My name is Jeremy Aldana and I will be your child’s teacher this upcoming year. The children will be able to call me Mr. Aldana or Mr. A., for short. For starters, I would like to tell you a little about me. I am a new teacher, as this is my first year, and as such I plan to be flexible and adapt. My goals for every student to learn and be successful, to leave my class with more knowledge then they had before they came to me, and to be able to practically apply what I teach them. I plan to accomplish these goals with a team-approach, as we will all be one team, a positive attitude, and a commitment to your child’s success.
I am a father and a coach with an open mind and light heart. I care about children, seek to guide them, and prepare them for success in their future. I am a big supporter of family involvement, so I will be calling on you throughout the year to get involved in one way or another. Whether it is through presentations, units, chaperoning, helping with our team website, or just assisting the class, I will find a place for you. Research has evidenced that family involvement increases student’s achievement rates, meaning the more you get involved the more successful your child will be. I have an open-door policy for families to speak to me, either by phone, email, or in person. Simply communicate with me your desire to talk, and I will schedule a time.
I believe that every child has the right to earn a good education, which includes maximizing their opportunities to learn. The year is long and there will be a lot of course work, but there will also be ‘down time’ and opportunities for fun. We will become a team and by the end of the first week, your child and their classmates, with my guidance, will decide on a team name. Along with the team concept that I will bring into the classroom, I bring a positive attitude and strong work ethic with me every day. I will make a commitment to both you and your child, that I will guide them, lead them to success, and never give up on them.
I will ensure that the classroom is a safe and secure environment that is focused on learning. You deserve to feel confident that your child will be safe and be able to learn in an accepting environment, and I will ensure that I work to keep it that way. Just as you deserve to feel confident about your child’s learning environment, your children deserves to feel safe and secure. Every student will be given respect, treated fairly, and held to high, but reasonable and appropriate expectations. I will teach students about acceptance and will show them how to celebrate cultural diversity.
Every child deserves the right to an education, and they will need that education to move forward and succeed in life. Along with that individual right, they must respect and understand that all students have that same right. The foundation of teaching has shifted in recent years to the practice of Inclusion, where students will work alongside their peers regardless of their special needs. All students will be expected to take and pass their yearly assessment, with some receiving modifications or accommodations to ‘level the playing field’. This practice is the foundation of fairness and equality, which leads us to expectations that I will have for students to respect one another during all situations.
Classroom rules, norms, routines, procedures, and behavior interventions will serve as the backbone of our class structure. The students will have five rules that they will be expected to follow on a daily basis. They will have norms, which are the ways in which they will treat one another, they will have routines that they will come to rely upon, and procedures they will be expected to follow when accomplishing tasks throughout the day. Students will also have behavioral standards that they must work to meet and then maintain each day. The five rules will be simple, they will be posted in the classroom, and they will be talked about daily. They will be about how to treat one another and how to behave. I will choose three rules and the students will choose two. They will work together, as a team, and decide what is most important to them as a whole.
Chris Manis, the publisher of TeachingTools.com believes in progressive discipline and suggests 10 steps to accomplish it effectively. He states, “In progressive discipline, each step is followed by another, providing students with several opportunities to modify their behavior.” I will follow this theory, though my plan will look slightly different and I can ensure you that I will remain calm and not react emotionally. If a student does not follow a certain rule, for whatever reason they have, then they will receive a consequence. The goal is for the students to be held accountable for their behavior, and progressive discipline is one avenue that is on the right path. Below is a list of possible steps, so you can get an idea of what the students will see:
Step 1: Redirect Student Behavior
Step2: Face-to-Face Conference with the Student
Step 3: Change the student's seating assignment.
Step 4: Informally discuss options with fellow teaching teammates and/or support staff.
Step 5: Time out.
Step 6: Contact the parent, preferably by phone.
Step 7: If the behavior persists, assign a detention.
Step 8: Write a guidance referral.
Step 9: Meet with your direct supervisor or assistant principal
Step 10: Write a detailed discipline referral to your administrator.
The goal aligned with maintaining a high standard for appropriate behavior is one that will ensure your child has the opportunity to learn, and to succeed. When students self-regulate their behavior, respect and accept one another, they will achieve at a higher rate and take more pride in what they are doing. I will make my expectations clear and I will be firm, fair, and consistent every day. We will discuss and post in the classroom, the consequences for rules that are not followed. We will make going over the rules and expectations for behavior part of our daily routine. For instance, I will greet each student, every morning, at the door with a handshake, smile, and a positive comment. Once they are settled in, we will discuss the rules and expectations. The theory behind this is sound and has to do with the understanding that if the classroom atmosphere is accepting, positive, and respectful, then it will be more conducive to learning. Essentially, we will be maximizing our time each day and the students will reap the rewards of that.
Along with this letter, you will receive a school supply list and a parent/student survey. Please take time to fill it out completely. You are encouraged to sit with your child and fill the survey out together. The front side for the student and the reverse side is for the parent. The results of the survey will assist me in getting to know your child, finding out a little about where they are academically, and hearing any of your concerns. I also welcome you to visit my two websites, one focusing on arts in education and the other on classroom management. Many of the ideas and much of the information in this letter came from my classroom management site. There you will find the guidebook that I will follow when teaching your child and leading them to success. There are many articles to read, a sample classroom layout, and inspiring videos to watch.