Welcome
Hello Students and Parents. I am pleased to meet you and I welcome you to my classroom. I call my classroom the "Hornet's Nest" because I graduated from California State University, at Sacramento which is the home of the Hornets.
About Me
I am the second child of four, to a single-parent, teenaged mother. I was abandoned by my biological father. I grew up poor in the projects of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for my first 15 years. At age 15, my family moved to Sacramento, California. In my junior and senior year of high school, I worked full-time to help my mother financially care for the family. I went to school part-time because I was advanced in my classes. I also participated in R.O.P.- Regional Occupations Programs of Northern California. With this program, I was able to attend college for credit and received a completion certificate to be a Dental Lab Technician. After my graduation from high school, I enlisted in the military so that I could help my mother and my two younger brothers survive financially. I also enlisted so that I could live my dream of attending college.
I have a husband, two biological children (ages 28 and 22), five step-children (ages 32, 30, 20, 18, and 14) and I have two Yorkshire terriers (ages 4 and 1.5). My hobbies include making and playing music, going to music concerts, dancing, going to the beach, traveling, eating good food, decorating home interiors, restoring muscle cars, and attending car shows. I am playful, energetic, honest, fair, friendly, approachable, genuine, spiritual, and hilarious. I believe in my students and their potential. My belief is that all of my students can and will be successful if they simply give their personal best.
I am an Army veteran. I was enlisted for a 4-year commitment. While in the military, I was a light-wheel vehicle mechanic; this means I fixed semi-trucks. While putting myself through college and beyond, I was a DJ. I have been in the education career field for 23 years. I worked 10 years as an Elementary School Teacher and was nominated "Teacher of the Year" in 2003 and 2006, in the Sacramento City Unified School District. I worked as a School Counselor for 6 years, in both California and Texas. I was nominated "Counselor of the Year" in 2013 in Houston, Texas. I also worked as a Middle School Math Teacher for 5 years. I was nominated "Teacher of the Year" for my Campus during the 2018-2019 school year. Each year, my students improved in math and made progress in their state testing.
Education
I have an Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts and Child Development. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a CLAD and CLEAR Credential for working with English Language Learners. I have an Introductory Math Single-Subject Credential, an English Credential, a Science Credential, a Pupil Personnel Services Credential, and a Multiple-Subject Credential. I have a Masters's Degree in School Counseling. And finally, I am working on my Doctorate Degree in Organizational Leadership in Higher Education. I have completed one full year towards this goal.
Learning Management System
I will be using the CANVAS (LMS)Learning Management System. This is where I will be posting all of the weekly requirements throughout the school year. If you have questions about what you are to do (student) or what your child should be doing (parent), this is where you will find the answers. It can be accessed by going through Class-link. We will create personal avatars and use them throughout the school year with Snapchat and Bitmoji. Finally, we will use many Google products to conduct our business. Some of these include but are not limited to Google Meets, Google-Hangouts, Google Drive, Google Docs, etc.
Curriculum
This year, I will be using SAAVAS Realize/Pearson Realize for our JROTC and Math 7 Pre-Algebra curriculum. You can access this by going through Class-link. Be sure to open the student email first (leave it open), and then open SAAVAS Realize/Pearson Realize in a new tab.
My Expectations
Students:
My expectation is that all students make a genuine effort to do their personal best. This means that they advocate for themselves and ask for help when they do not understand. Students should let me know right away when the material is NOT clear and not wait days or even weeks before getting help. They must participate in all of the learning activities to include keeping their calendar/planner up to date, keep their student notebook/binder up to date and in order, submit their assignments on time, take advantage of opportunities to redo and retake assignments and assessments for better grades, help and work with peers, and attend all class sessions.
Parents:
I need your support in ensuring that your child is giving their personal best and that they maintain a successful routine for completing and turning in assignments, ensure they have all of their learning equipment, and that they inform me when they have a problem that prevents them from learning. Please resist advocating for your child. Instead, notice that your child is older and more mature and equip him/her with tools to speak up for themselves. We are developing leadership for tomorrow, so all students should be able to speak up and advocate for themselves. I need all of my students to feel comfortable coming to me with things/problems so that they can get their needs met. I also need them to utilize their critical thinking, problem resolution, and communication skills, so that they will be ready for higher grade levels.
My Pledge to You
I will treat all of my students with compassion, dignity, and respect. I will recognize their individual talents, skills, and abilities in math and try my best to enhance these qualities. I will teach my students exactly what they need to know to be successful in passing 7th grade State Assessments and the foundational math skills they need in order to be successful in math curriculum beyond the 7th grade. I will provide my students with all of the help they request. I will give my students opportunities to re-do assignments and retake assessments when they are not successful. I will go over and beyond the call of duty to ensure that I do my part in helping each student reach their maximum potential.
I look forward to meeting and working with you.
I wish all of you a happy 2020-2021 school year.
Sincerely,
Sophia Wheeler, MS