Parents of Year 5 /6 International
Dear Parents,
The summer holiday is over and it’s time to get back to schoolwork. As your child’s year 5 and 6 teacher, I would like to introduce myself, explain my expectations and give you an overview of what we will be doing this year.
My name is Daan Ebbers and I am the Year 5 and 6 English, Maths, Science, ICT, SOSE, IPW and Art teacher. I have earned my bachelor’s degree in International Education from Iselinge University in the Netherlands in 2012. I have over three years of experience in working with primary and secondary students. I started as a relief teacher at Singapore International School @ Da Nang and taught year 5 and 6 for the past two years. I already know some of you and I look forward to meeting those of you I have not met yet.
It is important for you to understand how my class works so that you are able to monitor your child’s progress. Each morning students are expected to turn in homework, go to their lockers and get the supplies / books for that day and start their individual reading time for 30 minutes. The purpose of this reading time is to improve their focus, concentration and it gives them a good/relaxing start of the day. In these 30 minutes I can check their homework and help my students individually that struggled with their previous assignments. After these 30 minutes their daily schedule will start.
We will discuss the school rules found in our Student Handbook in the first week of school. Please take some time to review the rules with your child at home so that you and they are familiar with them. We take these rules very seriously in our school and by not following these school rules there will be consequences for our students. We will create our own year 5 and 6 classroom rules during the first week of school.
On most nights, homework should average around 30 minutes. Of the 20 minutes set aside for homework, 10-15 minutes a night will usually be for English and the other 15 minutes for Mathematics and Science. I do encourage a great deal of independent reading for pleasure with my year 5 and 6 students. Developing a love of reading is so important to a child’s education future and I view reading for pleasure as a priority. Please let me know if you find that your child is regularly having more than 30 minutes of homework because this indicates that we need to talk.
Communication between parents and teachers is crucial for you to monitor your child’s progress in school. Each night please take the time to check your child’s weekly plan. Students in my class receive on Monday morning an individual week-plan. This schedule contains class-work, homework and extra assignments. If a student is struggling in my class I create an individual plan with less work. If a student is working quickly and understands the subjects well he/she will receive more challenging work on this week-plan. Homework tasks will be checked on the back of this week plan daily. The week plan enforces independent work during class-time and group work during projects.
Class Dojo (www.classdojo.com) is a classroom tool that helps me improve behavior in my classrooms quickly and easily. It captures and generates data on behavior that I can share with you and administrators. Class dojo focus is on reinforcing positive behavior and engaging students in minutes. As a parent you can sign up and follow your child’s progress. I’ll keep in touch with you as a parent with the Dojo messenger.
I am looking forward to getting to know your children and watching them grow and develop academically. I am happy to start work again and excited to see how much our students will accomplish this year. I will send an invitation soon to invite you for our Parent Information Morning.
Warm Regards,
Daan Ebbers (www.mrebbers.weebly.com)
Dear Parents,
The summer holiday is over and it’s time to get back to schoolwork. As your child’s year 5 and 6 teacher, I would like to introduce myself, explain my expectations and give you an overview of what we will be doing this year.
My name is Daan Ebbers and I am the Year 5 and 6 English, Maths, Science, ICT, SOSE, IPW and Art teacher. I have earned my bachelor’s degree in International Education from Iselinge University in the Netherlands in 2012. I have over three years of experience in working with primary and secondary students. I started as a relief teacher at Singapore International School @ Da Nang and taught year 5 and 6 for the past two years. I already know some of you and I look forward to meeting those of you I have not met yet.
It is important for you to understand how my class works so that you are able to monitor your child’s progress. Each morning students are expected to turn in homework, go to their lockers and get the supplies / books for that day and start their individual reading time for 30 minutes. The purpose of this reading time is to improve their focus, concentration and it gives them a good/relaxing start of the day. In these 30 minutes I can check their homework and help my students individually that struggled with their previous assignments. After these 30 minutes their daily schedule will start.
We will discuss the school rules found in our Student Handbook in the first week of school. Please take some time to review the rules with your child at home so that you and they are familiar with them. We take these rules very seriously in our school and by not following these school rules there will be consequences for our students. We will create our own year 5 and 6 classroom rules during the first week of school.
On most nights, homework should average around 30 minutes. Of the 20 minutes set aside for homework, 10-15 minutes a night will usually be for English and the other 15 minutes for Mathematics and Science. I do encourage a great deal of independent reading for pleasure with my year 5 and 6 students. Developing a love of reading is so important to a child’s education future and I view reading for pleasure as a priority. Please let me know if you find that your child is regularly having more than 30 minutes of homework because this indicates that we need to talk.
Communication between parents and teachers is crucial for you to monitor your child’s progress in school. Each night please take the time to check your child’s weekly plan. Students in my class receive on Monday morning an individual week-plan. This schedule contains class-work, homework and extra assignments. If a student is struggling in my class I create an individual plan with less work. If a student is working quickly and understands the subjects well he/she will receive more challenging work on this week-plan. Homework tasks will be checked on the back of this week plan daily. The week plan enforces independent work during class-time and group work during projects.
Class Dojo (www.classdojo.com) is a classroom tool that helps me improve behavior in my classrooms quickly and easily. It captures and generates data on behavior that I can share with you and administrators. Class dojo focus is on reinforcing positive behavior and engaging students in minutes. As a parent you can sign up and follow your child’s progress. I’ll keep in touch with you as a parent with the Dojo messenger.
I am looking forward to getting to know your children and watching them grow and develop academically. I am happy to start work again and excited to see how much our students will accomplish this year. I will send an invitation soon to invite you for our Parent Information Morning.
Warm Regards,
Daan Ebbers (www.mrebbers.weebly.com)