Mrs. Steffens
About Our Classroom

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Daily Schedule

7:35-7:45

Arrival/Morning Routine

7:45-8:00

Morning Meeting

8:00-8:45

Specials

8:45-10:25

Block I: Core Reading/Social Studies/Writer's Workshop

10:30-12:10

Block II: Math/Science/Health

12:10-12:50

Recess/Lunch

12:50-2:25

Guided Reading/Intervention

2:25-2:30

Dismissal Routine/Dismissal

 

Mrs. Steffens' Homeroom Letter Day Schedule

Day A: Physical Education

Day B: Library

Day C: Art

Day D: Music

 

 

Mrs. Steffens' Expectations

Fifth grade is an incredible adventure.  Students will learn and grow so much this year.  I have high expectations of my students for behavior and learning.  I follow the Love and Logic theory for behavior management, meaning that I believe in logical consequences for actions, delivered with empathy.  I expect students to speak, write, create, calculate, estimate, reason, debate, research, hypothesize, receive and give respect, and think on higher levels in all subject areas.  I also expect each child to learn to do all these things in his or her own way.  I do my best to be fair; to make sure each child gets what he or she needs in order to be safe, to feel loved, and to learn. 

 

Behavior

Love and Logic, at a glance:

  • Love allows children to grow through their mistakes.
  • Logic allows them to learn from the consequences of their choices.

 

The Love and Logic Process

  • Shared control- Control is shared between teacher and student. 
  • Shared thinking/decision-making- Provide opportunities for your child to make much of the thinking/decision making. 
  • Equal shares of consequences with empathy- I believe empathy is imperative when problem-solving. 
  • Maintaining the child’s self-concept- Increased self-concept leads to improved behavior and improved achievement. 

Model Citizenship

•In addition to the Love and Logic philosophy, I expect model citizens in our classroom, school, and community.  Students are expected to behave as model citizens at all times, in the classroom, hallways, cafeteria, playground, etc. (I will explicitly state what this means for the students when school begins.). 
•Everyday the students will rate their behavior (this includes effort and learning) on a 1-10 scale (10 being a model citizen and 1 being an unproductive citizen).  Students will record this number in their assignment book at the end of the day.  As I come around to sign their book, I may either agree with their behavior rating, or I edit it. 
•This helps keep the balance of shared control and allows students to reflect on their behavior and learning for the day.  

 

Homework

  • Expect some type of homework Monday-Thursday.  District policy requires that fifth graders have an average of 40-50 minutes of homework per day.  It should be a reinforcement of the skills taught in school. 
  • All assignments will be posted daily on the “Lights, Camera, Assignments” board with a due date (typically due the following day).
  • Assignments are expected to be recorded in the student’s assignment book daily. 
    • Take out – I will do my absolute best to return complete homework and class work to students within 24 hours of it being submitted.
  • REMEMBER: At Park Hills we believe homework is such an important responsibility, that we maintain a Homework Center where students can go to finish incomplete homework during recess. 
Last updated June 15, 2015
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