It's so hard to say goodbye...

We are sad to see one of our students is moving away! We will be having a party for her on Friday. She starts a new school on Monday and is feeling very anxious about it! Let me know if you have any great advice on what to do when a student moves away!

Homecoming Week and Recess Guidelines

Homecoming week is the week of September 22nd.  These are the themes for each of the days.

Monday- PJ Day

Tuesday-Crazy Socks

Wednesday- Red, White and Blue Day

Thursday-Favorite Team Day

Friday-Black and Gold Day

Also, these are the recess guidelines as far as clothing goes. It has gotten cold quickly and the weather changes throughout the day. It is best to have your child dress in layers or bring extra clothes for their locker.

60 degrees and Above - Student Choice

Between 45 Degrees and 59 Degrees - Long Sleeves and Pants

Below 45 Degrees - Coat

*Consequence for not having proper clothing are five minutes standing or walking prior to playing for each recess.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Blended Learning

Have any of you heard of blended learning? Well, neither had I until I found out I would be one of a only a few teachers who would be participating in a blended learning pilot this school year. I am really excited about the opportunity, but also a little anxious. We had professional development on the pilot today, but I am still not exactly sure what we are doing! We are still in the development phase, but it is very exciting. If you would like to find out more about blended learning, you can obvisouly "Google it," but you can also check out the ALVO Institute. They are the ones who did our training and it was fabulous! Please give me many feedback on any of your possible experiences with this!

Beginning of the Year

We had a fantastic start to the 2014-2015 school year! We are only a few weeks in, but we are already a solid classroom community. This picture is from our "Web of Uniqueness." This is an activity I do every year. You start by reading a story where the main character is trying to fit in by becoming someone they're not. A few examples of this are, Spaghetti on a Hot Dog Bun, and A Bad Case of Stripes. After you have read and discussed the book, you can talk with your class about how important it is to be unique and stay true to yourself. Finally, you take a ball of yarn and share something that is unique about yourself. You hold on to the end of it and throw it to one of your students. Each student shares something that they think is unique about themselves, holds on to a section of the yarn, and throws it to the next classmate. After every student has had a chance to share, you can talk to the class about how even though we all shared something unique, we are all connected as a classroom. The kids absolutely love doing this activity each year!