Hello James Monroe Families,
Thank you for checking my class website. I teach multiple classes, so if you
don't see information on your child's class at the top of the page please
continue to scroll down.
This page is the area of my website where I will post information specifically
for parents. I will leave the parent letters on this page all year, so you
have easy access to my class expectations. I will also add announcements
regarding class progress on this page as well. Please try to check the website
at least once a month for updates to this page.
Thank you,
Miss Mandy Cain
Language Arts/Literature Parent
Letter
Dear James Monroe Families,
Welcome to a new year at James
Monroe
Middle School! I
would like to personally welcome your student to my Language Arts/Literature
class and briefly explain my goals for the year. I believe that the voices of
students and their families are a core requirement in creating a successful
learning environment. Thus, I would like to invite you and your child to be
an integral part of my classroom.
It is my intention to create
curriculum that centers on student knowledge and pursues student growth. I
believe in individual assessment and intend to discuss strengths and areas of
improvement with students as often as possible. I will treat you and your
child with respect and understanding. I believe that in order to receive the
benefits of my one class rule, RESPECT, I must also adhere to it as
well. During the first week of class, students and I will have a discussion
on what that rule entails. At this point we will collectively create a more
complete list of class guidelines. If a student fails to meet the guidelines,
as directed by the class, the following actions will occur:
First offense:
The student will receive a verbal warning.
Second offense: The student
and I will talk about the behavior and the student’s name is put on the board
as a reminder to have good behavior.
Third
offense: Student/Teacher contract #1
Fourth offense:
Student/Teacher contract #2 (This contract comes home for a signature.)
Fifth offense: A
referral will result at this point.
*Any of
these steps can be skipped if the situation calls for it.
I believe that we can work
together to resolve the majority of behavior issues swiftly to create a safe
environment for exploratory learning.
I do not intend to assign much
nightly homework. It is my goal to get as much work finished in class as
possible. However, if students do not use their class time wisely, it is
possible that assignments will need to be completed at home. There will be
two types of regular homework. First, students will complete spelling or
vocabulary assignments for a bi-weekly Friday quiz. Second, I will ask that
students read 3 nights a week for 30 minutes and keep a reading log that will
need to be initialed by an adult verifying that the reading was completed.
This homework assignment is intended to increase reading fluency. Students
will be asked to read their Accelerated Reader book at least one night a week.
However the other two
nights students are allowed to reading most anything they like including
magazines, comic books, Internet magazines/news articles (no blogs or MySpace
because these sites are often grammatically incorrect), books, homework from
other classes, newspapers, etc. Almost anything you approve of is fine with
me.
In that vein you should be aware
that we will have 20 minutes of independent reading at the beginning of class
on Literature days. Your child will be participating in the Accelerated Reader
program during this class time and will be allowed to choose the literature
they want to read. I
do not have a preference regarding content of your child’s book, so I ask that
families keep in touch with their children and monitor their reading choices
from home. For students’ convenience, I have an array of books in my room that
I can lend out. The books vary in theme and difficulty. Some of my books are
adult novels, so I please ask that you are aware of your student’s reading
needs and notify me if there are any problems. I will be happy to work with
your family’s preferences.
Progress reports will be issued
during the middle of each quarter. I will be happy to provide progress
reports at parent request at any time during the year. Please contact me via
e-mail, note, or call if you would like me to send these reports home for your
child.
I will be utilizing writing
portfolios to organize and improve student writing in conjunction with a
writing scoring guide. A
scoring guide gives students honest critique of their writing, but it allows
the teacher to assign passing grades to students who continue to struggle.
The only way to fail my
class is to not turn in work. The
scoring guide is a six point scale that works with a 20 point system that
looks like the following.
6= 20-19pts 5=
18pts 4=17-16pts
3=15-14pts
2=13pts
1=12pts
and
0=0pts
On student papers, students will
receive a score ranging from six to one. This
will help students understand when they need to work harder to achieve higher,
but it will eliminate the danger of failure from students who genuinely try,
work hard, and turn in all of their work. The
6 point scoring guide will also be used to grade literature assignments and
homework. However,
students will be graded on a straight 20 point scale for quizzes.
If a student does not
study for a test or quiz, he/she will receive the grade he/she earns.
The points will then be
weighed evenly and translated into the following percentage scale to create
final grades.
100-90 A 89-80
B 79-70 C 69-60 D Below 60 F
Completion of work is essential
to pass my class. I would like to encourage you to use my website and check
your child’s agenda as often as possible. This will help you stay up-to-date
on your child’s class work.
Attached is a sheet that confirms
receipt and understanding of this letter. This is also a great place to make
me aware of any special situations or needs of your child. We will work
together to accommodate your child as best as possible.
If you have any questions please
feel free to contact me via e-mail at cain_a@aps.edu,
or by phone at the school. The JMMS phone number is 897-0101 and my extension
is 22153. You can also visit my web-page to obtain lots of pertinent
information including homework, and current events.
http://teacherweb.com/NM/JamesMonroeMiddleSchool/MissCain/
I am looking forward to a great
year!
Sincerely,
Miss Mandy Cain
Journalism Parent Letter
Dear James Monroe Families,
Welcome to a new year at James
Monroe
Middle School! I
would like to personally welcome your student to my Journalism class and
briefly explain my goals for the year. I believe that the voices of students
and their families are a core requirement in creating a successful learning
environment. Thus, I would like to invite you and your child to be an
integral part of my classroom.
In this class we will be creating
the school’s yearbook, newspaper, literary magazine, marketing those items,
and working on other forms of mass media. It
is my intention to create curriculum that centers on student knowledge and
pursues student growth. I believe in individual assessment and intend to
discuss strengths and areas of improvement with students as often as
possible. I will treat you and your child with respect and understanding. I
believe that in order to receive the benefits of my one class rule, RESPECT,
I must also adhere to it as well. During the first week of class, students
and I will have a discussion on what that rule entails. At this point we will
collectively create a more complete list of class guidelines.
If a student fails to meet the
guidelines, as directed by the class, the following actions will occur:
First
offense: The student will receive a verbal warning.
Second offense: The
student and I will talk about the behavior and a written warning
is issued.
Third
offense: Student/Teacher contract #1
Fourth offense:
Student/Teacher contract #2 (This contract comes home for a signature.)
Fifth offense: An
office referral will result at this point.
*Any of
these steps can be skipped if the situation calls for it.
I believe that we can work
together to resolve the majority of behavior issues swiftly to create a safe
environment for exploratory learning.
The Journalism class will be run
as dictated by students. Students are responsible for knowing the assignments
they are working on and meeting deadlines. I will be requiring students to
keep a log of the work they are currently working on and notifying me of
progress. We are creating student publications that will be printed and
distributed to the community. Each member of the journalism staff will be
expected to pull his/her weight. If consistent problems occur a student
can/will be removed from this class. At this point, we have never had a
problem that has resulted in removal from the course.
During the year students will
have access to school equipment including computers, cameras, a video camera,
a scanner, and camera equipment. Students will be able to check out the
cameras and their equipment to complete yearbook assignments. However,
if your child chooses to check out a camera, he/she will be responsible for
the full cost of the camera and equipment in the incident that it is
lost/stolen/damaged. If you do not want your child to check out a camera
from the school, he/she will be expected to provide digital pictures in
another way (e.g. use of personal equipment). If you have any questions or
concerns regarding use of school equipment, please contact me so we can
discuss other options. In the past we have had few problems with equipment
check out, but it is better to know that problems can occur.
In this class students will be
required to work in pairs and cover school events for the newspaper/yearbook.
This will mean that occasionally students will need to attend after school
events including club meetings, sporting events, parent nights etc. There
will be ample notice provided so that coverage of these events can be
arranged. If there are any problems regarding this aspect of the class, I
will need to be notified as soon as possible, so we can make alternate
arrangements.
I will be utilizing a scoring
guide and writing portfolio to grade and organize student writing this year.
A scoring guide gives
students honest critique of their writing, but it allows the teacher to assign
passing grades to students who struggle. Virtually
the only way to fail my class is to not turn in work.
The scoring guide is a six
point scale that works with a 20 point system that looks like the following.
6= 20-19pts 5=
18pts 4=17-16pts
3=15-14pts
2=13pts
1=12pts
and
0=0pts
On student papers, students will
receive a score ranging from six to one. This
will help students understand when they need to work harder to achieve higher,
but it will eliminate the danger of failure from students who genuinely try,
work hard, and turn in all of their work. The
points will then be weighed evenly and translated into the following
percentage scale to create final grades.
100-90 A 89-80
B 79-70 C 69-60 D Below 60 F
Progress reports will be issued
during the middle of each quarter. I will be happy to provide progress
reports at parent request at any time during the year. Please contact me via
e-mail, note, or call if you would like me to send these reports home for your
child.
Completion of work is essential
to pass my class. I would like to encourage you to use my website and check
your child’s agenda as often as possible. This will help you stay up-to-date
on your child’s class work.
Attached is a sheet that confirms
receipt and understanding of this letter. This is also a great place to make
me aware of any special situations or needs of your child. We will work
together to accommodate your child as best as possible.
If you have any questions please
feel free to contact me via e-mail at cain_a@aps.edu,
or by phone at the school. The JMMS phone number is 897-0101 and my extension
is 22153. I am looking forward to a great year!
Sincerely,
Miss Mandy Cain
Drama Parent Letter
Dear James Monroe Families,
Welcome to a new year at James
Monroe
Middle School! I
would like to personally welcome your student to my Drama class and briefly
explain my goals for the year. I believe that the voices of students and
their families are a core requirement in creating a successful learning
environment. Thus, I would like to invite you and your child to be an
integral part of my classroom.
It is my intention to create
curriculum that centers on student knowledge and pursues student growth. Drama
is a class that one cannot merely observe, so in order for students to be
successful in theatre they must feel safe enough to perform for their peers.
Respectful behavior is
crucial to success in this class. I will treat you and your child with respect
and understanding. I believe that in order to receive the benefits of my one
class rule, RESPECT, I must also adhere to it as well. During the
first week of class, students and I will have a discussion on what that rule
entails. At this point we will collectively create a more complete list of
class guidelines.
If a student fails to meet the
guidelines, as directed by the class, the following actions will occur:
First offense:
The student will receive a verbal warning.
Second offense: The student
and I will talk about the behavior and the student’s name is put on a white
board to serve as a reminder to use good behavior.
Third
offense: Student/Teacher contract #1
Fourth offense:
Student/Teacher contract #2 (This contract comes home for a
signature.)
Fifth offense: An
office referral will result at this point.
*Any of
these steps can be skipped if the situation calls for it.
I believe that we can work
together to resolve the majority of behavior issues swiftly to create a safe
environment for exploratory learning.
Students will be graded on a
number of criteria throughout the semester. Due
to the nature of the class, participation will be a significant part of the
grade. A
large portion of the class’ activities will be theatre games, warm-ups, and
performances. Students
are expected to take part in each of these activities in order to receive a
high participation grade. A
participation rubric will be developed by the class during the first week of
school, and we will use this rubric to grade participation.
Students will also be required to
keep a Drama binder. Binders
will be used to organize vocabulary, journal entries, hand-outs, scripts,
notes, and quizzes. Although
drama primarily consists of performance based instruction, this year we will
be utilizing writing tools to increase understanding of the theatre.
Students will be assigned
a variety of small homework assignments. We
will focus on theatre vocabulary, so students will have some vocabulary
assignments. Students
will occasionally be asked to watch different genres of television or film and
write a review. Finally,
students will also be required to memorize lines as homework this semester.
Finally, students will be
required to participate in a whole class performance at the end of the
semester. This
performance will serve as the students’ final examination.
As a class we will design,
rehearse and perform a series of short plays. I
will work with the students to provide them with the opportunity to work as an
actor or a crew member. I
cannot guarantee that all students will be able to perform in the capacity
they most prefer, but I will do my best to provide all students with the
opportunity to work in an area in which they feel comfortable.
We will perform these plays for
the school during the day and for families one night at the end of the
semester. Attendance
at the evening performance is mandatory for all students, cast and crew alike.
The nature of this class
is different from most; when performances are missed, there is no opportunity
to make up the work. The
entire class works very hard to create this production, and when one student
is missing it affects the entire group. So,
it is imperative that students attend this performance.
Grades will be calculated using a
ten point scale. Each
grade acquired throughout the semester will be weighed equally except the
final performance which will be weighed to equal 25% of the student’s final
grade. (I
will send home another letter approximately one month before the final
performance explaining exactly how this grade works.)
Students will be keeping a
data folder, so they should be aware of their grades at all times.
Final grades will be
calculated using the following traditional percentage scale.
100-90 A 89-80
B 79-70 C 69-60 D Below 60 F
Progress reports will be issued
during the middle of each quarter. I will be happy to provide progress
reports at parent request at any time during the year. Please contact me via
e-mail, note, or call if you would like me to send these reports home for your
child.
Completion of work and
participation is essential to pass this class. I would like to encourage you
to use my website and check your child’s agenda as often as possible. This
will help you stay up-to-date on your child’s class work.
Attached is a sheet that confirms
receipt and understanding of this letter. This is also a great place to make
me aware of any special situations or needs of your child. We will work
together to accommodate your child as best as possible.
If you have any questions please
feel free to contact me via e-mail at cain_a@aps.edu,
or by phone at the school. The JMMS phone number is 897-0101 and my extension
is 22153. You can also visit my web-page to obtain supply lists, homework,
information about me, answers to frequently asked questions, a school events
calendar, my class schedule, and my weekly goals. http://teacherweb.com/NM/JamesMonroeMiddleSchool/MissCain/
I am looking forward to a great
year!
Thank you,
Miss Mandy Cain