Greetings to each one of you!
My name is Clint Fisk and I am one of the English instructors at Lakes High School. I look
forward to spending the year helping your student move successfully through American Literature.
This is my sixth year teaching at Lakes High School. I moved here from Minnesota after teaching in Sioux City, Iowa, and in St. Peter and Northfield, Minnesota. Both towns are suburbs of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. This will be my tenth year of teaching and I continue to enjoy doing what I do. I appreciate the originality and energy of high school students and believe that learning is the true key to improving everyones life. As learning increases, life struggles decrease. Because I believe this is true, I take your teen's time in my class very seriously.
As the year begins, I want to impart to you the importance of making sure your teen gets off to a solid start. There are four key elements to success and I believe the first two elements are you and your teen. The final two elements are the administration and me. The system and curriculum for this class are firmly established and we believe that they can move your teen forward to success. Yet, individual students can be overlooked since there are so many needs from so many students. Here is a list of things that can cause complications with any student's success:
1- Absences: Any time a student misses class, they miss out important bits of information that
can not be accessed outside of class. Being present during class WILL improve your teen's skills and learning.
2- Not turning work: Some students believe they can skip the assignment and still gain the
skill or understanding. This is not true. Almost all low grades are due to missing assignments.
3- Not connecting with me for missing work due to an absence. It is so easy to procratinate when getting missing work for a
a class, but with a schedule that has classes every other day, two weeks can fly by without realizing it. Make sure your child has
stopped by after school to collect missing work. I am happy to give them the time they need to finish it, but not when they request the work two or three weeks after they work was due.
3- Lack of sleep and good nutrition: All studies are in complete agreement that not getting enough sleep effects the brain's ability to think. Studies also show that teens are generally not responsible enough to choose sleep over social/television activities. Most teens may need a clear support to help them be more healthy in their sleeping habits. Students also find it difficult to wake up with enough time to have breakfast. Any doctor will agree that the mind and body work significantly better when it gets fuel in the morning. Not having this will cause a student to to think less clearly and then to shut down. It seems no parent would want their child to be constantly preforming below his or her ability. Parents and teachers want students to reach their highest potential. A good night's sleep and quality nutrition are invaluable.
As you support your student in creating healthy learning habits, my job is to make sure the classroom environment is primed for learning. In order to keep a smooth, focused class, here are some of my classroom policies:
1- Everyone will show respect to one another with words and actions.
2 Students are considered tardy if they are not in their desk by the class bell.
3 Late work is rarely accepted for daily assignments.
4 Work from an excused absence will be happily accepted within the established dates. To simplify the time limits, students have one complete week from the date of their absence to make up the missed work, unless their absense was longer than a week or other arrangements have been made. This seems like a generous amount of time for the missing work to be completed.
5 Cell phones are NOT to be used in unless specified by me. Imagine if, when you were in high school, all the desks had a phone to be used whenever a student decided to use them. It would have been very disruptive.
If there is an emergency, do not call your child's cell phone. If you do, I will not be able to confirm that it was a call from you. Instead, call the office (583-5550) to have your call transfered to ext #7408. You then can briefly explain the emergency to me and express how I can best be of assistance.
Please remember that every call disrupts the lesson and will affect the learning at that moment.
Finally, I request that you stay updated with your teens progress frequently and communicate with me whenever it becomes neccessary. I want you to be assured that my goal is helping your child be successful. Your input is important. Here are a few things that may help us to make sure things are moving in the right direction:
1- It generally takes the first four weeks of each new quarter to establish a clear grade.
2- As grades are established, I post them in the classroom weekly.
3- You are very welcome to request a progress report at ANY time during the year. I can
send them home via your student, or email them directly to you.
4- I am also happy to meet with you after school to discuss progress. It is best to call
ahead to establish a time to talk. My room is number is P-123.
5- I check my email daily. Email me at cfisk@cloverpark.K12.wa.us. I will almost always respond that day, or the following day. If I don't, I won't be offended at all if you contact me again. Technology does not always work the way we expect and sometimes does not reach my inbox.
6- I may not always check my phone messages daily, but you are welcome to call if you choose. My
phone is (253) 583-5550 ext. 7408. Please call after 1:00 p.m.
I hope the information in this letter is beneficial for making this a smooth and successful year for your child, and to also help you and I maintain reasonable sanity as we move through the year with ELEVENTH GRADE students!
Again, I look forward to teaching your son or daughter, and working together with you to assure success.
Sincerely,
Clint Fisk
English Instructor