Welcome to Mr. Rutten's SchoolNotes.com page!
Each week,this page will be organized into the following sections : (1)Summary of previous week, (2)Current requirements (including homework), (3)upcoming projects , (4)Stingrays Team announcements,(5)recurring requirements, and (6)General comments/class overview.[Since I am also the Stingrays Team Leader, I will use this section to keep you informed of important team/school events and activities]The focus for students should be on sections 2 and 3. Many of the items in section 5 and 6 will not change for the entire year. The information is provided for your information and is made available for you to access at anytime.
(1) Summary/Highlights of last week: (1 - 5 June 09) ** 4th Quarter mini-project (Inventions) Turned in [Poster on June 3rd and models on June 5th] ** Students began giving oral presentations ** EOG Retests were given on Thursday through Thursday so the entire school was affected by modified schedules. ** Team outstanding conduct celebration
(2) Current requirements (including homework): (8 - 10 June 09)This week's highlights: ** Go over this week's highlights and schedule ** Continue 4th Quarter Invention mini-project presentations ** Team activity ** Team awards ceremony ** Team end of the year celebration
***Monday: Homework: ** No new homework (any late projects no later than tomorrow at the beginning of class)
***Tuesday: Homework: ** No homework
***Wednesday: Homework: ** No Homework (last day of school for the current school year)
***Thursday: Homework: ** No school
***Friday: Homework: ** No school [end of 2008-2009 school year] ** Have a safe and fun (and short) summer vacation!
***** All students should come to class prepared everyday! Always be ready for notebook / class prep checks.
This schedule is subject to change based on the quantity of material covered in class, weather closings/ delays, conflicts created by other school/ school system requirements, or other unforeseen circumstances. (3) Projects:
*** 4th Quarter mini-projects:
** Ski Jump mini- project: completed
** Invention mini-project: Instructions given out last week. Have your children show you their instruction/format sheets. All students will give presentations (Having models will greatly help their grades. (4) Announcements (Stingrays/LRMS):
*** Items of interest/deadlines:
** May 15 - Interims sent home
** May 18 - EOG Survey and school-wide EOG Pep Rally
** May 19-21 - EOG tests
** May 20 - Original Deadline for returning signed Science interims (Turn in late ones as soon as possible)
** May 25 - Memorial Day Holiday
** May 29 - Draft due
** Jun 1-3 - EOG Retests
** Jun 01 - Late drafts checked (for 50% credit).
Poster board passed out.
** Jun 02 - Early turn in bonus for Invention poster
** Jun 03 - Due date for final Invention poster
** Jun 05 - Models due Friday. Oral presentations begin today also. Everyone must be ready to present today for full credit. Those that do not have the opportunity to present on Friday will present on Tuesday.
** Jun 05 - Outstanding Conduct celebration
** Jun 08 - Invention presentations continue
** Jun 10 - Team Awards, activity, and celebration
** Welcome to the Stingrays team. This will be the third year together for three teachers on our team. The team consists of very experienced teachers. Vicki Hedgepeth (Our newest addition to the team - Language Arts), Margie Farmer (Math), Maxine Wilson (Social Studies), and David Rutten (Current Stingrays team leader and the school's Students of the Quarter Coordinator - Science). ** We certainly enjoyed meeting all of the parents and students that showed up for the new students walk-through last week. We look forward to seeing the rest of you during our school-wide open house in September.
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(5) Recurring requirements: **Quizzes/tests:Some form of major evaluation (quizzes/tests)will be conducted nearly every week.[Note: approx. Seven out of every nine weeks each quarter] You can normally expect them to be given on Fridays. Make-ups are given on Mondays and Tuesdays. Graded quizzes/tests are returned on Wednesdays or Thursdays (after make ups have been given). All tests must be taken home by students and have them signed by parents and returned to school. Although we would expect all students to share all quiz grades with their parents/guardians, I require that all quizzes with failing grades (less than 70%) must be signed and returned. Quick Drills occasionally are like "mini-pop quizzes" but most often are pre-tests. They are given one or more times a week. They are given for many reasons: encourage early studying for evaluations, determine weaknesses early, allow self-assessments by students to allow them to focus on specific areas prior to quizzes/tests, and allow an increased number of mini-evaluations throughout the quarter to reduce the number of high percentage,high-stakes evaluations. Although they can be "pop" in nature, they can always expect one the day before a quiz or test. The others can come at any time.
** Homework:
We encourage parent support of your child's home work progress; however, we continue to stress the importance of individual responsibility and independent work skills. Each student has received his own assignment notebook (agenda) and we expect all students to record accurate and detailed information about their assignments. We are already initialing a number of student agendas so parents can confirm assignments. These were initiated by parents that have instructed their child to come up to us and get our initials. We acknowledge their initiative to start this process early because they know it works if there is a system of incentives established at home that encourages this process.It is the student's responsibility to approach the teacher to get his/her initials. The agenda can also be used to exchange notes between school and the home.Homework is expected to be in the classroom at the bell. Most "Textbook work" requirements are placed on the board one to one and a half weeks at a time. However, these are normally just checked at the end of the 1 - 1 1/2 week for a single grade. Although this reduces the likelihood of homework everyday, all students are encouraged to keep pace by following the "date assigned" column that appears on the board. The due date will always appear in the homework box on the board in class at least 24-hours before the actual due date. Students that keep pace will never have a problem with the due date. Students that wait until the last minute will of course be in the panic mode the day before it is due. This year I have included "Student Flex Time that will allow students to reduce the amount of homework they have by giving them the opportunity to catch up or get ahead on classroom/homework requirements. Students that use this time effectively will greatly reduce homework time.
** Extra credit/Bonus points/etc.:
There are many opportunities for students to help improve their grades. At least two extra credit opportunities are provided each quarter to earn "Extra credit." Most involve a writing assignment of some sort;however, a few can be a simple matter of bringing something in that can help someone (donations to the food bank etc.) Extra credit is worth 100 "homework points". It can be used to replace "zeroes" or even to help raise a homework average to make-up for a poor quiz/test grade. This can be used for a "rainy day" or like an insurance policy. A student with a 100 homework average can end up with a homework average over 100 that can make up for any other "problem area(s)." I do not offer any "special request" extra credit chances. No extra credit can be requested just because a student did poorly on a quiz for example. All students must turn in the extra credit by the due date or wait until the next extra credit assignment is assigned. I also offer many bonus point opportunities on quizzes/ tests/ projects. These must be earned. Bonus points are normally awarded for something other than academic reasons. The focus for these points are to encourage positive character traits: turning in signed quizzes or interims on time, coming to class with the required/ instructed item(s), no tardies, low number "discipline points", extra effort, early turn-ins of projects, willing to accept challenges,etc. By paying attention and making an extra effort, students can help themselves.
Notebook/class preparation check:
Periodically there will be unannounced notebook/class prep checks. All students will be required to produce a variety of items that I expect them to have. These items can include notes, worksheets, lab reports, study cards, textbook work, study guides, other handouts, and required supplies,etc. I will schedule occasional notebook clean-out sessions. Until then, students are required to maintain all required items in their binder. The following items do not have to be maintained in the binder; however, I would recommend that you set up a file at home to maintain these: quizzes, tests, project notes, drafts, and other items that may be identified. The at home file is up to you however, they will not be maintained in the binder at school due to space limitations.
(6) General comments/class overview:
**A form that provided an overview of my class (major topics, grades, homework, etc)will be sent home during the first week of school. All students will be required to show the form to their parents, get it signed , return it to school, and then to keep it in their binder (as the first page of the science section). Some of the forms may not signed when checked during the first notebook check. Please ask your child for this so you can read and sign it prior to the second check.
**To meet state of North Carolina Curriculum requirements, we will be using four primary textbooks. Students will not be issued individual textbooks. Students will be using part of a classroom set during class activities. Students will be given access to an on-line version of our textbooks. Instructions will be sent home in the near future. Most students will be provided sufficient time to complete all assigned work that requires a textbook (during "Student Flex time". If necessary, students that do not have access to a computer will be allowed to check out books for a single evening at the end of the day. They will be required to return the textbook during homeroom the next day to ensure that sufficient copies of the book are available for all periods. Most students and parent liked this situation because of the large size of most new school textbooks and the extreme weight of taking multiple books home. We once again stress individual responsibility. If the students are responsible (plan, organize, make a serious effort) then the book issue has never been and will never be an issue.
**Discipline system: The team utilizes a team concept of discipline that is consistent with Wake County and LRMS policy. We use a point system that has been utilized by various teams for over 10 years. It ensures a consistent team policy and also encourages individual responsibility and self monitoring. Points are posted periodically in the team leaders room . All students will over the system, school, and team policies and procedures during the first week of school. All students took home a folder to parents that outlined / highlighted these policies. Both student and parents were required to sign each page in the folder. The folders are maintained on team. Please look over the school's policy in the student agenda / student handbook. The team policy allows for an intermediate team level consequence for student behavior (for many less serious infractions)rather than going directly to a school administrator. Serious infractions will receive a more rapid response by administrators.
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