Hello Families,
I trust you heard many good things about our first three days together. There was certainly a lot of energy in the room. So goes the first few days with an incoming loop. With so many new things to see, hear, and explore I left plenty of space for easing into what will become the regular routines and rhythms of our classroom. After three days of getting to know one another and planning for the ways we want to live and work alongside each other over the next two thousand one hundred sixty-hours together (wow!), we will begin in earnest on Monday.
And now a few important items to pass along...
* On Monday the kids will bring home a reading log. This first log will ask them to record what they read each night as well as how long they read. There will also be a place for you to initial. As the year progresses, so will the reading log. It will change to reflect the work we are doing in the classroom. I ask that the kids read each night for at least twenty minutes. Before initialing their log please ensure they have written neatly and included all necessary information.
* I had mentioned earlier that the kids will have an opportunity to participate in a Small Teacher/Tall Teacher Literacy Class with the USC undergrads I am teaching this fall. It will be on Thursday afternoons from 3:45 - 4:30. Siblings in K, 1, or 2 are welcome to attend as well! I will send a sheet home with the kids on Monday asking who is interested in participating. Please try to get this back to me by Wednesday. I am providing our class first dibs on this opportunity and then I'll take what spaces are left and extend invitations to other classes.
* Speaking of things coming home with the kids...everyone has a folder in their backpacks labeled "Home." This is where they will put homework, forms from the office, and completed classwork. Please help them get in the habit of bringing this to school with them every morning.
* This week we discussed what we should do when there are behavioral issues in the classroom. The kids suggested people might sit in "silent" lunch, lose their recess, or walk laps around the playground. To be honest, I'm not real comfortable with these sorts of punitive measures, I've yet to see such actions truly help many children learn to change their behavior. As we confront issues in the classroom (which are both inevitable and important to the process of growing up) we'll talk through them and develop strategies for avoiding similar problems in the future. Of course, change is sometimes slow. As patterns develop I'll ask those struggling to meet classroom expectations to write a letter home to you letting you know what is going on. My hope is that the letters will help you continue our discussions at home. It is quite typical for there to be an increased number of letters going home the first few weeks of school. If your child brings a letter home to you please understand they are working to figure out our procedures during a time in their life when they are also maturing by the week. At the same time I ask you to take these letters seriously and help them understand the need to treat others with kindness, pay attention to those speaking, and so on.
That's all for this week. Thank you so much for trusting me with your children. I'll end with a few photos from this week. Due to a nearly dead camera battery I did not get to take as many as I would have hoped but I promise to get at least one shot of everyone next week!
Chris
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