Survival Guide in Kindergarten, First and Second Grade Class

Hello there! My name is Mrs. Prima Glass and I am your K-2 teacher. You can call me Mrs. Glass for short. Sometimes, my students call me “mommy” and I don’t mind it because I am your mother at the school. In 1999, I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Adventist University of the Philippines. I am currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University in Wisconsin. I always want to give the best service to God and to my students. Everyday, I thank the Lord that I am a teacher. I love teaching little children, play with them and learn from them (yes, I do learn from kids!). I teach using games and music which make learning so much fun! I am married to Bryan Glass and God blessed us with two daughters---Lianna and Chrystina.

WELCOME to Kindergarten, First and Second Grade class! I am so glad that you chose to come and study here at MSDA. You are here for a very special purpose—-to know God more and to excel academically. We are going to learn so many things this year. But in order to succeed we have to work as a team—-you, your parents and I. We have to cooperate with each other. Please ask your mom or dad to read this page with you so that you will know what to do in our class. This page will guide you and your parents to “survive” successfully in Mrs. Glass’ class. It is like a survival guide when you go hiking, camping or diving. It will tell you things to remember so that your experiences will be full of fun and overflowing with success. It will tell us how we can work together as a team. Again, welcome and thank you for choosing MSDA!

Classroom Setting
I am a teacher who is not fond of covering lessons but discovering them. The learning experiences your children will have in my classroom are out of the box. Children are unique individuals who have different ways of learning so I have decided to make each student’s lessons unique to them. I have always wished that students are grouped according to their learning styles and interests. Individualizing each child’s lesson is tough but that is the only way the children will experience success. There will be lots of playing, singing (hymns and praises to God), dramatics (using reader’s theater), reading, writing, arts and crafts, science experiments and computer projects and research. Please expect your children to be messy sometimes.

Tests and Assessments are not always conducted through papers and pencils. Sometimes I give tests in the form of games usually active games.

Classroom Discipline
This is the most important ingredient of a successful school year. What is discipline anyway? Many people think that discipline means punishment. Discipline came from the word “discipling” or “to make disciples”. It means to lead and guide our children to the right path of life as the Bible says in Proverbs 22:6. Children learn best when there is a structure in the classroom or at home. They feel loved and secured when they know their boundaries and limitations. The ultimate goal of K-2 classroom discipline is to guide the children to develop a Christ-like character. The main objective of my classroom discipline is for the children “to accept responsibility for one’s own actions” which is very rare nowadays. It is my desire that each child would see that they are responsible to God for every action or decision that they make. God forgives our sins but He allows us to experience their consequences to help us learn. I designed my classroom discipline in a way that the child will learn that everything they do—-good or bad has a consequence. This is how it works: each child will receive 10 pennies (play money). They will have to keep them in an empty baby juice container. As a consequence, a child will give me a penny for every broken rule and will increase up to 5 pennies if they repeatedly break the same rule on the same day. On the other hand, the student will also receive a penny or more from me, every time he/she exhibits Christ-like behavior or academic excellence like perfect score on a given test. At the end of the day, the students should at least have 10 pennies in their container to “buy” a toy from me. Each toy costs 10 cents. A sticker will be placed on their incentive charts if they retain 10 cents/pennies or more at the end of the day. They will “deposit” the pennies they have in their piggy bank. Whoever gets the most number of stickers from Monday to Friday will be the “Student of the Week” and will receive a certificate and a special toy. If a student runs out of pennies because of repeatedly disobeying the classroom rules, he/she will go to the time out corner and must stand there nice and quiet for 10 minutes (or longer depending on how well-behaved he/she is in the time out corner.) If the student refuses to stand in time out, he/she will be ushered to the principal’s office and parents will be called to take him/her home. By the end of the school year, I will trade the play money the children have saved in their piggy banks for real money. We will then go to a toy store of their choice as a field trip to reward themselves for the good work they have done. The children will not only learn how to make positive choices but they will understand more the concept of money and tithing.

Classroom Rules
Parents, please read the rules to your child so he/she will know what is expected of him/her in the classroom. Please discuss with them that as it is with your rules at home, our classroom rules are given to keep them safe and happy.

1. Be reverend to God at all times.
2. Treat others and yourself kindly.
3. Take care of other’s property as well as yours.
4. Come to school with all your supplies.
5. Stay seated unless told to get up.
6. Ask permission before leaving the classroom or your teacher’s sight.
7. Finish your work on time.
8. Always walk when you are in the school building.
9. Bring your homework to school on time.
10. Follow directions the first time it is given.


Homework Policy
Homework will be given from Monday through Thursday only. I want weekends to be spent solely with the child’s family for worship and relaxation. Most children learn to read in kindergarten, first and second grade class therefore book reports will be required daily even from kindergartners and first graders who are non-readers yet. Parents, grandparents or older siblings are expected to help the non-readers. The time you spend with them reading will encourage them to read and love reading. The more they read or being read to, the better reader they become. Good readers usually excel in all other areas of learning. Please expect different homework for every child in my class because each learning program is individualized according to each child’s ability and learning interest. Each homework I send, unless noted, is due the next school day.

School Supplies
The school supplies that I require each student to have must be completed within the first week of school. Please make sure that they have everything they need to learn in my class. I will start checking their school supplies beginning the second week of school. It is one of our classroom rules to come to school with all school supplies as a sign of readiness to learn. Please make sure that they have spare school supplies at home (crayons, scissors, glue, etc) for homework.

Parent-Teacher Communication
Each student will have a pink parent-teacher communication folder. Homework and notices from school will be put there. If you have questions or concerns about your child’s progress in school, please do not hesitate to call me at the school or email me at i_teach4jesus@yahoo.com I take photos of your child in my classroom while learning so expect some too in that pink folder.