About Me
My name is Chris Hass. This is my sixteenth
year of teaching. I taught in St. Louis for four years then spent time as a
stay-at-home dad before moving to Columbia twelve years ago. Since moving here
I’ve taught at Satchel Ford as well as Bookman Road Elementary. I came to the Center six years ago. My wife,
Tricia, is a teacher as well. She teaches second grade at Langford Road
Elementary. We have four children who will be in grades 8, 10, 11, and 12 this
year.
I absolutely love teaching. Nothing energizes
me more than laughing and learning alongside the kids in the classroom, on the
playground, at the lunch table, and at carpool. Everything I do in my teaching
is built upon the relationship I am able to develop with each and every one of
the kids in the classroom. We talk and joke and play and sing when we’re not
learning – but we often do these same things while we are learning as well. The classroom is a great place to be.
When I’m not teaching I love to travel, backpack, rock
climb, read, play guitar, and brew. I especially love the outdoors. Our family spends
a lot of time in nature kayaking, swimming, hiking, biking, whitewater rafting,
camping, and backpacking. My sons and I have spent the past nine years
backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. This is a foot trail that follows the
Appalachian Mountains from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine.
We have completed 750 miles of it so far. That leaves only about 1,450 miles
left to go!
When you visit our classroom you will see my love of
nature reflected in the grounds outside our classroom window. We have a pond,
lots of plants, birdfeeders, a few trees, vines, hammock, a bench, and two
octagonal picnic tables. This outdoor space is an extension of our classroom
where the kids can crawl out the window and work when adult supervision is
available.
I have a master’s degree and PhD in
Language and Literacy from USC. In addition to teaching at CFI I often teach as
an adjunct professor at either USC or Columbia College in the evenings or on
the weekends. This year I am teaching an assessment course for teachers in the
Master’s program at Columbia College.
My Beliefs
I
believe it is essential for teachers and parents to...
…help
kids understand the world and our role within it as our work together helps
them grow in complicated and critical ways.
…scaffold
kids into becoming increasingly comfortable engaging others in discussion as
well as taking action on their beliefs.
…understand
that we construct meaning through the context of our own experiences.
…make
certain skills are learned within the context of authentic engagements that
require meaning to be negotiated, expressed, and developed in the company of
others.
…allow
curriculum to be co-constructed alongside our kids as we also access resources
such as state standards.
…make
certain approximation is an important and valued part of learning.
…recognize
that collaboration is essential in most everything we do. Kids must learn to
work successfully with others. That said, our role as teachers must be to help
them develop these skills rather than throw them into groupings and expect them
to sink or swim. Social skills are most easily learned when there is clear and
supportive instruction.
…keep
in mind that for kids to grow into confident and assertive adults they must be
empowered and responsible for themselves as well as to the group.
…support
our kids to learn to be accountable for their own learning - to take ownership
rather than be reactionary to the demands of a teacher or parent.
Expectations
KIDS
Be actively engaged in thinking, listening, speaking,
and doing
Grow increasingly responsible for individual behavior,
materials, and work
* Home folder goes back and forth each day
* Home engagements are completed on time
*
Morning procedures are followed to prepare for the day
* Missed work or documents due to an absence are
obtained
* Morning Meeting requirements are completed
PARENTS
·Check in on the kids’ work and offer support as
needed
· Access the class blog to
find out what’s happening in the classroom
· Provide a consistent time and place for reading
at home
· Support positive behaviors and attitudes
· Follow-up at home when I contact you about
something (whether it’s a celebration or concern)
· Respect our schedule/school hours
· Respect district policies regarding sugary
treats at school
· Be my partner (open dialogue; mutual respect and
appreciation, developing friendship)
Homework
I very rarely assign homework outside of asking kids
to read for a minimum of 20 minutes each day for leisure. As explained by Alfie
Kohn,
No research has ever found a benefit to assigning
homework (of any kind or amount) in elementary school. In fact, there isn’t
even a positive correlation between, on the one hand, having younger children
do some homework (vs. none) or more (vs. less)... If we’re making 12-year-olds,
much less five-year-olds, do homework it’s either because we’re misinformed
about what the evidence says or because we think kids ought to have to do
homework despite what the evidence says.
If no research has ever been able to
demonstrate that homework is beneficial then why do we see it assigned so often
with young children? Great question! I’d venture to guess it’s for two reasons:
(1)because assigning homework has always been done in the past therefore people
believe it’s just what we are supposed to do, and (2) because assigning
homework to support skills makes logical sense (despite the fact no one has
ever proven this is actually true).
So…all this is to say you shouldn’t
expect to see much homework coming home. That said, there will be times I’ll
ask kids to read with you, interview you, or have a written conversation with
you about a topic we’re exploring at school. There will also be times I’ll ask
them to finish up something at home that really should have been completed at
school provided the time and support I offered them. Beyond this…please use
your evenings to play outside, spend time with family and friends, and enjoy
some great books together!
Class Blog
This is the source where you will find most everything
you need to know about what is going on.
Schedule
|
8:30 Morning Meeting
8:55
Writing Workshop
10:00 Special Areas
10:50 Lunch
11:20 Reading Workshop
12:20 Science/Social Studies
1:00
Recess
1:30 Math
Workshop
2:30 Read Aloud
2:45 Wrap-Up
Assessments
In second grade our kids take the
MAP test in the fall and spring semesters. It is administered on the Chrome
books and is designed to demonstrate the kids’ understanding and skills as
related to our state standards. In all honesty, it does an okay job of
revealing some data about the kids as readers and mathematicians but conceals
or misrepresents lots of other data. I would suggest, as parents, you not
become overly concerned about the results of these sorts of tests. Rather, you
might consider them to be just one small component of a much larger body of
assessment I will conduct to better know your child as a learner. The
assessments I conduct take place each and every day as I sit beside the kids
and work with them. Some of the forms of assessment I access in the classroom
are: kidwatching notes, conferences,
formative assessments, summative assessments, task-based assessments with rubrics,
paper and pencil assessments, projects, and reflections. What I come to know
about your child will be communicated through two narrative progress reports
and two standards-based rubric reports. These will be a great resource for you.
Contacting Me
The best way to contact me is via
e-mail. I almost always respond within a few hours. That said, if you do not
hear from me after 24 hours there’s a good chance something happened (maybe I
accidentally deleted a chunk of emails) and you should not hesitate to
follow-up with me. You can also call or text me if there’s something of great
urgency. My number is 803-743-3753. Also, in regards to phone correspondence, I
LOVE receiving texts with photos of the kids at home or on the go around town.
I generally receive lots of texts of the kids reading books, catching bugs,
visiting special places, celebrating after a game, etc. I’d love nothing more
than to keep up with your child’s life outside school so feel free to send me
things throughout the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment