Naaktgeboren's Class Blog

Greetings Families, I hope you are enjoying your weekend thus far. Here are a few notes in respect to our the year is going thus far and what you can expect in the week to come. 3-5 Curriculum Night You are cordially invited to attend our 3rd-5th grade Curriculum Night, taking place on Wednesday, August 29th. The event starts at 6:00 pm in the Arete gymnasium, with opening remarks from Mr. Gillingham, Mrs. Vaughan, and our Specialists. From 6:30 to 7:30, parents will hear from their child's teachers in their classroom.  Due to limited seating, this is a parent-only event . Overflow parking will be available at The Falls Even Center located just east of the school. Curriculum Night is an important night for fourth grade families. The leap from third to fourth grade is significant. Not only is the curriculum more difficult, the expectations of the students is much greater. What I often here from my former families is that it was in fourth grade that their children learned r...

Greetings Families, I have a few topics I would like to address with you before I get to the lessons part of my blog. I hope my comments are helpful. Please email me with any concerns you have. Grade Report Today, you should have seen a grade report that I sent home with your child. I want you to understand that this grade report is a snapshot of your child's current academic performance in my class. This is not an indication of their academic or intellectual ability. It likely indicates their current work ethic, study skills, and may show that there are some possible gaps in learning from prior years or this year. The grade report is a tool for you to use with your child to pinpoint areas for improvement and items to focus on. Math Tutoring Next week, I will begin math tutoring on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tutoring will run from 3:05-3:40 on Tuesday and from 2:05-2:40 on Wednesday. Math tutoring is by invitation only. However, if you feel that your child is not meeting th...

Greetings Families, I hope your weekend is going well. I'm sure the students are enjoying a little break after being thrown into a week of study. Though third grade wasn't easy, fourth grade is a whole new challenge. The goal I have is to show them the path to success and the reward of accomplishing some hard. Far too often, even like we adults, children choose the road of least resistance. However, great things only happen when we are willing to put ourselves through things which cause a little suffering. This post will be a little lengthy, but I ask that you read all the way through it. There is a lot of important information to communicate. I don't want you to be caught off guard because you failed to read it here first. Let me begin with this week's lessons. Lessons Math : The students studyed whole numbers last week and will be tested on their understanding of whole numbers on Monday. If the class performs like they did on the practice test, overall they...

The following message is from the Archway Arete's leadership.  Celebrating birthdays is a good way to show the students in our school that they are special and loved. There are many different ways to mark the occasion, but we want to be careful about students eating too many sugary, processed snacks. If each child were to bring in cake or donuts for his/her birthday, that would mean 30 unhealthy lunchtime desserts every year. Some parents would rather their child not eat this type of food and the effects of these sugary snacks can disrupt the learning environment. In fact, we strongly suggest a non-food item if parents wish to mark the occasion. Pencils, books, or other souvenirs can be just as special, don't require clean-up, and won't affect whatever diet parents wish for their children. Some teachers may allow a healthy snack for their classes as an exception (to be eaten in the lunchroom), but please reach out to the lead teacher for details. Make note that suga...

Greetings Families, I hope you have enjoyed your weekend and that your child is about to go to bed if not already there. I've been at school most of the day apart from when I went to church and ate lunch. I think I'm ready to have my students in my classroom! Tomorrow will be a little different from the rest of the week because we will be working on establishing classroom procedures. However, students should expect to learn tomorrow and have homework. Over the weekend, a parent emailed me in respect to homework. I am attaching what I wrote her because it will probably answer some questions that many of you have. Lessons Math : In math this week, students will review whole numbers up to the hundred millions place. They will be discussing place value, standard form, expanded form, how to write numbers as words, how to order numbers in increasing and decreasing order, comparing the value of numbers, and addition and subtraction. There is a text over this week's materia...

Dear Families, Welcome to the 2018/2019 academic year at Archway Classical Academy Arete. My name is Michael Naaktgeboren and I feel honored to introduce myself as your child’s fourth-grade teacher. Below is some information about me. I was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I moved to a small town in middle Tennessee when I was three. My middle and high schools years were spent mostly in Iowa and Ohio. When I was a senior in high school, my family made the decision to return to Tennessee where I graduated from high school in 2001. I left for basic training a few months after high school as a member of the Tennessee Army National Guard. I started my college studies at a small community college but was postponed when the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment was deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom III. Upon my return from duty, I moved to Kentucky to continue my pursuit towards a bachelor’s degree. I attended Boyce College and in 2010 obtained my Bachelor of Arts in Biblical and Theological Stu...

Greetings Former Families, If you are receiving this, it is because you have not unsubscribed from my blog. With the new school year upon us, I will be putting up my welcome letter and I don't want you to think your child is in my class again, though I miss him/her greatly and look forward to seeing him/her in the hallway this year. I believe there will be a button at the bottom of this email to unsubscribe. Please do so if you wish. For one last time, I want to say thank you for the great year I had last year. Your child is dear to my heart. Please know that I'm here if you need any support. I look forward to his/her success in fifth grade! Best, Michael Naaktgeboren