Contact Information

Mr. Timothy Brown

Blandford Elementary School

4650 McCall Rd.

Rincon, GA 31326

912-826-4200

tebrown@effingham.k12.ga.us

ESOL Information for September and October, 2017

General Information

School Information

Hello and welcome to the 2016 2017 school year at Blandford Elementary School. My name is Mr. Timothy Brown, and I am excited to be your childs ESOL teacher. I have 12 years of teaching experience and my second year at Blandford Elementary. I only speak English, but I am trying to get most information from the school translated. If you need to speak with myself or another staff member, please notify the school to make arrangements, so we can try to meet the needs of all our families. Please try to notify the school in advance with parent letter or email the teacher (s).

School Hours 7:30am 2:35pm

Students may not be dropped off before 7:10am.

Students may not be picked up after 2:00pm.

If your student is going home a different way than normal, please send a letter and/or email the homeroom teacher before 8:00am.

SPOTLIGHT! Help your child learn from mistakes this school year

Its the beginning of a new school year and students have a fresh start. But it wont be long before they make a mistake on a homework assignment or testand thats OK. What matters is how children and parents respond to those mistakes. Instead of glossing over them, parents should help children learn from them. Research shows that when parents and teachers encourage students to learn from their errors, those children do better in school. One reason may be that fixing mistakes shows kids they can improve that smarts arent something they either have or they dont. Intelligence can be increased. And when students understand their errors and dont repeat them, they become more optimistic about their own brainpower. When reviewing your childs work this school year, first point out what he did well. Then, to help him learn from his mistakes: Point them out. Rather than saying, Dont worryyoull do better on the next math test, ask if he understands why his answers were wrong. If so, have him work the problems again. If hes not sure, offer suggestions or encourage him to ask his teacher for help. Praise progress. Did he miss only two problems on his latest math test? After reviewing his mistakes, remind him that hes improving. Show him how paying attention to past mistakesand correcting themmade a difference. The more he sees this, the more he will believe in his ability to improve. Source: H.S. Schroder and others, Neural evidence for enhanced attention to mistakes among school-aged children with a growth mindset, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Elsevier B.V.

Copyright 2017, The Parent Institute www.parent-institute.com

About ESOL

Families that registered and stated that their child speaks an additional language other than English are tested using a language assessment called WAP-T. Students who qualify for ESOL service remain in their regular homeroom class but get pulled out and come to the ESOL classroom for English only instruction. On some occasions the ESOL teacher might remain the homeroom class with the students.

Kindergarten through 2nd grade receive 45 minutes

3rd grade through 5th grade receive 50 minutes

Sign-up for Remind

Get information from the ESOL program directly to your phone. If you have an iPhone or Android, open your web browser and go to the following link

rmd.at/dh6ecb

Follow the instructions to sign up!

If you do not have a smartphone text the message @dh6ecb to the number 81010.

Important Upcoming Events

Celebration(s)

September 4, 2017 NO School (Labor Day)

September 15, 2017 DOT Day

October 5 Last Day of First Nine Weeks

October 5 Parent/Teacher Conferences - Students Dismissed Early

October 6 Professional Development Day - Student Holiday

October 9-10 Fall Holiday - No School

October 25, 2017 Picture Day

M. Darden - August 12th

N. Fernandez - August 28th

A. Chinchilla September 1st

J. Vega-Rivera September 15th

M. Sanchez-Zazueta September 29th

B. Hernandez October 7th

Y. Rodriguez October 19

M. Marquez-Sanchez

J. Mendez October 29th

Here are some strategies for beginning and seasoned readers' literacy success

How to communicate with teachers

Point to each word on the page as you read.This beginning literacy strategy will assist children with making print/story/illustration connections. This skill also helps build a child's tracking skills from one line of text to the next one.

Read the title and ask your child to make a prediction.Beginning and seasoned readers alike need to make predictions before reading a story. This will go a long way to ensure that a child incorporates previewing and prediction in his or her own reading practices both now and in the future.

Take "picture walks."Help your child use the picture clues in most early readers and picture books to tell the story before reading.

Model fluency while reading, and bring your own energy and excitement for reading to your child.Both new and seasoned readers struggle with varying pitch, intonation and proper fluctuations when they read aloud. Older readers will benefit from shared reading (taking turns).

Overcome past negative school experiences which may negatively impact parent-teacher relationships.

Be proactive. Address your concerns to teachers before it is too late. The earlier you identify a problem, the easier it is to address.

Be organized. Make checklists of concerns or areas of discussion.

Prior to meeting with teachers, ask for samples of your childs wok to review.

Use appropriate language and non-threatening tones.

Set aside outside problems you may be having (for example: work stress) that may affect communication during parent/teacher interaction.

http://theparentacademy.dadeschools.net/pdfs/Effective_Communication.pdf