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Teaching Philosophy:

I will try to provide students with a safe and carefree environment to enhance their maximum learning potential. I will see that each student is feeling comfortable in their learning and that each and every one of my students will leave my class with education in skills, life, and they will learn a little about themselves and what they are capable of doing. They will have fun in my classroom as well as learn the basic skills needed to go to the next step in their learning experience.

My Basic Information:

Nicholas Thibodeau Grade 4 (St. Francis Elementary School)

Professional Information:

I graduated from the University of Maine @ Fort Kent in 2005 with a bachelors in Computer Applications, a associates in business, and an associates in coaching. For 5 years, I have been both men’s and women’s basketball and softball coach for grades 5-8 and over the years, have become good friends with most of the students. I love working with kids, all the kids know who I am, and even though I only have a bachelors in computers, I feel that I have the ability to teach at this grade level because of my social skills, my college education, and lastly, because I grew up in St. Francis, I will be able to have a special bond with each kid as well as their parents. I will be teaching the 4 graders all basic subjects as well as physical education and health.

This page was last updated on October 30, 2005 Email Address: thibs311_@hotmail.com or Nicholas.Thibodeau @maine.edu

St. Francis Elementary School Information: Phone number is 398-3107, school consists of 180 kids, and the Principal is Mrs. Martin. Located in the middle of St. Francis, about 15 miles west of Fort Kent towards the Allagash.

Classroom Policies & Procedures:

Homework & Attendance Policy:

Each student is required to pass in their homework and projects on time required. If any homework or projects are late, the students will automatically lose 5 points each day the assignment is late. Each student will have the opportunity to set up arrangements with me so that I can give them special attention and help on their homework. If students do not need help, that is fine, but they will all have the opportunity to meet with me as long as they want but only during my free time. The attendance policy for MSAD #27 schools are all the same. If a student is not at school and does not have an accused absence from school, then the Principal’s secretary will call up the parents or that student to confirm that the kids are not skipping out of school for no reason. My classroom attendance policy will work quite the same way. If students are missing from my class, I’ll call up the parents after the school day is over and have them explain why their child wasn’t at school today. This will also allow me to tell the parents what the child missed in school that day and give him/her the required homework needed so that they do not fall behind in their classes. If I find that some particular students are missing school too many times to the point where they are falling behind in their classes, then I will talk to the Principal to arrange a meeting with that child and his/her parents to discuss why the student hasn’t been in class and what we can do to fix things to better situate the child.

Classroom Management Plan:

My classroom consists of exactly 15 students, which is a relatively small classroom considering the fact that the school has 180 kids in it. On the first day of school, I will hand out papers describing to the children the classroom policies, rules, consequences, and rewards. I will present this hand out along with a power point presentation and discussion so that the kids fully understand what they can or cannot do in the classroom. Some basic rules of the classroom are:

1.) You are not allowed to speak or distract the class while I am speaking. If you want to be acknowledged to speak, each student must raise their hand and keep it up until I call on them. 2.) There will be no swearing, “potty mouths,” foul-play, or hurting of other students. My kids will learn to respect one another as well as myself. They will all learn to get along with each other, become friends, and work hands-on with each other in order to build good team skills. 3.) If students need to go to the bathroom, they must ask me first and I will give them a bathroom pass. No one is allowed to wander the halls or go anywhere else besides the bathroom. Students are also only allowed to leave their desks under my permission. 4.) When I ask them to do homework, read, or assignments in class, each student will sit at their desk to complete their homework. If they have any questions or need help, they will raise their hand and I will come to them for help. No one is allowed to talk while I am helping with another student.

• I am a very lenient teacher. I go by a rules system that is generally laid out for my students. If a student acts up or breaks any of my rules, their name will be recorded on the board. Checkmarks will be given out to students who do not follow the rules more than once. One checkmark will be my warning, two checkmarks the student will miss part of recess, three checkmarks will result in the child losing all of their recess time for that day, and if the checkmarks go beyond that, I may have to set up a one-on-one session with the student and possibly his/her parents to try to determine why the student has been acting up in class.

• I will allow students to create a rewards system for them and their classmates. We will all create a poster that will have all of our names on the left hand side, all of our dates on the top, and it will be sectioned off into rows and columns. Each day that my kids behave well in class and I feel they have had a good day, I will give them a “star” for that day. Once a student receives 10 stars, they will be rewarded by either getting candy, special privileges assigned by me, it could cancel out some of their checkmarks so they can go to recess, etc. The rewards will be established by me and my students so that they will all have the opportunity to want to behave in order to achieve their goals that they want so much.

Parent Resources:

Tips to Help with Homework:

I would encourage each parent to discuss with their child when they get home about what they learned about in class today. This is a good way to see what your child has been learning, if you are satisfied with what I have been teaching them, and gives you the parents the opportunity to help their students with any type of homework they may have. By discussing with your kids what homework they have to do, it’s a way to open the barriers of communication with them and shows them that they can ask for help whenever they need it. Also, set up a reward system with them as well. This will give them extra incentive to finish their homework and after a while, they will get used to doing and finishing their homework. Make sure to help your child understand that if he/she needs help in anything, that I the teacher am available whenever they may need it and that it is okay that they may not understand something. As long as the students realize that they are not alone in their studies, then they will have more confidence when doing their homework. Try to spend at least an hour with your child each night and just do homework.

List of Needed Supplies:

Since we are a small school and a small community, most of our supplies will be available to us considering what type of budget we have. Over the years, the community of St. Francis has been very generous when it concerns our budget. They realize they are a small school and they try to do everything to make the students learning experience here a great one. For my 4th grade class, most supplies will be available to them from our budget and original school supplies that we’ve had over the past few years. I feel that the more books the children have to read, the better their reading and grammar skills will be once they pass the 4th grade. I ask all parent to try to provide as many used books acquired for your child’s reading level. Every class we will have time to read any books that the children may want to read. Make sure they bring books from home that will challenge them in their reading I would also like for them to bring nutritional food to class for snack time. I feel this is the age where kids start to get into the junk food and soda stage. Kids need to learn that nutritional is a very vital thing to help their bodies maintain and acquire as much knowledge as possible. Try to pack fruits, yogurt, and juices in their lunches so that your kids can grow to love these foods that are very good for you. Other school supplies that could be needed are pencils, pens, markers, poster paper, creative arts to make projects such as glitter, crayons, stickers, etc. As I said, most of our supplies we need to learn for the 4th grade are already provided to us. Before the school year starts, I will send out memos to all the parents to ensure them that I may need some added supplies over the year such as supplies for class parties and class projects, but other than that we should be fine already for the class.

Student Resources:

Due Dates for Homework:

All assignments will be provided to the students through me. I will write down on the board what homework the students need to finish, all the due dates for each assignment, and each assignment will consist of a description that will be laid out to them explaining what I want. For example, this would be what I would post up on the board for my student’s homework assignments:

HOMEWORK for Dates October 21-October 27

• Read Chapter 2 in Science book (Pages 43-67) • Read Chapter 3 in History book (Pages 80-101) – Do Review Questions at the end of chapter three on page 102 (#’s 1-4) • Complete hand out on Multiplication – Spend time studying your multiples of 5 • Spelling Quiz on Friday

This layout will be provided to the students on the blackboard every week. This way, students will be able to see what they need done. The due dates for each assignment will be given by me and will be decided by me as well. All the students have to do is write down their homework in their planner or assignment book and also write down when they are due. If students have any questions about what assignments they have to do or when they are due, they should ask me and I will verify for them what they need to do. All assignments will be explained in detail in the beginning of the week and students will have reasonable time to finish their assignments in class as well.