Thursday, March 19, 2020

The Latest...

Hey Folks,

I hope this finds you well. My apologies for the barrage of information, emails and everything else. I am doing my best to make sure this time is productive and as smooth as we can make it. If I am totally overwhelming you, let me know. I recognize it is a lot.

Just so you know, I am available throughout the day electronically via email. Please let me know ahead of time if you'll be calling me (223-3677), if possible, so I can make sure I can prep my little one that I will be off limits. Who would have guessed that working from home could be so confusing for a 4-year old!?

I hope you all have had a chance to sign up for a phone/video conference time next week. I am really looking forward to touching base with you all!

I have added an additional list of resources on a page here on the blog. I encourage you to check them out and give any feedback. I pulled this list from an even larger one that I slashed and I tried my best to vet them...

I am sure there will be more to come but I think this is enough for now.

Be well, everyone!

~B

Monday, March 9, 2020

Vacation, The Flynn, Workshops Part II

Hello Families,

I hope you all had a restful break and enjoyed the sun this weekend! The kids have come back to school ready to go! I always appreciate the gradual easing back into our school schedule. This week we re-arranged the room, made new table groups and practiced our literacy routine. I hope you are all making sure to get lots of rest to counter-balance the time change!

We will be going to the Flynn to see the Peking Acrobats on Wednesday, the 18th. We will be sending home permission slips as well as other information regarding the field trip such as chaperoning, lunches, etc. this week. We are looking forward to it!

After some discussions with the 1/2 team, we have decided to open up workshop time to all kids in the 1/2 and have offered board games, wood/cardboard working, and crafts. We will be doing this every morning from arrival to 9:15 in our classrooms. As soon as the kids have checked in and done their morning jobs, they can head to their workshop rooms (ours, Ms. Caitlin's and Ms. Babcock's). They will be able to switch up choices every 2-4 weeks. This is going to be a great experience for our kiddos!

Next week we will also be continuing our work on our fiction story writing. The kids are doing a great job editing, adding details and thinking through their ideas. They did an amazing job talking about their story maps before break at the All School Meeting and these tools have been really helpful in them planning their stories and keeping their ideas organized.

We went to the sugarbush this morning and they did such a great collecting. When we came back, we estimated that the kids collected 12 full buckets worth (24 half buckets) which translates to about a gallon and a half of syrup. Not bad!

Last, I've sent home Scholastic packets the past couple of weeks. If you could, please remember to shop under our class code so that we can get bonus points to buy classroom books! Thanks for the help! Class code: MNQC2

Anyway, that's it for now. Please be in touch with any questions, thoughts or concerns anytime!

Best,

Ben