My educational philosophy is that every child has the ability to learn. It is my role to facilitate learning opportunities and encourage all of my students to become productive citizens and lifelong learners. Within all of my mapped curriculum lessons, I have built elements of multi-intelligence activities and assessments based on real world situations. This enables reinforcement of skills and provides prior knowledge and enrichment. Parents are the first teacher of the child and I value their knowledge and input. As a parent and school volunteer, I know the importance that parent involvement and contributions brought to my own children's academic successes. As a teacher, I bring to the classroom the expertise on how children learn best, and how best to meet the expectations of our school district curriculum. Together, we will help the student reach our mutual long-term goal of seeing him/her graduate.

My Expectations For Your Child
I expect no more than any employer would expect of their employee.
· Come to the job every day prepared to work.
· Complete quality assignments in a timely manner.
· Respect and courtesy shown to those with whom one works.

~In Regard to Homework~
I Don't Expect You To Have To Do It
There will be no more or less than 30 minutes of homework assigned every night.
More work is inappropriate for your child's schedule and for your family life. Less means it is inappropriate material, or your child has left/forgot something at school he/she should have brought home. You can be assured that all materials assigned are exercises in lessons learned, and should not require your help to complete. Should you find that your help is necessary, please note it on the assignment calendar. That is my signal that I need to review an earlier concept for gaps, or my directions were not clear. Your focus is to provide a quiet place to work, look over the “finished” product before 8:00 at night, and have the assignment calendar initialed.
On occasion, there may be a family project or assignment that might require your input. I am teaching students to present what they know in ways they learn best. Therefore, it is essential that it be their hands-on effort that is judged. In the process of doing the assignment, they are learning about the subject and interacting with you. Your contribution to the project is to brainstorm ideas with your child, provide presentation/material use suggestions, and keep them on schedule. What is important is the project's uniqueness in presenting your child's “voice”, not it's cost or sophistication. Believe me, I'm not looking for a grandiose product, just a person proud of what he/she has learned.
I too had one of those “night before” or “morning of “ procrastinators that made me consider child abuse. I promise to give you plenty of warning and a rubric to go by, so you can adjust your schedule to help with family projects. Newsletter may also be helpful to keep up with your student's schedule. If something unavoidable comes up before presentation time, contact me and we'll adjust the deadline.

~Test and Assignment Make-Up~
With a parent's signature, a student may complete test or assignment within three days of absence. If the absence is on a Friday, they may retest or turn in assignment by Wednesday with parent signature.

~Retaking Tests~
Teacher made tests may be taken as twice to pass with a 75% or a score of 4 on rubric. Appointments to re- test will be scheduled for teacher availability and with parent signature.
Scores will be averaged for nine weeks grade. District tests will be given with only one makeup (District Policy).

~Long Term Absences~
Should a situation arise where the student will be unavailable for a longer period of time than two days, I will be happy to keep track of assignments that must be completed when the student returns to campus. I will not, however, prepare work for a student to complete while they are absent. I believe my reasoning justifies my stance. If the child is ill, they are not physically able to do a quality job. If it is a family situation that causes the absence, there will be little time to spend with the student to assure sufficient tutoring. I prefer giving the assignment when the child returns to work for two other reasons as well. There may be discrepancies in scheduled lessons due to whole class understanding, or entire school scheduling. Finally, my 20 years of experience has revealed that I seldom have received the same quality of work from the absent student that compares favorably with those who finished their assignments in the classroom setting.

~Talk to Me~
If there is something that your child relates about our classroom or an assignment that strikes a chord of disbelief, confusion, or unfairness get a message to me ASAP. I promise I'll get back to you before the day is out. Most problems are due to miscommunication or misunderstanding of the situation by one or all of us. It's always simplest and less damaging to the student-teacher relationship if it's resolved quickly with the parties involved.
Do not hesitate to come to me if you think a personal or family problem might hinder your child's learning – because believe me, it will. I, or someone in my family have experience every physical, financial, emotional, and social setback or hardship that might affect your home situation. I promise I can empathize. I will of course keep the situation confidential, and will do everything in my power to support your child until the issue is resolved. But first, you have to let me know.