Mrs. Haney s Second Grade Class 2015-2016 School Year
About your teacher I am so excited to be your child s teacher this year, and start another amazing journey! I absolutely love teaching, and my favorite thing is to see how much children grow throughout the year. This will be my 9 th year teaching at Earhart. I spent 7 years teaching in First Grade, and this will be my 2 nd year in Second Grade. I definitely LOVE teaching second graders! I graduated from Kansas State University in 2007 with my Bachelor s Degree in Education with an emphasis in Math Instruction. In 2010 I graduated with a Master s Degree in Education with an emphasis in ESOL. As for my family, I married my best friend in 2011. My husband is a CRNA and is my complete opposite (in the best kind of way). We welcomed our son Hudson last year and he will be turning one on Sept. 26! He is an amazing little boy and definitely keeps us on our toes! Last but not least, we have a little dog named Riley Jo who loves playing with our little guy. Classroom Information Mrs. Haney s Classroom Rules 1. Listen and follow directions. 2. Make safe choices. 3. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself. 4. Work quietly and do not disturb others. 5. Show respect for school and personal property. 6. Always do your best Second grade work! **There will even be rules for Mrs. Haney that the kids will make up. It s not fair for the kids to have rules, if I do not have any! Conscious Discipline Our school has adopted a discipline policy referred to as Conscious Discipline. We feel that mistakes are opportunities to learn responsibility. Most situations will be solved with natural consequences. Imposed consequences will be used when necessary. Continual problems will be handled between the child and teacher, and then the principal or counselor if needed. In our classroom we have a safe place that provides an opportunity for children to remove themselves from the group in order to regain composure and maintain control when upset, angry or frustrated. Children can go to the safe place in order to be helpful and not hurtful to themselves and others. They may join the rest of the group once they become calm.
Whole Class Behavior Management Plan Golden Coins/Treasure Chest: Our classroom has a treasure chest that will start out empty. There are many things that can add gold coins to the treasure chest all centered around good positive behavior. As a class we will be rewarded for working hard, having good behavior, staying on task, getting positive behavior reports from the specials teachers (P.E., Music, Science, Library), or if compliments are given by other adults or staff around the school, and I will add coins to our treasure chest. Once we have filled up our whole treasure chest the class will get to pick a fun treat to do. Some ideas would be to have recess back on the Kindergarten playground, watch a movie, have a themed party, etc. Individual Management Plan Every day I will be watching for students to make awesome choices! Each child will be expected to follow the rules and work on goals that are set throughout the year. If I see positive behavior throughout the day then children will be rewarded with StarBucks or tickets (see below under Additional Incentives). I do not anticipate any major behavior problems this school year, but I do have very high expectations for the students in our class. Second grade is a great place for students to start taking on personal responsibility for their learning and for their actions. If a child has something they need to work on then I will give them the opportunity to reflect on those decisions. At the end of the day, we have an Encore time built in. This is a time for students to catch up on work not completed during the day or redo assignments that were not completed correctly. If a student had trouble following the class rules that day, they can spend that time reflecting on their actions and come up with a solution to enable them to make better choices in the future. I believe in a positive class environment where we work hard, but have a lot of fun while learning. I believe together we can work together to have a great year! Please feel free to email me any questions or concerns you may have. Additional Incentives StarBucks: Every kid will be able to earn StarBucks from me. They will be handed out to students who do above and beyond the classroom expectations. Some examples would be helping a friend pick up their crayons on the floor, pushing their chair in without being asked to do so, reaching an AR or math goal, or helping another classmate on a project. These StarBucks can either be handed back in at any time for special treats such as reading in the bathtub, getting to sit by a buddy, have a stuffed animal sit on their desk, be a teacher s helper, or use a teacher chair for the day. They can also choose to hand in their StarBucks on special Fridays to get into the prize treasure box or our big prizes which will both be worth more so they will have to save up! My goal is to use the StarBucks to create an
economic system in our classroom. By the end of the year my hope is that the children will learn how to count, save, and strategize with money, and also learn responsibility. Extra Gold Coins: Each day the teacher will have a game with the kids. Teacher vs. Kids. The kids will earn points for following the rules and making awesome choices, and the teacher will get points for the opposite. At the end of the day if the kids have won they will earn 5 extra gold coins. Tickets: Students can also earn tickets (handed out by anyone in the school) for positive behavior, improved grades, extraordinary kindness to others, good deeds, etc. They can save tickets and turn them in to Mrs. Rust for a prize every Monday afternoon. On top of all of those incentives, I have also found some fantastic ipad apps that I will use throughout the year. Our classroom will be very techy. Classroom Expectations: Students are to be in the classroom each day on time. I will provide an environment where learning can occur. No student has the right to interfere with another student s opportunity to learn. Student work areas are to be orderly and clean prior to dismissal each day. Assignments and homework are to be completed when they are due. ENCORE: Each day, the kids can earn Encore time, which is 15 minutes of free time at the end of the day. During this time, the kids can play on the playground, stay inside and read, etc This time is a privilege that the kids have to earn by following all classroom rules, turning in homework, and having their classroom work completed for the day. This is NOT an extra recess. (During our scheduled recess for second grade all children will be given time to have free play each day.) Discipline Procedures: While I do not anticipate any major behavior problems this school year, I do have very high expectations for how the students will behave in our classroom. If students have trouble being safe and following class rules, they will stay inside during Encore to reflect on their actions and they ll come up with a solution to make better choices.
Folders (Children are responsible for their folders. I will expect them to remember to take them home and bring them back every day with the agenda, notes, and homework in them. Students will be rewarded for bringing back their folders.) Here is what each of the colored folders will be used for This year we will have two folders that will come home. I will provide these folders for each child. Blue Homework Folder (This folder will come home every night. It will have their agenda, homework, notes, and any papers that we did in class that are not tests. Please look over the papers with your child, take out the important notes, make sure your child does the homework assigned, and then sign the agenda and put it back in the folder every night. It is your child s responsibility to bring the folder back with agenda signed to school EVERY day.) Yellow Weekly Folder (This folder will come home on Mondays and have all of the tests from the week before. Please take the time to review the papers with your child and help him/her correct any mistakes in their work. You may keep all enclosed papers unless otherwise noted. There will be a space for your signature to let me know you ve received the items in the weekly folder. It is your child s responsibility to bring the signed folder back to school the next day Tuesday.) The following folders will stay at school (except for the AR folder). Students will be responsible to keep the proper items in these folders to help their desks stay nice and tidy. Blue Morning Work Folder Blue AR/Reading Folder (This folder will come home every Wednesday night and is due back to school with the AR log signed the next day -- Thursday.) Yellow Writing Folder Red Math Folder Red Work Completion Folder Green Quiet Folder Agenda Page Please read and sign your child s agenda page EVERY night (Monday Thursday). On the agenda page you ll find notes, important dates, messages, homework assignments, etc. This is used as a good communication tool from school to home. Please feel free to communicate with me through the agenda because they are checked every morning.
Homework Spelling Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Look over spelling practice test. Practice spelling words. Practice spelling words. Spelling practice page. Math Math page Reading Read the weekly story. Read one AR library book 3 times and fill out AR log. Read the weekly story. Notes on Homework: Your child will have homework Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (see the table above for what type of homework they will have each night). I do not give homework over the weekend. The only way your child would have homework over the weekend is if he/she has unfinished work from the school week. It will be sent home Friday to be completed over the weekend and is due back at school on Monday. The students will write down the homework assignment in their agenda every day. The actual assignment will be sent home in a blue folder and should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete because it will be a review of a skill that was taught that day in class. (This may or may not include extra reading and spelling practice that your child does every night. I encourage spelling practice and reading every night even if it is not assigned for that day.) After the homework is complete, parents need to sign the agenda and students are responsible for bringing the completed assignment back to school in the blue folder the very next day. Extra news on Spelling Every Monday we will have a spelling practice test. The students get the rest of the week to practice their words until the final test is given on Friday. We will do a lot of daily spelling activities in class, but please make sure you also take time to study the spelling words at home with your child. Examples of ways to study: Practice writing the words in ABC order Practice writing the words with your opposite hand Make spelling words on the refrigerator with magnetic letters Rainbow write the words Call out the words and have your child do jumping jacks as they say each letter. Call out the words and have your child write them on a paper like he/she would do when taking a test. Then have them rewrite each word they spelled incorrectly 3-5 times. Last but not least go to our class website and head to the spelling downloads page, and download Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe sheets for each week.
Starfish of the day In my classroom we have a whole bulletin board dedicated to our class treasures. Each child has their own square that they will fill at the beginning of the year. Examples could be pictures of the family and pets, something pertaining to their extra-curricular activities (medal, team picture, etc.), or anything they really enjoy which makes them unique. These items will be hung up in the classroom to show off for the whole year. I will send a note home explaining everything in detail during the last part of August so we can start featuring a child a day in September. We will also do a Me in a Nutshell activity at the beginning of the year to learn more about each other! Field Trips It is mandatory that parents read and sign a field trip approval form and return it to school. No student will be allowed on a field trip without a signed form on file. Siblings are not permitted to attend field trips. Birthdays Please feel free to contact me with a time and day to celebrate your child s birthday. After that you can either send treats to school or bring them in. If you choose to bring treats, the parties usually last about 20 minutes. This year a great time for parties is between 3:00-3:40. You may bring drinks, however please make sure they are a clear liquid. Show-and-Tell In Second Grade we will not have a set Show-and-Tell time. It will be more of a privilege. Students can purchase a show-and-tell time with a $20 StarBuck if they want. We will also utilize our classroom gallery wall full of our treasures as a means of Show-and-Tell throughout the year. Last but not least, we will do fun activities throughout the year like Me in a Nutshell to showcase our many talents and ways that make us unique. Parent-Teacher Communication I will be sending home notes and emails of what is happening in our classroom each week and month of the year. E-mail will be my main form of communication. This includes but is not limited to one e-mail every week on Fridays, and periodically when important information comes up. I also have created a class website that has most of the information about our class, interactive computer games, cool websites, apps, and links to other things I thought would be useful for you and your children
at home. Please feel free to use this website all year long with your kids. You can find our new class website by doing the following 1. Go to www.goddardusd.com 2. Choose Amelia Earhart from the drop down menu at the top 3. Click Faculty and Staff and then Teacher Pages. 4. Find my name Melissa Haney (There is also a link to our website at the bottom of every e-mail) I am excited to announce that this year we will have our very own Facebook group! I decided to do a group so that everything will be secure. I will be the only person to control it, and I have to accept each and every person in the group. Therefore it is just for us! I will post pictures that we take in the classroom (no names), talk about upcoming events, and use this group to keep you in-the-know with the fun stuff we do in our classroom! I will be sending you an e-mail to ask you to join our group at the beginning of the year. Please feel free to contact me at any time at school. I can be reached by phone or e-mail. If I am not immediately available, I will get back to you as soon as I can. Grading Scale A 100-95 C 76-73 E = Exceeds Standard A- 94-90 C- 72-70 M = Meets B+ 89-87 D+ 69-67 N = Needs Improvement B 86-83 D 66-63 B- 82-80 D- 62-60 C+ 79-77 F 59-0 I would like to thank you ahead of time for your help in making this a great year for your child. Once again if you ever have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to call, e-mail or set up a time to visit. I am here to help your child have a successful year. It takes all of us working together to accomplish that. Lastly, I am very excited about having your child in my class and I cannot wait for this year to begin! Sincerely, Melissa Haney School phone 794-4080 E-mail mhaney@goddardusd.com
Mrs. Haney s Second Grade Class Daily Schedule 2015-2016 8:40-8:55 Lunch Count, AGENDAS, Morning Work 8:55-9:00 Announcements 9:00-9:35 M/W Science T Library TH Counselor/Computer Lab F Science/Catch Up 9:35-10:30 Math F Reading and Spelling Tests 10:30-11:10 MUST DO/MAY DO Centers 11:10-11:40 Writing 11:40-12:05 Lunch 12:15-12:30 Recess 12:40-1:05 RIT 1:05-1:35 M/W Spelling T/TH Grammar F Spelling Test 1:35-2:10 M/W Music T/TH P.E. F Music/P.E. 2:10-2:50 Reading 2:50-3:10 Social Studies (Snack) 3:10-3:40 Lab M/W/F LEXIA T/Th Moby Max 3:40-3:50 Jobs/Pack Up 3:50-4:00 Recess/Encore 4:01 Go Home *** The schedule for this year is subject to change. Sometimes at the beginning of the year we find out we need to make a few adjustments. Please check our class website for an updated schedule at all times.
Dear 2 nd Grade Parents, I am so excited about this school year, and I am honored to be your child s teacher at Earhart. Together we are a team to help benefit your child and their education. With this in mind, please feel free to contact me ANY time if you ever have questions or concerns throughout the school year. I would like to keep the lines of communication open, so whether it is a call, e-mail, sending a note, or even making an appointment to meet with me, please do not hesitate at all. That is what I m here for! At the beginning of each year, I am always so excited to get a new bunch of kiddos, and I feel very blessed that you will entrust your child with me throughout this school year. I love working with kids, and I take the responsibility of teaching them very seriously. I want to make a positive impact in your child s life, and I make it my goal to help your child continue to grow throughout the year academically. However it is more than that, I want to help your child become the person that he/she is going to be. I want to find out what your child s individual needs are and help them learn in ways that will best support that. It s such a good feeling to know that I ve helped contribute to a child s development and success in life. Teaching is very personally rewarding, and I am excited to begin another year full of making memories each day. I am looking forward to a great school year! Sincerely,