Mother Teresa Catholic School
7501 Willow Drive, Grande Prairie, AB T8X 0H7
E-mail:
Phone: 780-814-9732 Fax: 780-814-9762
Dear Parents and/or Guardians,
Welcome to the grade 5/6 class at Mother Teresa Catholic School. My name is Mrs. Tapson and I will be your child’s teacher this year. I have been teaching for six years, married for ten and the mother of four wonderful children. I have been thinking about this year all summer and I am confident it will be a fun and productive year. Although I am your child’s homeroom teacher they will have Mrs. McDonald, our Vice Principal for French, Health and Drama.
In order to keep you up to date with what’s happening in our classroom I will provide updates every two weeks on our school website; In order to reach my teacher page simply go to the schools website and click on the ‘teacher pages’ link. If you would prefer paper copies of the updates please let me know and I will make sure you get those. Please be advised that pictures of your child may show up on our classroom site; however no names will accompany them. If you do not want your child’s picture on the site please let me know. If I do not hear from you I will assume you are fine with their picture being posted.
Class Mottos
This year we have three class mottos, they are posted outside of our class. They are;
1. Fair is not everybody getting the same thing. Fair is everybody getting what they need to be successful.
· This is something I firmly believe and will adhere to. In my class fair is not always equal.
2. Growth vs Fixed Mindset, we choose Growth.
· A fixed mindset is where we believe that our intelligence and talents are fixed at birth, unchangeable. Brain research tells a different story and that is where we get the growth mindset. The growth mindset views intelligence and talent as changing and developing. We will be doing a lot of research into the brain this year and learning about what happens when we learn.
3. This is a risk-taking, mistake making classroom!
· There is no success without failure and I want students to embrace this. Every mistake they make is only another step on their way to success.
Subject & General Information
I have designed programs of instruction for the different subjects that will best meet the needs of all students in the class. Please read below for a more detailed description of the programs.
Language Arts
· Reading Program: Students will be involved in a guided reading program. Guided reading is an instructional approach that involves a teacher working with a small group of students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can all read similar levels of texts. The text offers challenges and opportunities for problem solving, but is easy enough for students to read with some fluency. Students focus on meaning but use problem-solving strategies to figure out words they don’t know, deal with difficult sentence structure, and understand concepts or ideas they have never before encountered in print.
· Writing Program: Students will be engaged in a writing program that will place emphasis on the writing process with direct teaching of the 6- traits of writing. Students will have numerous opportunities to write in multiple genres.
Math:
· Math is one of my passions. I believe that with math is a subject that enables me to teach basic facts but also things such as persistence, risk-taking and problem solving. Math also fosters students’ natural curiosity, human beings love a puzzle and math in a nutshell is a series of puzzles. Although learning basic facts are an important element of math they are a small portion of what the new math curriculum sets out as its goals for student learning. Being able to demonstrate and communicate mathematical understanding and reasoning is a very important and large portion of the math curriculum. My overarching goal for all students in math is that they leave the year with a belief that math is fun, a wiliness to make mistakes and learn from them and confidence in their mathematical abilities.
Social Studies:
· The social studies program is a project based program. Students will work on a series of projects that will assist them in mastering their understanding of the respective Alberta Social Studies curriculum. The Social studies program is deeply rooted in inquiry based learning, which is a process where students are involved in their learning, formulate questions, investigate widely and then build new understandings, meanings and knowledge. I am excited about this program and the products students will yield.
Science:
· Like the Social Studies program the science program will also be project based. We will focus on the Scientific method as well as the inquiry process. Science lends itself to student’s natural curiosity and I want to use this. We will be doing tons of experiments, many of which students will design themselves! It’s going to be a fun year!
Religion:
· I am very active in the church and my faith is very important to me. I have a certificate in Theology from Newman College and I make an effort to integrate the Catholic faith into all aspects of my teaching. as well as reflect the Districts three year Religions education plan. The religion program will be very similar for grade 5 and 6 the biggest difference will be in sacrament instruction. Grade 6’s will receive instruction on the sacrament of confirmation, while the grade 5’s will be focusing on a different topic.
Physical Education:
· I cannot begin to express how important it is for children to have opportunities for regular physical activity. I plan to introduce the students to a variety of different activities in the hopes that they will wish to continue participating in one of them outside of the PE program.
If you have any questions about any of the programs please feel free to contact me at any time. The following is some information regarding the day to day logistics that enable a classroom to function.
Classroom Principles:
· I have three guiding principles upon which I structure my class, they are; Respect yourself, respect others, and respect yours and others property. Throughout the year we will consistently come back to these and work on developing them.
Agenda’s:
· Students will be expected to use their agenda’s daily. We will take time at the end of each day to write in the agenda’s. However, I will not be checking them to see if they are signed. My expectation is only that they write in them, how or if they use them after that will be up to you and your child to decide.
Classroom rules and consequences:
· I do not have a list of rules or consequences specific to my class. I simply apply the school rules and consequences to our classroom. We will go over as a class the expectations for the school and the consequences if those expectations are not followed. If you would like a copy of these expectations and consequences please let me know and I will make sure you receive one.
Homework:
· Students will have homework as well they will be expected to read for a minimum of 20 min each night. The purpose of homework is to provide students will extra opportunities to practice a known concept. Reseach states that it takes an average of 35 times doing something to become only 80 % efficient at it, I would even argue that the number is higher than that, thus the need for homework. I emphasize students practicing a known concept because having students practice a concept when they do not have full understanding of it is ineffective. So if your child has homework and you feel they do not understand it please have them wait and meet with me the next school day, rather than continue to do it at home.
Marking:
· The district elementary report card is an outcome based reporting system. Students are given either an Insufficient, Basic, Proficient or Excellent on the general outcomes the teacher formally assesses. I model my marking and assignment design after this system. Each assignment/ project the students complete will be linked to specific outcomes from the Alberta curriculum for that subject. The marks given for each assignment/ project will be in the same form as the report card, Insufficient, Basic, Proficient or Excellent, I do not use percentages. This in turn allows me to provide you with a more accurate report of how your child is doing each term. I have attached a document that gives you more information as to what the Insufficient, Basic, Proficient and Excellent mean.
Lunch:
· Students will eat lunch in the classroom. Pop and energy drinks are not allowed. If students bring them they will be taken and sent home at the end of the day, or dumped if they are opened.
Electronics
· I am a strong supporter of technology in the classroom and I will do my best to integrate it as I can. However, I will never request that your child bring in their own device. If your child brings in their own electronic device it is at their own risk. They may use it for school if they have it, however it will NEVER be required. The school and staff are not responsible for any lost or stolen electronics. The policy for electronics is that they are not to be used unless by the discretion of the teacher, otherwise if they are seen or heard they will be confiscated. Students are not to use electronics at any time during breaks with the exception of last recess. Please contact me if you have any other questions on this topic.
As a Catholic School we believe we are all one family in Christ. To exemplify that in our own classroom we will have a family board above our prayer table. I have sent home a small piece of construction paper, on this please put a picture (or pictures) of your child’s family members. No need to write anything and that’s fine if the pictures are photocopies (mine will be J).
I also have attached a ‘get to know you’ sheet that would be very helpful in getting to know your child. A part of this sheet will ask for your email. The school’s monthly newsletter will be emailed out to parents and most other correspondence between the school, teachers, and parents is done by email. If, however, you would prefer to receive a paper copy via your child please indicate that to me in the email section of the sheet and I will make sure you will receive the paper copy as well as email.
If you have any questions about anything I’ve mentioned, or forgot to mention, please feel free to contact me at any time, either at the school, 780-814-9732, or by email . Again I look forward to teaching your child this year; I know it’s going to be a great experience for us all!
God Bless!
Laura Tapson
MISSION STATEMENT
Mother Teresa Catholic School is committed to building a sustainable culture of outstanding leadership, exemplary teaching and excellence in learning within the context of Catholic Education.