WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE...

what I figured out how to do this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's going to be EPIC!

Camera

I have to get better at remembering to bring my camera to work. The kids had such a blast at our outdoor celebration and they walked/ran their little hearts out for Terry Fox today. I missed great photo ops :(

We've been working on assessments such as OWA (Ontario Writing Assessment) and spelling inventories. Next week the Grade 4s write the CCAT (Canadian Cognitive Ability Test) and both grades will be writing their CASI reading comprehension assessments.

Our class was a better place today because of Hailey who offered to help another student find his math work and subsequently clean out his desk after school today. I also have quite the group of helpers at recess who complete various tasks around the room to make my life easier (and it's not even cold out yet!!)

Love our class!!

Tribes Appreciations

Miss Hall appreciates Ethan for helping other students.
Josh appreciates Ethan for helping him with his work.
Nathan appreciates Ethan for helping him sweep the classroom.
Makenna appreciates Miss Hall because at open house last night she said that she would keep her forever.
Amy said that she appreciates Robin and Christina for helping to clean up the classroom after Art.
Robin appreciates the same thing as Amy.
Dawson appreciates Hailey for sharing her pencil crayons and markers with him.
Dan appreciated Dawson for being more mature.
Isaac appreciates Hailey's encouragement.
Sebastian appreciated Kaden lending and sharing his things with him.
Kaden appreciated Ethan for cooperating with him when he was showing him things outside.
Ethan appreciates Tyler for having a nice conversation with him.
Maxx appreciated Cannon, Colby, and Owen for entertaining him at open house.
Hailey appreciated Madison for letting her use her plasma car.
Rylee appreciated Riley, Makenna, and Hailey for helping her learn to use her mom's retro roller-skates.
Erika appreciates madison for sharing with her.
Owen appreciated Maxx for his nice comments.
Justin appreciates Madison for letting him use her plasma car.

And that was Miss Hall's Grade 4/5 class appreciation statements in tribes.

Christina  
Minister of Education

Thanks for Coming

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to tonight's Open House. I hope you enjoyed looking around our classroom and at your child's work. I was grateful for all of the positive feedback from parents, it is nice to feel appreciated.

Our class is working on giving and receiving appreciation through Tribes. It is tricky for some students to point out good things about other people (some find it embarrassing) but I know this will come with time.

I received a couple of questions about homework tonight. I will address this in my weekly report on Friday...when the students will be assessing THEMSELVES for the first time. I have the kids complete the Learning Skills section of the weekly report on the last Friday of every month. I am interested to see how reflective they will be.

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I forgot my Star yesterday. My memory capacity seems to be full lately so I may need an extra brain to hold it all in!

I would like to thank Erika for her endless patience and kindness toward others. She makes our class a better place when she leads quietly by example. You amaze me every day.

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Today our class became a better place when ...

We will be answering this question tomorrow during Community Circle. Our Minister of Education Miss Sidoff will be posting the responses shortly. Our other Minister of Education Mr. Abma will be working on our website whenever it decides to work properly.

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I have some creative juices flowing around my busy brain about an in-class Pinterest board. Look around for pictures, photos and logos that you may want to add.
To be continued....

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Guess who earned their first Celebration of the year?!

Tomorrow will be a special day for three reasons:
1. It's Open House at Cherrywood from 4-6pm
2. It's Hat Day. Bring in $1 and get to wear your hat all day in class. Proceeds go to the Terry Fox Foundation.
3. We're celebrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Number 83 gave us our first full row and so tomorrow we're celebrating with outdoor play (as voted for by the class the first week of school). Madame Rocca kindly agreed to turn their Phys Ed class into part of our celebration and then I will meet them outside for the last period of the day. A note went home today about what they are allowed to bring in. Remember, anything with wheels or pogo sticks require a helmet and a permission slip. No exceptions. No phone calls home.

I came back to work with a glowing note from Mr. Crowe. Thank you class for showing your true colours. I am very proud of you for your efforts while I was away.

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Some things that we did today:

A police officer from the CN Railway came in to speak to the junior division about railroad safety. Our class was fantastic fantastic fantastic during the presentation! One proud teacher here let me tell you.

Minister positions were awarded this morning, ask your child what job they have for Term 1.

We started our Math Journals which will hopefully be done by tomorrow for you to see at the Open House.

In Art we are cutting out our secondary and tertiary colour squares to make the first letter of our names for our first Art project.

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Thank you for signing and returning the weekly report each Monday, I appreciate it very much.

Our Ministers of Education will be starting to write our blog and website (when it's fixed) as soon as we can work out a schedule.

Our First Bump

     Today we ran into our first bump in the road as a class. You may have had some interesting dinner conversation this evening. On my prep the kids had a different teacher and they were left to finish up a math activity and then present it. Upon my return the report was less than positive on the class' choices and work ethic. 

I was shocked. I was devastated. MY class?! Not a chance. Our class is based on mutual respect and we have built a trust over the past 3 weeks. My only issue thus far has been some chatting at inappropriate times or the class taking longer than I'd like to quiet down after a transition, such as coming in from recess. I brag about my class all the time. They rock. This news made me quite disappointed.

Today we hit a bump. A rock so to speak.

I am a firm believer that speaking when angry is not a good decision so I stayed quiet and wrote them a letter so that when they came in from recess they knew what to do. I took the time to watch interactions and listen to their discussions. After their apology letters to the other teacher were turned in, I read them and noticed that many were written by individuals or pairs, not in the same math groups as I had requested. So I asked why. We had a healthy 20 minute discussion where various individuals expressed their opinion.

After some reflection, I would like to write the amazing class a follow-up letter since I will be at a workshop tomorrow.

Dear Class,

After reading your letters and having our discussion about what happened, I have a few things I would like to say to you. First, I heard what all of you were saying and I now understand where your frustrations came from. I feel I should apologize for jumping the gun so to speak, and not hearing your side before lunch. There are always 2 sides to a story (or 29 in this case). That being said, as you know, I will not listen to tattling. There comes a time when being able to solve your own minor problems is important. If someone is not contributing to your group work, then remind them of our 4 agreements. Tell them to change their behaviour and carry on with what YOU should be doing. If all else fails, remove yourself from the situation or get a teacher. To receive a report like the one I did, it could not have been just one or two students, it had to be more than that. Most of you would agree that it was louder and less respectful than usual. Thank you for your honesty. 

When I left today you were all working well together. There were a few of you who were stuck on where to start, but that is why you were in a group - to discuss and problem solve together. With pointers, you were on your way! For those students who were accused of sitting around doing nothing, not contributing, or fooling around, did you agree with what your peers said? Not everyone works well in a group, but it is a necessary skill to attain at school. I am looking forward to you learning this, as it will be a long year if no one wants to work with you because of poor work ethic and disrespect. There is a lot to learn from working with people in your class: younger or older, male or female, visual or kinesthetic learners, people with logic or music smarts, those who are left- or right-brained. We're all able to contribute in some way. And if you really just don't get it, then use Attentive Listening and show Mutual Respect by not fooling around or arguing. At the very least, be engaged. 

Although I did not agree with your approach, I respected the way some of you stood up for yourselves to explain why you thought apology letters were "stupid" because you were trying your hardest and I teach you to treat others the way you want to be treated, and you didn't feel respected. I was very impressed with the argument and evidence you provided. Some harder lessons some of you need to learn though:

                   

1. Every teacher is different. Not everyone teaches like I do. And I don't teach like them. Neither one is good or bad. Just different. You will have other teachers. Teachers you don't know yet. Let me tell you, they have it the hardest! They are coming into a class of 28 and don't know your names or your learning styles or when it's a good time for a mint or when you really need a movement break. Even if I write down every routine we have step by step, word by word, they still won't get it the way I do. Just like when I go in next door to teach Science, I don't know the 5/6s that well yet and I don't teach like Miss Rutherford does. Her students likely struggle with that as much as you did today in Math. In these cases, you have to roll with the punches and find a way to get along and get through the day. Just like you will tomorrow when I am away. You have to respectfully explain what we do and why we do it, without getting all excited and speaking rudely as if that teacher SHOULD know...because they likely don't. And that my friends, is okay. It's a learning process. Remember though that when you put your guard up, so do others.

2. Adults should be given respect. Kids should be given respect. It's a two-way street. Taking the approach of treating others the way you feel they are treating you, is different than treating others the way you want to be treated. An eye for an eye is not the solution. Then no one has any eyes! Think about it. (It's okay to laugh, I know I'm funny)

3. Life can be frustrating and seem unfair. There are times when we are right and times when we are wrong. Today you were wrong, but you were also right. Today I was right and I was also wrong. Today you apologized and tonight I will apologize to you for only listening to one side and not exploring the 'facts' as Ethan would say. We all make mistakes (like the 8 I missed on the chessboard - sorry again Rylee!). If we didn't make mistakes, we wouldn't be learning. I will put 5 numbers back on the Celebration Board. 

Sincerely, 

Your Favourite Teacher in the Whole Wide World

Miss Hall

P.S. I hope you have a fabulous day with Mr. Crowe tomorrow. I know he will be excited to see you all. Please think about today and apply what you learned tomorrow. Just like we talked about in Community Circle, everything should stay the same even when I'm not there. We are a class together, I am not a babysitter, I am your teacher. You are in control of how our class operates just as much as I am. Take that control and do something good with it!

Character is how you live when no one is looking. Do you agree?

Our Little Buddies

We had our first session of Reading Buddies today. We are paired up with Mrs. Sinclair's Grade 1/2 class. Some of us have a student all to ourselves and others are sharing a student because we have 28 in our class and Mrs. Sinclair has 17. You do the math...

I explained the importance of being good role models and staying on task to ensure the younger kids were learning good habits. I discussed my Reading Buddy Book of Doom page for those that chose not to fulfil their responsibilities. Let me tell you, I probably didn't even have to bring up that type of a consequence because this class of mine is FANTABULOUS!! (I wonder if I can make us some extra money by creating words like that?) They were so incredible that fantastic and fabulous and amazing and outstanding are just not good enough words to describe them. I was so proud of my students that I had a little tear in my eye. Honestly. They were that wonderful. It sure made up for the noisy line-up following our fire drill this morning ;-)

Ask your child how many lines we have left where we only need one more number before we get to have our first celebration? It's so close we can taste it! I hope they get it tomorrow because I am away at a workshop on Friday and I really want to be there when that final number is drawn. That will be a big challenge for them...first day without me. Self-regulation at it's finest. I just realized that if they get the number tomorrow then the celebration would be scheduled for Friday and then I would miss it :(

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Thank you for sending in your old magazines. We will be using them for an art project involving tertiary colours as well as for finding letters to decorate the covers of our interactive math journals which we will be starting next week.

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Some days there many students who catch my attention with their effort to make our class a welcoming, caring place to learn. For example, Makenna offered to stay in for recess to sweep the floor, Rylee donated a monkey to decorate our class, everyone put an incredible amount of effort into being good role models for their Reading Buddies, Robyn volunteered another answer! Dalton organized all of the book bins for Mrs. Sinclair without being asked, the whole class worked well together during our Did You Hear About? activity and then spoke in front of each other without any fear or hesitation, the fire drill was well done, and Mr. McNaughton complemented our class on their behaviour inside and outside at second nutrition/fitness break. Hailey made a point to share a fidget with a student who didn't have one and Justin wanted to share all of his gum with the class. It can't get any better than that can it? What do you think? Is their a way our class could improve (or 'get better'?)