Greetings Bulldog
Parent(s),
Welcome to
the 2009-2010 school year at Mt. Baker. I am excited to
have your child as a Mt. Baker Bulldog in my
language arts or leadership class. I earned my teaching degree at
the other OSU (Ohio State University). I have taught
second, fifth, and now sixth grade in the Auburn School District
for the past 20 years. Yikes! Where has the time gone? I also have
been coaching volleyball at Mt. Baker for the past six years. This
year I will coach one of the 7th grade teams. I love working
with middle school students. They are a unique group of
adolescents, and I think they’re a lot of fun. I’m a
high energy person with a quick attention span, and that seems to
be a great match with 12 and 13 year olds. I run a fast-paced,
interactive classroom. I incorporate music and group/partner work
every day. I have high expectations for myself and my students, but
I also love to laugh and have as much fun as possible while
we’re learning. I am
convinced that 6th grade is the "sweet spot" at Mt.
Baker.
I will be
teaching two sections of language arts, two sections of honors
language arts, and one leadership class. My leadership class is
considered an elective class that develops leadership
potential and stronger social skills. This class has very
little outside homework. All of my language arts students
will be assigned homework Monday-Thursday. This will be
written into planners daily and will be posted on this
website. Placement into the honors language arts class was
based on 5th grade test scores in reading and writing. I
teach all of my language arts classes basically the
same way. The biggest difference has to do with pacing and depth of
discussions. I assign many of the same projects/
tests and want all 120 language arts
students to be challenged to work to their full potential. If
you have any questions about this, feel free to call me or
contact our counselor Bruce Vatne who is charge of the
Honors program at Mt. Baker.
I view you
as my partner in your child's education. My desire is for your
child to be very successful at Mt. Baker and in life. I will
do my best to communicate with you on a regular basis with my SWIFT
website that you can access on the Mt. Baker
Website. My teacher website will be updated weekly. This
will tell you what's going on in your child's class. The event
page will tell you about upcoming important events. From my
website using Family Access you can monitor your child's
grades and see if he/she has any missing
assignments. Just click on the "grades" tab on my website. If
you do not have a password, you can contact Mrs. Steffy or Mrs. Fox
in the attendance office. A progress report will be sent home
mid-semester, but please check Family Access and your child's
grades weekly. If you need to contact me directly, the
best time is between 1:05-2:00 daily when I have my
personal planning period. If you email
me, I will do my best to respond within 24
hours. Please keep in mind that I teach 150 students
and am teaching straight from 7:30-1:05 with a half hour
lunch break. Since I let kids into my room at 7:15, I often don't
get to emails until my planning period at 1:05. You can also
contact me after school between 2:00-2:30. I am not at
school until after 7:00am. Students arrive in my room by
7:15, so this is not the best time to call. I tend be rushing
around prepping for the day or have morning hall/bus duties.
I look forward to getting to know you and your child this year.
Have a great day.
Ms.
Winter
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