Mrs.Valdez's Fifth Grade Contract
Overdale Elementary School 2017-2018
502-869-2800 (school phone)
[email protected]
Greetings! I am so excited to spend the upcoming school year with all of you. This will be a wonderful year for everyone and some great things will happen to us all. My goal for having a classroom contract is because it gives the students (you) a foundation for all our classroom routines and procedures. I believe if we give you the proper procedures, they will turn into our natural routines.
Agenda
Your agenda is to be signed daily! I cannot stress the importance of this enough. This is the way most of your parents will communicate with me, and it is your 5th grade responsibility to make sure they sign it. This makes it very easy for everyone to know exactly what you are doing while in school. Agendas will be filled out daily, noting what you have learned in school and any assignments or special announcements. You must fill your agenda out daily. How will your parents know what is going on, if you do not tell them?
Wednesday Folders
Every week your child will be bringing home a folder with work assignments, notes from the school, and notes from us. Please review the material inside the folder and keep all papers at home. I ask that you sign the outside of the folder acknowledging its receipt and have your child return it to school the next day. Please help your child keep track of the folders, because the cost for you to replace the folder is $1.
Infinite Campus- PARENTS
It is your responsibility to check Infinite Campus periodically to monitor your child’s progress. If you do not have a password, please see Carolyn in the office. If you do not have internet access, please feel free to call your child’s teacher and we can discuss his or her progress.
Homework
As part of our preparation for college and life, I think it is crucial we develop a firm routine on study skills and self-discipline. Work will only be sent home if it is not finished in the time given in class. Without practice, it is hard for us to learn. Reading assignments for our novels will be the only consistent homework given. Homework is not a punishment and should not be seen as one. It is only to help you master the concepts we are learning in school. If you fail to do an assignment, it will be noted on your agenda and will possibly result in after-school detention. Homework/Classwork is only accepted ONE day after it is due unless I make an approved allowance.
Weekly Quizzes and Grading Policy
At times on Fridays, your child will take weekly quizzes. These quizzes cover previously taught material and spiral throughout the year. Any unit test that receives a score less than a C- will need to be corrected and returned signed by a parent. There is a procedural form that accompanies a test correction to ensure students are aware of their mistakes. This form will be sent home with your child if a test correction is necessary. Flashbacks, weekly quizzes, and unit tests along with occasional projects will be the only grades entered into the grade book. With that said no child should receive failing grades on their report cards if they are taking the opportunity to self-correct and failing assignments.
Absences
I cannot stress the importance of your child’s attendance here at school. Make-up work will be required to be completed upon your child’s return from an absence, but please remember that not everything can be made up (participation, group activities). It is your child’s responsibility to pick-up and turn in ALL make-up work. Your child has the number of days he/she missed plus one day to make the work up, and make-up work will not be accepted after that date has expired.
Team Conduct
It is essential for the success of our team that everyone understands first and foremost we are here to learn. I expect everyone to respect not only themselves, but everyone in our building. I will not tolerate disrespect in our classroom. WE ARE A TEAM! You would not want someone to hurt your feelings, so don’t hurt theirs. A good team member will always do the following:
~ When others are down, they help pick them up
~Always encourage other team members to do their best through words and gestures. Remember: ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
~Will never talk badly about another team member
~Will perform acts of kindness and service to motivate other team members
~Will recognize WE all make mistakes and knows it takes a better person to forgive those mistakes rather than retaliate
Clip Chart/Homework Chart
The entire school of Overdale utilizes a colored chart to remind students of their behavior. Every student begins their day on green (Ready to Learn). Depending on your child’s choices throughout the day, they will either move up or down the chart. Blue, white, and pink all reflect positive choices made throughout the school day. Yellow, orange, and red mean your child made poor decisions throughout the day. Please note that red requires parent contact and depending on the severity, you may be called during the school day. If a child lands on orange (Teacher’s Choice), this means your child was asked to clip down twice during the school day and will serve a consequence given by the teacher. Typical consequences in 5th grade are lunch detention, morning detention, or loss of free time. Students may also be asked to sit out of school events like Town Hall or special assemblies.
Team Movement and Chatter
I expect for you to stay in your seats while all instruction is going on. There is also to be no talking at this time. If you have any questions or comments, it is more effective to raise your hand and wait to be called upon rather than to interrupt the person speaking. Group conversations may be appropriate at times, especially during group and partner activities.
Hallway Etiquette
One of our Overdale routines is a quiet hallway. This is not meant to be a punishment to our students, but we can get to where we are going a lot faster if our focus is on our task and not who is standing next to us. It is also a sign of respect to other students learning in their classrooms. As most of you know from past experiences, the building can get very noisy at times when people are in the hallways. Let’s do our part to remedy this.
Restroom and Pencil Sharpening
We will take restroom breaks a couple of times throughout the day. These are typically in the morning and after lunch. Therefore, there shouldn’t be a need for students to be leaving the room to use the restroom individually. The exception to this procedure is when emergencies come up. Pencil sharpening should be done in the morning before 9:00 or in the afternoon after 3:30. I recommend having 2-3 pencils sharpened daily. I have this procedure because it is disruptive to constantly have the pencil sharpener going. We are always at work and a pencil sharpener is sure to break concentration.
These are some of our classroom procedures and routines. I feel it is important to have a procedure for almost everything in the classroom because it eliminates unnecessary confusion. You have so much to learn in a short amount of time, so it is important we try to run a classroom efficiently.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Overdale Elementary School 2017-2018
502-869-2800 (school phone)
[email protected]
Greetings! I am so excited to spend the upcoming school year with all of you. This will be a wonderful year for everyone and some great things will happen to us all. My goal for having a classroom contract is because it gives the students (you) a foundation for all our classroom routines and procedures. I believe if we give you the proper procedures, they will turn into our natural routines.
Agenda
Your agenda is to be signed daily! I cannot stress the importance of this enough. This is the way most of your parents will communicate with me, and it is your 5th grade responsibility to make sure they sign it. This makes it very easy for everyone to know exactly what you are doing while in school. Agendas will be filled out daily, noting what you have learned in school and any assignments or special announcements. You must fill your agenda out daily. How will your parents know what is going on, if you do not tell them?
Wednesday Folders
Every week your child will be bringing home a folder with work assignments, notes from the school, and notes from us. Please review the material inside the folder and keep all papers at home. I ask that you sign the outside of the folder acknowledging its receipt and have your child return it to school the next day. Please help your child keep track of the folders, because the cost for you to replace the folder is $1.
Infinite Campus- PARENTS
It is your responsibility to check Infinite Campus periodically to monitor your child’s progress. If you do not have a password, please see Carolyn in the office. If you do not have internet access, please feel free to call your child’s teacher and we can discuss his or her progress.
Homework
As part of our preparation for college and life, I think it is crucial we develop a firm routine on study skills and self-discipline. Work will only be sent home if it is not finished in the time given in class. Without practice, it is hard for us to learn. Reading assignments for our novels will be the only consistent homework given. Homework is not a punishment and should not be seen as one. It is only to help you master the concepts we are learning in school. If you fail to do an assignment, it will be noted on your agenda and will possibly result in after-school detention. Homework/Classwork is only accepted ONE day after it is due unless I make an approved allowance.
Weekly Quizzes and Grading Policy
At times on Fridays, your child will take weekly quizzes. These quizzes cover previously taught material and spiral throughout the year. Any unit test that receives a score less than a C- will need to be corrected and returned signed by a parent. There is a procedural form that accompanies a test correction to ensure students are aware of their mistakes. This form will be sent home with your child if a test correction is necessary. Flashbacks, weekly quizzes, and unit tests along with occasional projects will be the only grades entered into the grade book. With that said no child should receive failing grades on their report cards if they are taking the opportunity to self-correct and failing assignments.
Absences
I cannot stress the importance of your child’s attendance here at school. Make-up work will be required to be completed upon your child’s return from an absence, but please remember that not everything can be made up (participation, group activities). It is your child’s responsibility to pick-up and turn in ALL make-up work. Your child has the number of days he/she missed plus one day to make the work up, and make-up work will not be accepted after that date has expired.
Team Conduct
It is essential for the success of our team that everyone understands first and foremost we are here to learn. I expect everyone to respect not only themselves, but everyone in our building. I will not tolerate disrespect in our classroom. WE ARE A TEAM! You would not want someone to hurt your feelings, so don’t hurt theirs. A good team member will always do the following:
~ When others are down, they help pick them up
~Always encourage other team members to do their best through words and gestures. Remember: ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
~Will never talk badly about another team member
~Will perform acts of kindness and service to motivate other team members
~Will recognize WE all make mistakes and knows it takes a better person to forgive those mistakes rather than retaliate
Clip Chart/Homework Chart
The entire school of Overdale utilizes a colored chart to remind students of their behavior. Every student begins their day on green (Ready to Learn). Depending on your child’s choices throughout the day, they will either move up or down the chart. Blue, white, and pink all reflect positive choices made throughout the school day. Yellow, orange, and red mean your child made poor decisions throughout the day. Please note that red requires parent contact and depending on the severity, you may be called during the school day. If a child lands on orange (Teacher’s Choice), this means your child was asked to clip down twice during the school day and will serve a consequence given by the teacher. Typical consequences in 5th grade are lunch detention, morning detention, or loss of free time. Students may also be asked to sit out of school events like Town Hall or special assemblies.
Team Movement and Chatter
I expect for you to stay in your seats while all instruction is going on. There is also to be no talking at this time. If you have any questions or comments, it is more effective to raise your hand and wait to be called upon rather than to interrupt the person speaking. Group conversations may be appropriate at times, especially during group and partner activities.
Hallway Etiquette
One of our Overdale routines is a quiet hallway. This is not meant to be a punishment to our students, but we can get to where we are going a lot faster if our focus is on our task and not who is standing next to us. It is also a sign of respect to other students learning in their classrooms. As most of you know from past experiences, the building can get very noisy at times when people are in the hallways. Let’s do our part to remedy this.
Restroom and Pencil Sharpening
We will take restroom breaks a couple of times throughout the day. These are typically in the morning and after lunch. Therefore, there shouldn’t be a need for students to be leaving the room to use the restroom individually. The exception to this procedure is when emergencies come up. Pencil sharpening should be done in the morning before 9:00 or in the afternoon after 3:30. I recommend having 2-3 pencils sharpened daily. I have this procedure because it is disruptive to constantly have the pencil sharpener going. We are always at work and a pencil sharpener is sure to break concentration.
These are some of our classroom procedures and routines. I feel it is important to have a procedure for almost everything in the classroom because it eliminates unnecessary confusion. You have so much to learn in a short amount of time, so it is important we try to run a classroom efficiently.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.