Welcome to Fourth Grade

August 19, 2011 | Posted in: Class Updates

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Hello! Welcome to the online home of PGS Room 209. During the school year, I will update this web site regularly with information about activities happening in Room 209, bulletins and news items, current events related to what we’re studying in social studies, online assignments, and much more.

About Me

I graduated from the University of Rhode Island summa cum laude in 2004 and have a degree in Elementary Education and Psychology. I also have a Masters Degree in Educational Technology at Central Connecticut State University‘s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Technology.  In addition to my teaching role at Pine Grove School, I am our school’s lead educational technology teacher and work to help teachers integrate technology into their teaching in meaningful and valuable ways.

This will be my eighth year teaching at Pine Grove School. I taught third grade at PGS for five years before moving to fourth grade. While at URI, I taught grades 3, 4, and 5. I have also taught kindergarten, first, and second grade summer school, and I have interned with an elementary school principal in East Hartford. I have a background in experimental research in the field of social psychology, so you’ll probably see my interest in research and statistics come through this year during math lessons!

I live locally with my wife, my son (Charlie), and our dog (Rimley).  In my spare time, I like to travel to Rhode Island, Boston, or New York City. I also enjoy making movies on my Mac, working on home improvement projects, or just relaxing by cooking, listening to old time radio shows from the 1940s and 50s, reading comic books, or watching the news. I collect old reel to-reel tapes of music, antique or unusual telephones, and all things related to Star Trek.

I enjoy tinkering with my computer and coming up with interesting ways in which I can use technology in the classroom. (You can definitely expect to use computers a lot in Room 209!   I enjoy using computers, our class’ SMART Board, and other technologies while teaching.) Of course, I also love watching my favorite sports team, the Boston Red Sox! (Don’t worry Yankees fans, I promise not to be mean!)

It’s going to be a great year in fourth grade. There are so many new things to learn, and there are some really interesting activities coming up! I can’t wait for the new year to begin!

For more information about our class, click “Read the rest of the entry”.

I will talk about the way I run our classroom during the first few days of school (and during open house/curriculum night, for the parents.) But here are some answers to questions you may have.

HOMEWORK

You will almost always have homework each weeknight, except Friday. I try to give you about 30 or 40 minutes of homework, but you may occasionally get a little more or a little less. That doesn’t include personal reading time, studying spelling words, or practicing math facts. If you don’t have your assignment when it is due, I will send home a reminder note and will usually give you an extra day to make it up (if you are usually on-time.) You do not need to bring a folder for homework; I will give you one. You will be responsible for recording your homework assignments in your planner (which you will get toward the start of the new school year.)

RULES

We will make a class constitution during the first week of school. That will serve as our rules for the whole year, though we can make “amendments” to add or remove rules as time goes on. I have a chart that helps students keep track of their choices. Each morning, students start off on blue, which means that they’re doing a great job. When students make poor choices, I ask them to flip their cards to other colors which mean anything from getting a warning, to having a time out, to losing some recess time. I don’t use this system much, because I find that students normally make fantastic choices! When they do make great choices, I may invite them to put their name on a ticket. Each Friday, you’ll be able to put your “chance” tickets in a box, and I’ll pick a few names of students who will get to pick prizes. But you’ll have to plan ahead to decide if you want to put all your chance tickets in the chance box, because you’ll also need to save a few in case you lose a worksheet or pencil during the day and need a replacement. This will help you to learn the idea of budgeting. (In our class, chance tickets will work a lot like money.) When the class, as a whole, is working well or following directions, I will drop a marble in our marble jar. When it’s filled, you’ll earn a special prize!

SPECIALS

We will have specials each day (usually), mostly in the late morning or early afternoon. Please bring a smock to keep in your lockers for art and be sure to wear sneakers when we have physical education. This is our specials schedule:

TO BE DETERMINED

LUNCH, RECESS, and SNACK

Lunch and recess will be at 12:50 each day. Please note this change in schedule from past years! Your parents should also send you in with a small snack and, if desired, a drink. (Please, nothing too messy and nothing that can easily spill!) Snack will usually be in the mid-morning, so please make sure that you eat a good breakfast before school! You’re encouraged to bring a bottle of water to keep on or near your desk.

LOCKERS and BOOKBAGS

Each student will have a locker of their own. They are standard size, but students often have difficulty fitting in some of the fancier, extra-large bookbags (especially those with wheels). Please be mindful of this, as I do not have extra space in the classroom for storing oversized bookbags during the school day. The lockers cannot be locked, so students should not use them as storage places for valuables. MANY CLASSROOMS CAN SOMETIMES GET A BIT CHILLY, SO YOUR PARENTS SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SENDING YOU INTO SCHOOL WITH A THIN SWEATER OR INDOOR JACKET THAT YOU CAN KEEP IN YOUR LOCKERS THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR.

Classroom Policies

For information on how I handle homework, conduct matters, parent communication, and student privacy, please visit the Classroom Policies page on this website.

If you have other questions that I haven’t answered, please email me at jmoss@avon.k12.ct.us or ask me on Monday, August 29th, during the “Meet and Greet” time between 3:30 and 4:00. Feel free to email me to introduce yourself. I look forward to seeing all of you very soon! Enjoy the last few days of summer!