Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions 
of students and parents.

1. How long have you been teaching, and what other experience do you have?
2. What is the 'class boss'?
3. How can I get my child to do their homework?
4. Why is your homework different than the other classes' homework?
5. Where do you get the spelling list from?
6. What's the bathroom policy?
7. What about volunteering in the class?
8. What are your weaknesses?
9. What's this thing about fishing with the kids?
10. Can you tell me all about your custom made weekly progress reports?
11. What about absences?
12. Is it true that you let the students email their parents who are deployed?
13. What's all this talk about being "at grade level"?

How long have you been teaching, and what other experience do you have?

I have been teaching since 1997.  I have taught sixth, seventh, 
first, second, and third grade. Prior to that I founded and 
operated my own 55 seat restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA. I feel 
that my experience in the private sector has taught me a lot 
about meeting the needs of the client. I see you, the parent, as 
my client, and I try to go out of my way to meet your child's 
needs. In addition, my wife of 11 years and I have 3 daughters, 
3, 9, and 11. 
   When I have time I work as a freelance writer and 
photographer for international travel and fishing magazines. You 
can see this by visiting my site, www.bluewaterjon.com. I really 
enjoy teaching the shills I have learned- photography, 
videography, digital design, Photoshop, and marketing- to the 
students. I have traveled a lot and I use my adventures in 
Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Amazon Rainforest to 
teach and inspire my students.

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What is the 'class boss'?

Every morning I pick a student to help me manage the class. They 
help me keep the kids in line and so forth. They assist me in 
managing the class, so your child won't get in trouble because 
of the class boss, they'll get in trouble when they break a rule 
and I catch them. I give every child a chance to be the boss. It 
helps them see the class from the teacher's perspective and 
breeds strong leadership skills. Many times the kids it helps 
the most are the ones who are usually getting in trouble the 
most. When they are boss, they have to act as the role model. 
They feel involved and important.

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How can I get my child to do their homework?

Go back to my "links" page (you can click on it from the top of 
this page) and click on the link that deals with this issue. It 
is directly from the U.S Government and is very accurate and 
useful. It tells you how to set the tone so that your child will 
do the work. It also tells you not to do the work for them. I 
can't recommend this page enough!

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Why is your homework different than the other classes' homework?

I make up my own homework based on what I think is directly 
related to what I am teaching. My job requires that I teach the 
CA State Standards and to ensure that every child is given equal 
access and opportunity to meet these goals. I try to make it 
engaging and challenging, and I want to eliminate the needlessly 
busy work and the space-wasting drawings and graphics of store 
bought material.Often I will use the tools that have been 
provided to me, and when I think I can create work that is more 
closely aligned with the CA State Standards (see them on the 
links page) and is more engaging, I do that. I will do my best 
to never assign any work that we have not gone over in class 
several times. 
I want it to be meaningful, and I want it to be something that 
can give the parent an idea of what we are focusing on in class.

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Where do you get the spelling list from?

I look at the CA State Standards, and then I look at their 
writing so that I can include their commonly misspelled words. I 
also teach spelling patterns, like drop the y, add -ies to make 
it plural. I teach regular and irregular verbs, past and present 
tenses, and I include words that utilize prefixes, suffixes, 
root word changes, and non-phonetic spellings.

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What's the bathroom policy?

The concept here is, everyone has to go once in a while 
unexpectedly, and that is ok. That being said, many bathroom 
trips can be eliminated by the kids managing their free time 
wisely. That means that before school starts, when they are 
running around on the playground, they should make sure they 
use the restroom so that they don't have to during classtime. I 
constantly remind them of this. Same goes for all recesses and 
lunches. Once in a while it's ok to go during class, and as long 
as the student goes and behaves themselves while gone, fine and 
dandy. If  a student tells me that they have an urgent need to 
use the restroom, and then when they leave the room they waltz 
around in the halls and swing around the bathroom pass instead 
of going to the restroom, then I will warn them that if they 
continue to abuse the privilege, the next time I may require 
another student to escort them to the restroom in an emergency, 
wait outside the restroom, and then bring them back.      
     Now, if your child has a medical issue where they cannot 
hold it, just let me know and they will be allowed to go 
whenever need to. If I don't hear from you then I will assume 
they have no such issue. On the "Parent Survey" I include a 
question about whether or nor not your child has any special 
needs. This would qualify as one, and I consider it my duty to 
accomodate these needs.

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What about volunteering in the class?

      I need someone to run off the homework Monday. I usually 
have it ready to copy at 11:30 and I need it copied and stapled 
before 2:35. In addition to that, I need a reader to come in and 
read to the kids once a week. It's great to volunteer and it's 
wonderful to have visitors. 
     Let's work together to ensure that each parent's volunteer 
work is a positive experience for all students. It is natural 
for children to expect special treatment or extra attention from 
their parents or the teacher when their parents are volunteering 
or present in class. Every child, whether their parent is able 
to come in or not, deserves the same amount of attention from 
the teacher. 
     Therefore as much as I encourage parents to volunteer, we 
ask that they do so with an eye towards fostering their child's 
independence. Volunteering twice a week for an hour each time 
will be just fine. Come on in and help out, we'd love to see you 
all!

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What are your weaknesses?

I am not good at keeping track of things like box tops, yearbook 
orders, book orders, class parties, and things of this nature. I 
am very focused on instruction and making this a safe, 
productive, and interesting learning environment. If you have a 
knack for these things, then maybe that can be your role. Let me 
know you are good at that and consider yourself hired. We will 
arrange a time for you to perform these activities.

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What's this thing about fishing with the kids?

The Del Mar Basin next to the YATYAS quanset hut (past Sharky's 
Restaurant) is a fine place to fish. Look at the links page for 
a map. It's the water basin just north of the civilian harbor. I 
go there all the time with my own kids and it is a fun thing to 
do with the teacher. I have all the equipment. If you want to do 
that, then what you do is let me know you want to, and 
then you come to class directly after school. You have to go get 
a dozen bloodworms and a pack of #6 hooks at Pacific Coast Bait 
and Tackle (2110 S. Coast Hwy # E, Oceanside, (760) 439-3474 on 
Coast Highway in between Oceanside and Carlsbad). I'll bring the 
rest. Bring a camera and a snack. You will have to remain there. 
We'll stay from about 4:00 to 6:00. It's best to go at high 
tide. Go to the links section of this site and look at the link 
for La Jolla Surfing, it has a tide chart there. Bring clothes 
for cold and have the kid wear clothes that can get a bit dirty, 
expecially the shoes.

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Can you tell me all about your custom made weekly progress reports?

Every Friday I send home a detailed custom-made progress report 
that tells the parents all about how their child is doing in 
class. 
The following are included in the report:
     -"spelling used in writing" grade
     -quality of in class writing grade
     -spelling test grade
     -vocabulary test grade
     -math test grade
     -homework effort grade
     -in-class effort grade
     -paying attention and on task grade
     -behavior grade
     -notes from teacher
     -parent comments area
     Friday is a very busy day. We start taking tests almost as 
soon as we get seated. Then I try and grade them so that the 
students and their parents get immediate feedback on how they 
are doing. If you look at the progress reports you will notice 
that the kids get two indicators of their spelling 
progress. One is the score they got on the spelling test. The 
other is called "Spelling Used In Writing" and this is an 
indicator of how well the student spells words when they are 
writing. This is more important than the spelling score. Lots of 
kids can memorize a spelling list but the real test is how their 
spelling looks when they are writing from the heart.
     The student will get these progress reports Friday when we 
are leaving for home and then it is up to the parent to sign it 
over the weekend. After the parent reviews it with them they 
need to bring it back to me, signed, on Monday morning when the 
bell rings. That way I know that the parent got the note; it 
ensures that there is good parent-teacher communication. If the 
child doesn't get the progress report back in Monday morning, 
they lose the morning recess, unless they have a valid excuse. 
This may sound harsh but the kids get the hang of it quickly. 
The good thing about this detailed progress report is that the 
parent always knows how their child is doing. The parent should 
not have to wait for the report card to find out this 
information; report cards only come out three times a year. The 
information in the report cards should not be a surprise. 
This takes care of that.

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What about absences?

If your child is well, send them to school. If they are not, 
keep them home until they are well. Otherwise they will get the 
rest of the class sick and then lots of kids, possibly even 
myself, will be out sick. If they are sick when they get up, 
don't send them to class in hopes that it will magically 
disappear. It won't. Trust me, I work them hard enough in class. 
A day or two won't hurt them academically. Now, if you are 
taking your child out on an extended absence, like when you go 
on a trip to visit relatives, you will need to go the office and 
fill out an independent study form. I will assign 
work. IF it gets done, you will get credit (I think that's the 
way it works) for the absences, but I will check it, and you 
will only get credit for the work that is done. If you are gone 
a week and your child does only 40% of the work I assigned, then 
they get credit for only 40% of the time gone. 
When you return, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT, give the work directly 
to the attendance clerk in the office IMMEDIATELY, if you want 
credit. The clerk thoroughly examines it for completeness.

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Is it true that you let the students email their parents who are deployed?

Yes it is true. I want the kids to learn how to use the internet 
(under supervision). Emailing their parents, through a hotmail 
account I setup for the class, allows them to maintain close 
ties with the parent who is away, makes the kid feel better, and 
it reinforces writing and typing skills. Do me a favor and get 
me your deployed spouse's email ASAP so we can set this 
up. Know this, though- I do periodically check the contents of 
the emails to make sure that nothing strange is happening. You 
never can be too careful when hooking a kid up to the internet. 
This has been a practice in my room for many years now and it 
works wonderfully. In addition, I can scan the kid's writing, 
photos, and drawings and send them too. It's like sending a 
letter.

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What's all this talk about being "at grade level"?

     The State of California and Oceanside Unified School 
District requires that we assess our students in certain ways 
using certain tests. From there we are required to make a 
determination as to where each student stands. 
     Are they performing at a level that is equal to where the 
State requires that they be? That'd be "At Grade Level". For 
example, when the children enter the class, I am required to 
figure out their reading levels. I am given reading assessments 
by the district. I give the assessments exactly as directed to 
the students, and the results tell us if the student is reading 
at a third grade level, below that level, above it, or almost at 
a third grade level- what we call "approaching grade level". 
Then I simply tell you where they are at. 
     My preference is to tell you right away, within the first 
couple of weeks of them entering class, what their reading, 
writing, and math levels are. We could put it off, but that 
doesn't help anyone. The sooner we know exactly where your child 
is at, the better we can meet their needs. 
   As a parent, the thing that I like the least is when a 
teacher of one of my daughters doesn't tell me that my child 
is behind in an area, and then she receives low scores at report 
card time. If she is low in a particular area, I want to know 
right away and hear what the plan is, in class and at home, to 
get her back on track. Of course no one likes to hear that their 
child is behind in an area of study; we'd all like to hear that 
our kids are at or above grade level- but I figure if they are 
behind, better to deal with the facts right away and get into 
the solution than to pretend that everything is great and wait 
till they get low marks on their report cards. I'd be happy to 
discuss this matter with you further if you have any questions 
and review the assessments we give, and your children's results. 
In fact, if you are curious, you are welcome to watch me assess 
them in a one-on-one situation after school.

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