We spent a lot of time building our classroom community...we have over half a class full of kids new to UES, so we've been making connections and getting to know each other. We've also been establishing routines and boundaries. We read a story about a kingdom with no rules...which led to the development of our own classroom rules...Our Kingdom's Rules! Take a look...
We cut apart all of the rules, sorted, and categorized them all...then wrote seven rules we all wanted to follow to best learn and to be safe! They are displayed in the front of the classroom.
We've also been participating in a program out of Stanford University called "A Week of Inspirational Math"...it is the convergence of brain study, growth mindset, and mathematics...and it was AWESOME!! The kids also took a math pretest that will help guide my instruction for the upcoming units.
We are starting an awesome unit in writing...and the kids have been paired up in writing partners...we discussed what good writing partners do and say, and we've worked together this week to develop these partnerships. I'm just so impressed with the kids you've sent to my classroom...they are task masters and they yearn to learn...IT'S AWESOME to watch and be a part of!
Another really cool accomplishment of this past week was we visited the computer lab twice. The kids have now logged onto the computers using their new passwords and have joined two different classes in my Google Classroom. We will use Google Classroom a lot this year and I'm excited to already have them joined and ready to embark on this excellent use of technology. Please look for a survey that will be coming home soon...I will want to know if your child has access to a computer or device at home and what kind it is, so that I know whether or not what we work on in school on Google Classroom can be also worked with at home. So keep your eyes peeled for that sometime this week.
It was wonderful to see so many of you at Back to School Night...and for those who couldn't make it...I completely understand how busy life is...I'm living it!! Please make sure you review the papers that went home in the BTSN folders. Make sure to fill out the volunteer form and return to me this week, so that I can come up with a schedule of volunteers!
Please keep in mind that if you ever need to contact me, email is by far the best way. I will always get back to you that day (unless you email me in the evening, and then I will reply the following morning.)
Last, I hope that all of you have gone to FCPS.org and either registered with Find Out First or updated your info. The school news, UES News, comes via Find Out First and always has important information and dates that you will need to know. There is a link directly to this service on the right side of the website under QUICK LINKS...please visit it and update your info so you do not miss out on any school news.
I hope you enjoy this three day weekend, and I look forward to seeing your kids on Tuesday!
