Welcome to Mrs. Jackson S Neighborhood Located on Navy Lane

Welcome to Mrs. Jackson’s Neighborhood located on Navy Lane

at Loftis Middle School

Parents/Guardians,

I am pleased to be part of the Loftis Middle School faculty and to have an opportunity to work with your child as we transition from Arithmetic to Algebra. Seventh grade is a transitional year and therefore is a big step for students. You can expect the curriculum to be more advanced which leads to a need for strengthened study habits. However, be assured- when parents, teachers, and students work together, children adjust well.

CLASSROOM PROCEDURES AND EXPECTATIONS

o Quizzes & Tests

o Quizzes are considered a minor weekly assessment to assess a student’s understanding of weekly teaching sessions. Tests are major assessments given at the end of several lessons and at the end of a unit. Quizzes are given at the end of every lesson unless otherwise communicated to student and posted on website.

o Students who perform below an 80 on any quiz will be allowed corrections. They will receive half of the missed points back if corrections are correct. This is not simply to improve scores but understanding.

o Daily Work

o Daily work represents Guided Instruction from PowerPoint lectures and Guided Instruction from their (Mathematics Instruction Textbook) and other experiences as designed by teacher to facilitate instruction. Students will receive a Notebook assessment for this instruction.

o Bi-weekly Daily Work Quiz is designed to practice related Standards from previous quarters. Students will be given a weekly handout with questions to complete and will be reviewed briefly during class. This is considered a Skills Review. A Skills Assessment grade will be recorded every other week.

o Homework

o Homework is mostly from their (Practice and Problem Solving) sections in their Notebook denoted by a particular Unit Number. Additional assignments outside of this will be assigned on an as needed basis.

o Fluency o Fluency assessments will take place in the first 40 days of the 3rd quarter to ensure students have the basic Arithmetic foundation to be successful in 7th grade math concepts. These assessments will be completed mostly without the use of a calculator due to the nature of the math concepts learning and the TN-Ready Assessment requirements.

 Late and Make-up Assignments

o Students will be allowed 1 day to turn in late/missing assignments for an 80% credit if all solutions are correct. For late assignments, 80% becomes the 100%.

o Make-up work for absences will be allowed the school/district policy of 5 days to turn in assignments for full credit.

 TN-Ready Assessment (replaces TCAP)

o TN-Ready Assessment will be given on May 1, 2016. (See additional information on my teacher website page.)

MISSION

My vision is to sustain success among students by providing appropriate, accessible, alternate and adaptable structures for learning. Providing these types of learning structures will enable students to develop skills needed to prepare them for the next level of learning and beyond.

Providing an appropriate structure for learning involves knowing the content as well as the context of my core subject. By doing so, students are prepared to achieve success on state standardized tests, in the classroom and for real-life application.

The structure must also be accessible and adaptable to be relevant for students. Making the curriculum accessible entails knowing where the student is represented on the spectrum from college-ready to almost ready to not ready and how to move them from one level to the next (differentiation).

Additionally, by furnishing appropriate, accessible, and adaptable learning structures, students must be offered alternate learning structures, too (Academic Lab & Tutoring).

Finally, preparing students to compete in the 21st Century Workplace entails providing students with

 Information and communication skills;

 Thinking and problem-solving skills;

 Interpersonal and self-direction skills;

 Global awareness;

 Financial, economic, and business skills; and

 Civic literacy.

BIO My name is Vivian Jackson. I have over 20+ plus years as a Tax Accountant, Educator, and Mentor. I have been employed in Hamilton County as a 7th Math, Algebra I and as an 8th Language Arts teacher. I am qualified to teach all Middle School subjects except the Arts and P.E.

Mrs. Jackson Student Signature: ______

7th Math (Navy) Loftis Middle School Parent Signature: [email protected]

Date: ______