Welcome and thank you for being here tonight! Your positive energy and commitment to the school are the glue that holds us together. We can achieve anything if we work as a team!
My Background
I grew up in the small town of Moraga in the San Francisco Bay Area and lived there for about 19 years. After moving from Moraga, I lived in a couple of towns in the East Bay Area until moving to Nevada County about 13 years ago. My husband and I currently live in Grass Valley (about an hour and 15 minutes from our school site). I have always loved school and been interested in teaching. I first attended college intending to get a double major in Opera Performance and Education. I later got my BA in Interdisciplinary Studies, and a Multiple Subject Teaching credential for both CA and KY about 7 years ago. I have started my Master of Education degree and I have about 4 classes and a thesis to complete before I am done. This is my third year teaching 2nd grade and I love it!
I come from a large family (7 kids!) full of people in the “helping” professions, pastors, nurses, psychologists, teacher, military service, etc... Some fun facts about me include: 16+ years of classical voice training, I spent a summer studying and singing Opera in Florence, Italy, I ran a Bed & Breakfast Inn for 8 years, and I have “fur kids” (2 German Shepherds, 2 cats, and a bunny). My husband, Jim, is the Science teacher at Squaw Prep. We worked over 2 hours apart from one another for 3 years which required me living away from home mid-week, so being here together is a real treat for us!
My Philosophy
I believe that education should be a balance of student-centered and teacher-directed activities. I believe learning can be both fun and hard work. I have always loved school and I consider myself a life long learner so I work hard to inspire my students as much as my wonderful teachers growing up inspired me. I strongly believe that by working together as a team (teacher, family, student) every child can be successful.
Independent Study/Learning Record Guidelines
Independent study work is required as a part of being an Independent Study based program. Independent study is considered 4 hours of work per day which includes PE and reading time. If your child will be missing school for a trip, you must fill out an Independent Study Request one week in advance so that I can prepare the work. The link is available on the Creekside website. In addition, I also ask that you send me an email to let me know you will need IS. Please review all of your child’s work for errors before turning it in. Although work is due by the end of the learning period, it is preferred that IS is turned in when your child returns to class whenever possible. This is a very important aspect of our accountability and our program.
Learning record conferences will be held the week after the learning period ends. I will provide notice before the time and date for the meeting through the weekly email and post it on the Memo section of the class website.
Portfolios
Creekside Cooperative Charter School requires a portfolio for each child. The portfolio consists of a total of two pieces from each of the learning areas (one sample for each semester). Our learning areas are: Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and PE/Health. The only learning area that I ask parents submit samples for is PE for which you will need 1 picture and description for each semester. Pictures or copies of pictures from any sports which your child participates in can be submitted. I will announce the due dates ahead of time. Please mount the picture on a blank piece of regular paper, 8 ½” by 11”. Thank you.
Homework/ IS Fridays
I believe that children should have plenty of time to socialize, play, and enjoy family time in the evenings. I strongly suggest that your student spread out the homework over the course of the week rather than leave it all for Sunday night. When children have the chance to practice using their new skills, their learning is reinforced and this helps the child in their development. Spelling words will be included in the weekly homework packet, in the weekly memo that I email to you, and posted on the class website. Your child should practice these words throughout the week to prepare for the quiz each Monday. Nightly reading is also a requirement that I think is critical at this stage. The reading can be a combination of parent and student reading together or just the student reading alone.
IS Friday allows Creekside to fill academic state requirements, and just as importantly, it keeps your students prepared and excelling across the curriculum! In our classroom, Homework packets include Friday IS work and are due on Mondays. Although Creekside PTO's Enrichment is fabulous, it does not cover the grade-level standards missed from not being in the classroom. As a parent in our charter, you understand that you are responsible for monitoring, teaching and guiding your student for the 20% of our year that is Independent Study. Therefore, homework packets must be followed, completed, corrected, and retaught when necessary. I encourage you, as the IS teacher, to write notes on the homework packets as needed.
Rules and Consequences
Our classroom agreements revolve around respect for ourselves and for one another. Our agreements were discussed and decided upon by the entire class. They are posted in the classroom and we routinely review them. When a student’s behavior doesn’t meet the class expectations, I will warn students, reminding them of the agreements we all made. After 3 warnings, the student’s name will move from the green box to the yellow box. The student and I will have a short talk and if the student follows the rules, they can move back to green. If the behavior continues the student’s name will be moved to the yellow circle and the student will miss a few minutes of recess talking with me and writing a brief reflection upon their behavior. Depending on the issue they may need to write what they have done on a behavior contract form that will be sent home for your review. A child moving to red would call for a meeting with myself, the parent(s), the student, and possibly Ms. Gillian. The cause of the move to red will determine whether the child will be able to stay at school or if they will need to be picked up, such as with a physical action. I will always contact parents if behavior becomes an issue. Students that stay on green all week get to choose a small treat from our treasure box. Every day that the entire class stays on green, I add some pom pons to our “party jar”. Once the jar is filled, the class and I will vote on a special treat for the entire class (popcorn party, crazy hair day, etc…) Great classroom behavior can also earn the class P.A.T (preferred activity time) for Thursday afternoon. This usually includes academic games or special art projects.
Illnesses
Please don’t send a sick child to school. We are a small school and germs spread quickly. Sick children will be sent home immediately. Please be sure we have accurate emergency contact information to reach you. If your child is sick or will be missing school, please email me and also call the school at 581-1036 by 8:00 am to let us know that they will not be at school. If possible, please complete independent study activities and/or reading on those days. You can review the weekly memo to create your own IS work that follows what the class is working on that week. I also save copies of what we worked on in class to give students upon their return. Children must be fever free and free from throwing up for 24 hours before they return to school. Thank you.
Snow Days
We will follow the same snow days as the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. You can also gain snow day information on the radio/TV or by calling the District snow phone at 582-2510. If a special need arises we may call a snow day that the District doesn’t recognize, we will send you a notification if that is necessary.
Classroom Volunteers
I prefer to have parents volunteer their time to share a special activity or passion with the students whenever possible. Please email me and let me know if you have a special talent or interest that you would like to share with the class, your availability to come visit, and we will go from there to provide a great learning opportunity for the kids. I have been doing this for several years and this type of classroom volunteering has always been very successful and much anticipated by the students. They are so proud to have their parents come in and share something special with the class! Some parents in the past have done: Yoga, Smoothie making, art projects, science activities, wild flower lessons, special presentations on a trip they have taken, etc... The sky is the limit!
The classroom is a place where I aim to create an environment in which the children feel safe and respected. When children are in a “safe” environment they are more willing to take risks and when that happens great learning takes place. I work to create this environment through our classroom meeting time and verbal reinforcements throughout the day. Please remember that when students are trying something new or difficult for them they are very vulnerable. This is where you will play such an important role as a classroom volunteer. When you are working with students I hope that you will encourage all attempts and give a little extra push to those who are reluctant to try.
One example is when I am reading with a student, I will try to make a comment after each meeting about their efforts and/or new achievements. When reading with beginning readers it is important to provide support. Students should not have to sound out every word of text, if this is happening the book is too difficult. In this case I read the sentence to them and have them repeat it pointing to each word as they go. If they are only stretching out words occasionally on a page, they are reading a book at their level. I try to give them time to work it out if they are able (about 5 seconds) and then I will help by either providing the beginning sound or the word. Most of the time I do not spell words for the children. Instead I encourage them to write down the sounds they hear in the word. There are times when we want them to get their ideas on the page and worry about the spelling later. Working to sound or stretch out each word is laborious and will sometimes detract from the creativity. When it comes to math and the student has made an error in their addition, instead of saying, “That’s wrong,” I try to say something such as, “Let’s look at this problem again.” I will then walk them through the steps to solve the problem to help them see where the error was made. All the students are at different levels in the construction of the scaffolding of their knowledge. Each will be working to achieve different individual goals. All of my past volunteers have commented on their amazement at how much the students achieve and grow throughout the year. I hope that your experience in our classroom is as rewarding.
Field Trips
All carpooling information and info on field trips will be posted to the website, as well as shared through emails. Our participation in field trips is based on parental volunteers, for drivers and chaperones. If we Thank you all for all your effort and willingness to participate! Field trip permission slips, donations and drivers have to be turned in to the office TEN DAYS before a trip occurs. It is thus imperative for me to get this information in a timely manner. If students cannot or choose not to participate in a field trip, students must take an IS day for the duration of the trip (or a partial day for field trips that only take up part of a day). There are no exceptions! Please keep this in mind when we are planning trips.