Welcome to Miss Ross' Classroom 
Hello students, parents and families! I want to extend to you and your child my warmest welcome into my class for this school year. My name is Miss Ross and I will be your child's teacher this year. A little information about me, I recently completed my Master's degree in Childhood Education with dual certification in special education at Le Moyne College. I also attended Le Moyne College for my bachelor's in which I studied Psychology. I am very excited to be working for the Syracuse City School District. The SCSD holds a special place in my heart, because I attended Syracuse city schools my entire school career! This will be my first year working as a teacher. I have 5 years working experience with children as a teaching assistant in various different settings. I like to spend my free time reading, working out, shopping, vacationing, playing board games, playing and watching sports (especially baseball) and spending time with my family and friends. I became a teacher because I believe in every child and that they all can succeed. I love teaching children and explaining new things to them. I also enjoy being an active member in the school community and working with all the wonderful families! I am looking forward to meeting you!
"Every child can learn, just not in the same way, and not on the same day”!
My educational philosophy is that each child is unique, and each child learns in a different way. As an educator, I am determined to reach every child in my classroom, and any/all learning needs. I value my job and the opportunity that I have to make an impact on children and their learning experience. I see every day as a chance to open my students eyes to something new, get them interested in a new subject or topic and have my students excited to learn! I cannot describe how excited I am to teach your child 3rd grade and all the requirements your child will need to complete by the end of the school year successfully. I am looking forward to getting to know you and your family!
Classroom Expectations
I have expectations for all of my students. I want my students to be happy, enjoy school, and do their personal best. My academic and behavioral expectations for this school year are made to help each child succeed, they are:
· develop a positive learning/ school attitude
· continue to develop a positive self image
· search for answers to the unknown
· develop organizational skills
· become a responsible, independent learner
· develop reading skills for enjoyment and information
· develop good oral and written communication skills
· learn how to utilize problem solving strategies
· learn to work cooperatively with fellow students in pairs and groups
· learn how to make, and be, a good friend
· recognize personal strengths and find success
As the families of my students I ask you to support them in everything that they do, to encourage them to do their best, and to help them whenever possible and push them when you see they are not giving their all. I am confident that TOGETHER we can reach these goals and make this school year a successful one!
I believe that character education is extremely important. We will be working on this throughout the school year. Every Monday I will present a new character education word to the class and talk about it, during the week I will be watching all of my students and on Friday I will announce what student displayed the character education word the best for that week.
In addition to “character educator of the week”, I will also have a “star student” every month. I will inform you more of this as the year goes on. I will also update my webpage every day with homework, projects, due dates, and every week with classroom and school news you can check the homework, classroom news and school news at the link at the top of the page labeled Homework and classroom/school news !
Curriculum, Assessments and Subject Matter
- 90 minutes of English Language Arts (ELA) daily
- "Walk to Read", (reading groups by level)
- 60 minutes of math per day (we will be using Think Math)
- We will be using the reading series Treasures by McMillan, McGraw Hill
- Social studies, we will be using the Scott Foresman social studies book
- Science
- Earobics and Read Naturally (computer lab)
- New York state requires 3rd grade to take the New York State ELA and math assessment tests
Our Class Schedule 
9:00-9:15 Journals
9:15-9:45 Social Studies
9:45-11:15 ELA Block
11:20-12:00 Specials (art, gym, music, library)
12:05-12:35 Lunch
12:40-1:10 Computer Lab
1:15-1:45 Science/Health
1:45-2:45 Math Block
2:45-3:00 Prepare for dismissal, start homework
3:00 Dismissal
Policies 
Grades
Class participation, class work, and attendance…40%
Tests/quizzes…………………………………….25%
Projects…………………………………………..25%
Homework………………………...……………..10%
Attendance
There is a high correlation between attendance and achievement
1) Regular attendance is expected of all students! Class time is so valuable and is hard to make up!
2) I understand that there are times your child may be absent. Please call and inform the school on the day of the absence and upon your child’s return send a note.
3) Absences and or tardiness due to vacation, staying up late etc is strongly discouraged. In addition appointments during class time should be avoided if possible.
Homework
Homework is important to reinforce what was learned in school. It also helps to build independence and responsibility.There will be homework four days a week. The districts suggested homework time per grade is…
K-10 minutes or less
1st- 10 minutes
2nd-20 minutes
3rd-30 minutes
4th 40 minutes
5th-50 minutes
The homework I assign the students will always be practice of something we did in school. I will NEVER assign homework that the students did not learn yet. The homework I assign should be able to be completed in 30 minutes or less. If your child is taking longer than this or any other issues arise having to do with homework, please let me know and we can collaborate together to make it work for your child.
Please feel free to contact me throughout the year whenever you have any questions or concerns! In order for your child to get the most out of his/her learning experience we need to work together as a team! You can contact me through E-mail or phone. My E-mail address is rossll25@yahoo.com, and my phone # is (315) 380-3800. I look forward to hearing from you!
COME BACK SOON!