Expectations and Policies

Goals

The ultimate goal of Mr. Gelston’s One Room Schoolhouse is for each student to master his/her studies in Mathematics.
The first step in meeting our goal is to create a pleasant and relaxed environment so that learning can happen comfortably.
Mastery is defined as the student’s ability to build their own mathematician’s toolbox, which includes the rules of math, the development of creative problem solving, and the ability to communicate knowledge both verbally and in written format.
A topic is never abandoned for good due to time restraints or impatience. Topics can be set aside and revisited later, but never forgotten.

Mr. Gelston considers himself to be a partner to the parent. Parents are considered to be the Primary Educator for overall education issues and Mr. Gelston is the mathematics teacher who works in partnership with the parent.
Parents are encouraged to engage with Mr. Gelston to discuss issues and strategies for success. Regular meetings can be set and impromptu discussions are probable.

Mr. Gelston uses the Common Core State Standards as a tool to help parents meet their portfolio requirements.
Course content stresses discovery, rule making, and problem solving.
Developing creative problem solving skills is addressed through multiple games and practice questions while discussing strategy as used in Mathematics.

Students meet twice a week for two one-hour sessions.
For private lessons, class attendance must be canceled 48 hours prior to the start of class or else the class will be charged as planned.
If a child is sick, Mr. Gelston will use his discretion on charging for the class.
If students are not online within 10 minutes of the official start of class, the session will be closed down and the family will be charged for the class.
Repeated cancellations and lateness may cause forfeiture of balance and loss of spot with Mr. Gelston.

Khan Academy is used for several purposes: practice from class, study with support at home, and proof of learning.
It is appropriate for students to work with their families to learn a topic. After having initial practice, the student should go back on their own and redo the topics until they reach Mastery.

As a regular student of Mr. Gelston’s One Room Schoolhouse, Mr Gelston will download whiteboards from the day’s class as .pdf files. These files are available to you as a shared folder on Google Drive. It is a good habit to download the files yourself at the end of class in case Mr. Gelston is unable to download the folder.
Students are encouraged to write on the whiteboards so that their work can be captured along with the lessons. Otherwise, if children choose to do their work in a paper notebook, students are asked to write the date and course objective in their work as preparation for the school portfolio.
Final results from Khan Academy are proof of learning that you can use in your school portfolio.

Mr. Gelston shares documents using Google Drive.
You need to have a google account to access Google Drive.
Both billing and class downloads are stored in Google Drive.
Mr. Gelston maintains a private mailing list on Google Groups for families to receive announcements and to share thoughts as a group.

For current students, Mr. Gelston requires that there be a balance at the end of the school year to hold a spot for the following fall.
New students signing up for the fall need to pre-purchase classes in order to hold a spot for the fall.