Dear Principal Newschool,

Im very honored to have the chance to teach English Language Arts at Something High School
this year. I feel that my time at Arizona State University in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers
College has more than prepared me for my first year of teaching and Im eager to finally have
crossed that threshold between student to teacher.
As a new member of your schools teaching team I want to bring a refreshing look at teaching
literature to my classroom. To me, this means utilizing texts from many different cultures and
expanding the canon that was given to me as a high school student into something much more
diverse and worldly.
When it comes to managing my classroom, I hope to have my students always engaged with the
material, making class-wide discussion essential to my teaching. By the end of all my classes, I
want my students to not only be great readers and writers, but also great debaters.
I will be sending out a bi-weekly newsletter to the parents of my students keeping them updated
about what their student is learning and what my expectations are going into the next section of a
unit. Additionally, I have already contacted the parents of my students giving them several ways
to contact me, including email, phone, and my classrooms website.
Lastly, but always the most important, I have three goals for my classroom: it should be a
representation of our community on many levels, it should be an environment where learning
and growth is promoted, and it should be a place where the students feel and are safe. One part of
accomplishing these goals means me being involved with my new school as much as possible. I
will be seeking on my own opportunities to professionally involve myself with the school and
the district, but if any opportunities arise that you might believe I am a good fit for, please let me
know.
Id love to meet with you soon in person, to discuss some ideas I have about the school and my
classroom as well as to better get to know the faculty.

Sincerely,
Matthew Floyd
mkfloyd@futureschool.edu
Friday, February 24th, 2017

Teachers Letter to Parents

Dear Parent or Guardian,

I am very excited to start this semester and have the opportunity to spend it
teaching your child. English Language Arts has always been a passion of
mine and as an educator I bring that passion into my lessons, ensuring that
all my students find joy and relevance in the texts that I bring to my class.
Throughout the first half of this semester your student will be reading a
number of novels, plays, and texts including (but not limited to) So Far from
the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins, Lord of the Flies by
William Golding, and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

These texts will be the background of a unit showing how young men and
women can grow up in different parts of the world, but still share values and
ideologies- even if they are expressed differently. Additional information
about the readings for this first unit can be found in the course syllabus
which will be attached to this letters email as well as posted on our classs
website:

http://www.mrfloydsenglishclass.com/index/eng101/

I like to maintain contact with the parents of my students as often as

possible. I will be emailing you a biweekly newsletter about what is going on
in your students English classroom, but if you wish to make direct contact
with me you can freely contact me by phone during school hours, using the
schools directory, or email me at this address.

This year will prove to be the most challenging and rewarding of your
students education so far, as I hope to build them a solid foundation for the
rest of their academic careers. I look forward to a great year and I look
forward to getting to know your students!

Sincerely,

Matthew Floyd

mkfloyd@futureschool.edu
Dear Parent or Guardian of Michael Needzhelp,
Over the past few weeks I have worked with on a number of behavioral issues that have come up
in class. These issues have been disruptive for other students as well as impacting Michaels own
efforts in my classroom. While some of these issues are within reason for Michael to be given a
referral or a detention I do believe that at times these issues can be solved by opening a dialogue
between parents and myself.
In the last few weeks I have noted that Michael has been:

Excessively shouting and interrupting other students.

Having difficulty keeping his hands to himself, often poking or prodding other students.
Letting out curse words and other inappropriate language.
Being generally disrespectful to other students, and sometimes confrontational.

My classroom has a zero-tolerance policy concerning these disruptions, but I have been lenient
with Michael as I know that when he focuses he can be more than successful at his work. Im
hoping to uproot whatever may be the cause of these issues before they get any worse.
If these issues continue they can have a serious impact on Michaels success in my class and
others as a significant amount of his attention is being redirected towards these disruptions.
Additionally, if these issues do not get resolved administrative actions against Michael would be
the next step in attempting to improve his behavior.
I believe its best to confront these issues together before any further actions are taken. Id like to
set up a meeting between you, myself, Michael, and the schools guidance counselor sometime
this week. You can either contact me by replying to this email or by calling me at
(777) 777-7777.

Sincerely,
Matthew Floyd
mkfloyd@futureschool.edu