Hello, my name is Alma Jones Mayes and I will be your student's English/Reading Language Arts teacher this school year. To tell you a little bit about myself, I am a graduate of Texas Southern University with a BS in Liberal Arts and Education. I have been happily married and grown with my husband for 21 years and we have two beautiful children, boy and girl twins that are 10 years old, together. I grew up in Houston, Texas and have lived here for most of my life.

I am honored to be teaching 6th grade ELA and this is my 11th year here at Missouri City Middle School. I am excited to be a part of your child's educational success this school year. I have been teaching for 11 years and prior to me teaching, I was a teacher's assistant for 5 years in Life Skills as a one on one aide to a child with Autism. My love for working with children stemmed from a background of wanting to help children that can't help themselves. I started out wanting to be a Social Worker, but then my spiritual path led me to the teaching field. As a Special Education teacher, my goal is to' trigger a deep love for learning and experimenting in my students' lives. I hope to guide my students to want to develop and become more independent than dependent. I hope for progress in their academic and individual lives. I want them to learn that challenges only make you stronger and that we all face different challenges in life.

Throughout the course of this semester, our English class, students and teachers will work together to create the routines and establish the expectations that will create a literacy community and help the workshop run smoothly for the remainder of the year. Using reading and writing interventions, students will reflect on their literacy practices and set goals for the school year. Together, students and teachers will conduct book talks and practice the routines for reading and writing conferences and practice close reading routines. In addition, they will create literacy notebooks to record their reading and writing notes and experiences throughout the year. Students and teachers work together to create an environment that is safe for sharing reading and writing.

Our classroom will function as a laboratory of learning, with classes consisting of whole classroom discussions, a wide variety of collaborative group projects, individual research and readings, writing assignments, studies of diverse arts and cultures, and the examination and interpretation of many primary sources. Students will be challenged to take charge of their education so that they may learn valuable skills that will benefit them throughout their lifetime on whatever path they choose. Critical thinking, personal responsibility, and a strong work ethic are all ingredients to their enduring success both in and out of the classroom. It is my hope that we will work together as a team in order to ensure that your child becomes an independent lifelong learner.

So I look forward to working with you to further and better your child's education and future. This should be an exciting and fun school year for all of us. I am looking forward to getting to know and working with both you and your student!

Also, this year we will have a class wishlist and if you would like to donate any type of needed supplies and accessories for your child’s class, then I have attached our amazon wishlist that you can order anything off of. Thanks in advance for your dedication and time. 

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2S0Y3MAOKXUHP?ref_=wl_share 

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/37C1SOMY5FMZ9?ref_=wl_share