Welcome to Ms. Timpf’s 8th Grade ELA Class
Hello O. L. Smith Community!
My name is Ms. Timpf and I am a new teacher here at O. L. Smith.
Here is a little about me. I graduated from Eastern Michigan University in April 2015 after working very hard for five years. During that time, my parents and brother spent a lot of time supporting me and helping me through school. My parent’s, Don and Mary, and my brother, Ben, may be familiar to some of you! They are frequently seen helping with Edsel Ford’s Performing Arts Department and my Mom is an instructional coach at Geer Park Elementary. While speaking of family, it would be a shame if I didn’t mention my adorable puppies, Cooper and Baxter, or my main man, Orion, who is my lovable cat.
As my students will tell you, my favorite past time is roller derby. I play on the Arbor Bruising Company with the Ann Arbor Derby Dimes. In addition to playing, I also help as an assistant bench coach for the Ann Arbor Brawlstars, who are currently ranked 64th in the world.
If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to e-mail me! I look forward to getting to know all of you and your students as the year goes on.
Go Vikings!
Ms. Timpf
Welcome to O.L. Smith. What an interesting sport you’re enjoying. That sounds like a lot of fun.
I am a parent of one of your 8th Grade Language Art students. What sort of books do you encourage your students to read in their free time? Is there a request, or expectation from you for your students to read nightly? If so, how many minutes a night do you recommend? If there is an expectation of nightly reading, do your students use nightly reading logs?
Thank you in advance.
Ms. Hackett,
These are some great questions! I support students reading whatever they would like in their free time! Whatever motivates them to open a book is fantastic. I do, however, encourage students to finish the books they start, even if it’s not their favorite.
As far as a time requirement or reading logs, reading during free time should be fun. Our goals are to help students connect reading with positive goals rather than a requirement or punishment. For that reason, I do not assign anything. If you would like to track your child’s progress at home, I have many resources that I would gladly share with you.
If you notice your student is reading at home on their own but is consistently reading books below their level or is only reading for very short periods of time, encourage them to choose more difficult books or read an extra page or so. Some students need that extra push but I would not suggest pushing too hard because, again, we want to keep free time reading fun rather than a chore.
Thank you for these wonderful questions! If you have more questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.