About

Welcome to 5th grade in room 17!

 

My name is Laura Jones and this is my third year teaching 5th grade at Laurelwood.  I come from a long line of 5th grade teachers in Santa Clara and it gets more and more fun each year. I attended Pomeroy Elementary School, Peterson Middle School, and Del Mar High School in Campbell.

 

I attended Oregon State University where I earned my BS in Forest Recreation and MS in Forest Resources (GO BEAVS!).  I spent a few years working on the Oregon coast before deciding to come back to California and earn a teaching credential from San Jose State.

 

Science is one of my favorite subjects because it helps students understand the world around them.  I am "the teacher with the lizard".  Speedy is the bearded dragon who lives in the classroom.  He has grown up in a classroom and is very friendly.  He actually becomes more active during the day because he wants to come out of his tank and play.

 

I aim to encourage students to try new things and explore the world around them.  This might be something like trying out for a sports team, running for student council, or even holding or petting Speedy.  Failure is not a negative, it is something to learn from and for the most part everyone fails more times than they succeed.  

 

In class, students are encouraged to integrate technology as they see appropriate and we are going to be getting practice in coding and hopefully robotics this year.

 

As this is the last year before middle school, students are expected to take responsibility for their actions and their work.  If they have a question about something, they (not you the parent) should ask questions to better understand what is expected.

 

October through (hopefully June) in my family is filled with ups and downs depending on how the Sharks are playing.

 

I am very excited to get to know and work with all the students this year!