear.
3. I have had so much fun with you so far this year! You are fun to be with and make my days so happy and full of laughter. We will now have a special time on Fridays called Friday at the Improv. During this 15 minutes, you can get up in front of the class and tell your jokes (appropriate jokes only), sing your songs, and dance your dances! But during other times in the week, when we are studying, reading, or doing lessons, we’ll have to refrain from so much hilarity!
4. Snack time will be for 10 minutes only; then, the food will have to be put away, and we’ll have to continue with class.
5. Each of you will have a weekly job to help the class run more smoothly. Those jobs will include:
1. Line Leader—this person must make sure that the class in is line and ready to move CORRECTLY down halls and stairwells. When the students behind the leader get noisy, the line leader must stop and wait until the line is quiet. We have been “just a tad” too loud, and have been disrupting other classes.
2. Caboose—this person must make sure that everyone is out of the room, the lights have been turned off, and the door shut. On yoga days, this person will also be responsible for bring the bin of yoga mats down to the library, and bringing it back up to the room.
3. Time Keeper—this person will be in charge of making sure that the schedule for the day is correctly displayed in the new hanging chart that we will have. This person will also set the timer for each class so that we can make sure that we get to our other classes on time.
4. Passer-Outer—this person will pass out all papers for me, graded and ungraded; will pass out books, dictionaries, Bibles, and history and Bible cards. This person will also take up papers as students finish a test or an assignment and make sure that they are put in the correct place on my desk.
5. Writer—this person will write homework and class assignments on the board; write any directions necessary for completing classwork; and any reminders needed for the class for the week.
6. There will be spelling homework three nights a week, as well as reading assignments.
* Every Monday night, you will need to write each spelling word three times in modern manuscript. This will be due on Tuesday morning.
* Every Tuesday night, you will use each spelling word correctly in a sentence. That means you must understand the meaning of the word, even though it may not be a vocabulary word. This will be due on Wednesday morning.
* Every Wednesday night you will have a fill in the blank paper to complete that will have definitions that you must match to your spelling word. This paper will be due on Thursday morning.
We will also be practicing our spelling words during the school day. I want all of you to be able to make 100s in spelling!
I think that these new procedures will help us all feel less frazzled during the day— and less frazzled means happier!
