Team 7 White

 

Team Members:

Brian Kneebone – Language Arts

Dan Healy – Language Arts

Sean Palen – Social Studies

Donna Dykstra – Social Studies

Michael Zummo – Math

Gregg Slaff – Math (Team Leader)

Joanne Feeney – Science

Cara Gilligan – Science

 

Our Team Philosophy - Reach for the Stars

 

We are Seventh-Grade Team White -- Pequannock Valley School -- working as partners with students, parents, administrators, and school staff to bring out the best in every child. Successful teachers reach all students; we hope to ensure a sense of success and accomplishment for every student in our classes. An education is the single most important thing we can provide for our students.

 

We will treat students with respect and always remember that their self-esteem is important to them and to us. Challenging students and introducing them diverse material is a major objective for all of us. We aim to keep our lessons fresh and interesting. Faciliatating, observing, planning, and problem solving will be major parts of our classroom roles. Our lessons will be personalized, engaging, technologically advanced, and interactive; tapping into the energy and interests of the young adolescent.

 

We will further develop the abilities of our students in expressing their thoughts, conveying and analyzing information, thinking at a higher level, and using their imagination. Time management, responsibility, following directions, communicaton, and study skills will be the focus to further student learning and prepare them for eighth grade and beyond.

 

We will create safe and productive classroom environments. A fair and orderly tone will be maintained. An expectation of appropriate behavior and good conduct will be taught and modeled. Students will demonstrate tolerance, courtesy, cooperation, and respect for the rights of others.

 

We will nurture the necessity for a good education and encourage a lifelong interest in learning and reading. Our aim is for the students to become more thoughtful, motivated, inquisitive, responsible, and independent. We will never forget that dreams can come true. Our students will reach for the stars!

 

Parent Information

 

“Bright and Ready to Learn”!

 

Seventh-grade is a time of growth and discovery. It is also the first year of secondary education. As students approach their teen years, they are learning to question, adapt, and make choices. These delicate years are therefore important in the development of a child; intellectually, physically, and emotionally. We take our roles in our student’s lives seriously. There are team meetings daily, at all levels in the school so that we can discuss the rigor of our lessons, the learning process, and the relevance of the material to today’s world. We have six core teachers in Team 7-White, and we all work together in the best interest of the students.

 

In our efforts to help the students grow academically, we nurture the development of critical thinking skills and higher-order learning. Tapping into the various learning styles of students, we work to make sure each student feels success during the school year. Technology is such an important aspect of our future that we work to plan interdisciplinary units where students learn different software programs, the internet, and audio/visual equipment. Leading them on a successful path towards their optimum achievement level is of the utmost importance to us.

 

Each of the core subjects is taught in an 78-minute block. The time in the blocks is most often divided to include varied activities. Regularly, the period will begin with a teacher-centered activity which incorporates the learning of an essential skill. Students then move to various learning centers or cooperative groups for an activity. Closure and assessment is also an important part of the overall picture. We continue to reinforce character development, strong study habits, time management, and organizational skills. Ultimately, each of our teachers love their jobs, and we work together to prepare our students for eighth-grade and beyond.