How to Excel in Fifth Grade with Mrs. Shear:-)
Welcome Parents and Students! I’m very excited about the upcoming school year and am hoping you are too. I look forward to getting to know you as I see you each day throughout this school year. I have many exciting, learning experiences planned for us during this fifth grade journey.
I’d like to share some of my classroom policies in trying to answer frequently asked questions. However, please feel free to contact me at MAMS (748-2516), home (748-3557), or by email (shearli@medford.k12.wi.us) if you have further questions or concerns.
Online grades/grading system: MAMS has been posting grades online for several years now and this is a wonderful resource to access. Please contact the District Office for an assigned user name and password. If you do not have computer access, progress reports are mailed home every three weeks, if requested. I can also print grade reports for your son or daughter to bring home. MAMS grading scale is the traditional A (90-100%), B (80-89%), C (70-79%), D (60-69%), and F (59% & below).
Daily assignments: I operate similarly to a math teacher in that we work each day in the classroom on different activities throughout my subject units. I also incorporate work time each day, so that my students should have limited ‘homework’ for my subject areas when this time is used appropriately. I try to be very conscious of how busy family life has become.
Late work: Late work will be accepted for full credit, but will be marked down in the 'responsibility' area. I do use the comment section to help me keep track of how many times in a quarter a student turns in work late as well as noting the particular assignment. If this seems to become chronic, I will be contacting you to help resolve this situation. We are a team in regards to your child’s educational career and working together always creates success! Also, I incorporate ‘restricted lunches/late work citations’ for those students who struggle with turning work in on time. You should have received a letter during the first week detailing our Late Work citation policy. Please contact me if you did not.
Redoing work: The goal in my classroom is to ‘master’ curriculum concepts. With this in mind, students are able to redo any assigned quarterly work (earning a D or F grade), in a timely manner, in order to improve their grade. This has proved to help my students, your children, with accountability and responsibility in improving the work the second time around. If this becomes chronic, I reserve the right to deny this privilege.
Extra credit: I believe in working hard each and every day! I do not offer extra credit in order to improve one’s grade at the end of a quarter nor at anytime throughout the school year.
Group work: Your child will work in a variety of groups in my classroom. There will be times when I place them in a group and times when they will choose a partner or group members. In these situations when they are required to work together in accomplishing a common goal, I will hold them individually accountable for a grade. Criteria will be known ahead of time and each will be expected to produce toward that end.
Behavior: Behavior, effort, and participation are extremely important factors in a classroom environment. Respect is essential in my classroom between students and myself. I expect students to work hard and participate in daily activities. If a problematic situation arises, I will address it in some way. I will work to resolve it by using any combination of the following: teacher-student discussions of expectations, behavior citations, phone calls to parents (by student or teacher), emails sent to work or home, detentions per MAMS discipline plan (as outlined in the handbook), code of conduct referrals, and meetings with Mr. Hraby and/or Mr. Leonard. Please feel free to meet with me at the beginning of the school year if you feel your child struggles with behavior, effort, and/or classroom participation. Let’s work together to be proactive toward the educational success of your child!