Teachers Letter to Parents

Dear Parent or Guardian,

My name is Satoe Ogawa, and I will be teaching Japanese for your child this year. I want to take
this opportunity to introduce myself and express my excitement about working with your child
this year. I love teaching Japanese because it is a part of me that I want to share with my
students, and I feel that it is crucial for students to be open to new cultures as well as learn them.
I believe that students can grow and become more opened to other cultures that are foreign to
them through this class. The main goal of my course is to cover the fundamentals of a new
language, specifically for Japanese. Over the course of this year, we will introduce our students
to the basics of Japanese, such as hiragana, katakana, kanji, grammar, sentence structure, and
more.
Additional information about the class is provided in the syllabus attached to this email. Please
read that syllabus and sign the detachable portion on the bottom of this note in order to indicate
your understanding and support of the classroom system. There is also space provided for you to
express any questions, concerns, or comments. Students should return that portion to me.
If there are ever any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to email me or give me a
phone call and meeting (by appointments please) each day before and after school. To schedule a
meeting, you may contact me via [shogawa@asu.edu or (760)-815-3713].
I am so excited and I will be looking forward to a great year!
Sincerely,
Satoe Ogawa
Teachers Letter to Principal:
Dear Principal,
My name is Satoe Ogawa, and my focus of teaching is Japanese as a foreign language. I have
been a Teachers Assistant for around 4 years. This year I received a bachelors degree in
Secondary Education Japanese at Arizona State University. I am very excited to be able to apply
for this job, have the chance to become a teacher, and have my own classes that I will lead. My
goal as a teacher is to get students enculturated and understand the differences that exist between
cultures. I also want them to learn about the Japanese culture and the language itself. I will
always have high expectations for my students and aid them to do better by facilitating student
centered learning.
I believe that teachers are the ones that have to always believe in their students to do better, and
achieve high quality work. If we as teachers do not have these high expectations, who is going to
be the one that guides the students to work harder and strive for better? I believe that parents
serve a crucial role as a part of the students educations as well because their home environment
and life play a huge part in the lives of the students. Teachers need to put effort into
communicating with the students parents, so that students can have the utmost support at both
school and at home.
Teaching is a job that affects hundreds of students lives every year, and I want to do my best to
support these students as best as I can. I want them to be able to pursue their goals and work hard
for their dreams. I hope that this year will be a wonderful year with many adventures that will
occur inside the classroom. If you have any questions please contact me at shogawa@asu.edu or
(760)-815-3713. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Satoe Ogawa
Letter to Parent Addressing Specific Issues:
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Arizona High school begins classes at 8 am every day besides Wednesdays, which are the late-
starts. That is when classes begin at 9 am. However, James comes in late for first period every
day. As a couple options for a solution, would it be possible for James to wake up earlier, to
carpool with his friends/classmates, or come into class at least 3 minutes before the bell rings?
In the classroom, if students are not here on time, or if they are never in class, it is very difficult
to keep up and understand the new content being taught in the classroom. As a student, they need
to take on the responsibility of getting to class on time and respecting the time that is given to
every other student in the classroom as well. Next time, if James is late to class again, I am going
to have to start deducting points off of the work that is done inside the classroom for him.
If James is able to overcome his late habit, he could do so much better because in class he works
diligently, and communicates with his peers very well. If he were able to stay punctual and be on
track of the time, and come to classes on time, the class would go very smoothly as well from the
beginning. And, he will learn so much more inside the classroom.
Sincerely,
Satoe Ogawa