Nicholli Lay

EDSC 440S
Building a Classroom Community

Expectations:

● Students will come to class ready to learn

● Respect other students and other students’ opinions
● Turn in assignments on time
● Participate and talk with your table partners
● Follow instructions when given
● Take responsibility for your actions

Failure to meet these expectations or rule will result in warnings by the teacher. If the teacher must
constantly remind student about expectations and rules, then parent conferences may take place and
student may be sent to the principal’s office.

Absences and Tardies:

In terms of absences and tardies, the school expects students to call in if they will be missing class. This
allows the office to excuse or un-excuse a student’s absence. If students are late to school in the
morning, they will have to check in with the office to say they made it to school and to get a slip saying
they are tardy. If students are tardy in between classes, the previous teacher will write slip excusing
that student if they had to stay late for any reason.

Collecting and Returning Work:

At the start of every unit, students will get a homework/classwork sheet that will record their homework
score and classwork participation. They will keep all homework/classwork and turn in their homework
sheet at the end of that unit. Because of this, there will be no collecting homework/classwork. Tests will
be handed back to students to look at after grading, but must be handed back at the end of the period
that day.

Managing Missing or Late Work:

Students are given an extra day to turn in homework/classwork if they are absent that day. It is their
responsibility to ask the teacher to stamp homework sheet to get credit for missing or late assignments.
If students missed classwork/homework and was not absent during that class, then they can still get 50%
on late assignments. The teacher will know if assignments are late because they will go around to stamp
homework sheet everyday.

Grading:

● Homework - 10%
● Participation - 10%
● Quizzes - 25%
● Unit Tests - 40%
 ● Final - 15%

● A = 100% - 90%
● B = 89% - 80%
● C = 79% - 70%
● D = 69% - 60%
● F = 59% - 0%

Routines and Procedures

Starting and Ending Class:

At the start of every class, the teacher will greet students at the door to show they are welcome into my
class. Students are expected to come in quietly and sit at their seats. Homework answers will be on the
board and students are expected to get out their homework sheets and homework to start grading.
At the end of the period, with about a minute or so left, the teacher will allow students to pack up and
get ready to leave for their next class.

Procedures for Groupwork, Transitions, and Moving about the Classroom:

Students will be expected to collaborate with table partners daily during classwork. It is welcome for
students to talk with each other to problem solve equations so long as students are not just copying
from another student’s paper. During group projects, work should be evenly distributed between
partners.
Student will be allowed to use class water fountain and sharpen pencils after the teacher has given
instructions about the lesson. Students will be allowed to use the bathroom if it makes sense (ex. Not
right after/before a break or lunch period). Students will not be allowed to leave the classroom unless
given permission.

Requesting Help:

As the lesson and instruction are being presented, students should hold questions until the teacher asks
if there are any questions. Students may ask for help after full instructions have been given for
classwork. While students are working and collaborating, the teacher will be walking around the class,
visiting every group to see if they have questions or need some help with a problem or two. Tutoring
will also be available for students after school until 3:30pm every Tuesday and Thursday.
Parent/Guardian Letter:

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Hello, my name is Mr. Nicholli Lay and I will be your child’s math teacher this year. I graduated from the
University of California, Riverside with a B.A. in mathematics and went on to pursue my teaching
credential at California State University, Fullerton. I have been working with adolescents for about 4
years as a high school basketball coach at Beckman High School and and AVID tutor for the Tustin
Unified School District. I have also been shadowing a math teacher from Orchard Hills School where I
student taught for 2 periods of math 8 and 1 period of algebra 1.

My teaching philosophy is that I believe the classroom is a living community and that everyone, from the
principal to the students to the teachers to the parents, must contribute in order to maintain a positive
atmosphere and learning environment.

This class will be using a curriculum called CPM. The textbook and lessons will all be online so students
can access their resources at home or at school. This curriculum will cover topics about:

● Problem solving
● Simplifying variables
● Graphs and equations
● Multiple representations
● System of equations
● Transformations and similarity
● Slope and association
● Exponents and functions
● Angles and the Pythagorean Theorem
● Surface area and volume

If there are any questions about the curriculum or about myself I will be more than happy to answer
them. The best way to contact me is through email which is located at the top of the syllabus. I look
forward to meeting you all during open house and look forward to teaching your child the wonders of
mathematics.

Sincerely,

Mr. Nicholli Lay

Communication Plan and Rationale:

Communication Plan:

Students will be given a syllabus with a parent letter that requires a student and parent signature. This
will at least have parent glance at the student’s syllabus to see all the information in the class. During
open house , the teacher will walk through the same syllabus in case parents were not able to see
everything.

Rationale:

Expectations:

These expectations are very common expectations I have seen in most classrooms. I chose these
particular expectations because as common and basic as they are, it sets a good foundation for rules and
procedures. If students fail to meet these expectations, I will try to do everything before making a
parent conference or have the student sent to the principal. A lot of the time when students act out in
class, it relates to something at home or outside the classroom.

Absences and Tardies:

The rules for absences are the school site policies. If students are tardy for any reason, the reason they
have to have a note is that the previous staff member can validate where the student has been. There is
no reason for students to be tardy in between classes unless a teacher is keeping them in for a bit.

Collecting and Returning Work:

This is my master teacher’s and school site’s policy. This way of collecting/returning
classwork/homework allows students to quickly see how they did from the previous day. This also
allows students to keep their work to review for the tests.

Managing Missing or Late Work:

Students who turn in late work will receive half credit because on their homework sheet, it states which
and when assignments will be due each day. This policy is also from the school site in which the math
department uses.

Grading:

The grading scale and grading breakdown is from my master teacher’s class. I feel that it is fair because
students’ grades should heavily be based on how their tests are. Homework and quizzes are not
weighted as heavily because it is a small checkpoint to see how students are doing.

Starting and Ending Class:

By starting class with students grading homework, it slowly gets them to start thinking about math. It
also helps them review what we did the day before and will help them connect the next lesson with the
previous one. By having the teacher tell students to pack up, it will allow the teacher to say any last
minute announcements.

Procedures for Groupwork, Transitions, and Moving about the Classroom:

The collaboration for groupwork and classwork is how students learn with the common core standards.
This collaboration between students allows them to hear each others’ ideas and work together to tackle
problems. For procedures for moving about the classroom, students must wait for instructions to finish
before sharpening pencils, using the bathroom, using the classroom water fountain, etc. This is so
students can fully hear what the instructions are for a lesson, quiz or test. This also prevents other
students from being distracted and missing out on what the teacher has to say.

Requesting Help:

By having students wait for all instructions to be given, it allows students to put all instructions together
and think about what they have to do. If students are still confused about something then the teacher
will be more than glad to clarify. Tutoring after school provides extra help to students if they want it. By
having tutoring open to all students, it shows students that everyone can use help even if they do not
think they need it.

Parent/Guardian Letter:

I chose my teaching philosophy because the teachers and students of the classroom need the support of
others to maintain a positive learning community. As much as the teacher and students of a class can
create a positive learning community, if the other staff of the school unfortunately do not support them,
then it can be difficult to maintain a positive learning environment. This also relates to parents as well.
If parents do not support the classroom’s community then, it may harm their child’s learning or other
students’ learning in the process. If the principal and parents support and help maintain the positive
learning community, then the teacher and students can focus on learning.