Good Morning,
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is always nice to have some time with family and time to relax.
We are wrapping up our Earth, Moon, and Sky unit this week. I want to finish up with two more lessons on why and when we see the moon in the sky. We will start a writing unit that focuses on writing non-fiction chapter books, on Tuesday. This will be a fun and engaging unit as students write books about things they are experts on.
Tomorrow, Rebecca Holcombe, the Secretary of Education will be visiting our classroom. She will be talking to our class about how she makes a difference in the lives of school children across the state.
Notes:
*There is a new reading log in your child's homework bag.
*Please return your report card envelope to me (if you haven't already).
*The weather is finally turning toward the colder side. Could you please make sure your child has appropriate clothing for recess.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
November 30, 2015
November 24, 2015
November 24, 2015
Good Morning,
It was nice to meet with so many of you last night, during our conferences. I am looking forward to finishing up today. As always, if you find you still have questions and/or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Our next unit of study in writing will be Non Fiction chapter books. I am looking forward to moving on from our narrative focus and onto books that highlight each students interests and knowledge.
As I reflect on the first trimester and the season itself, I find myself truly thankful for both the opportunity to teach here at the Waitsfield School and to teach your children. We are an amazing community with a great leader and incredible educators. It truly is inspiring to work with such great people. The support we receive from parents and the community as a whole is absolutely remarkable. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Peace,
Tommy
It was nice to meet with so many of you last night, during our conferences. I am looking forward to finishing up today. As always, if you find you still have questions and/or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Our next unit of study in writing will be Non Fiction chapter books. I am looking forward to moving on from our narrative focus and onto books that highlight each students interests and knowledge.
As I reflect on the first trimester and the season itself, I find myself truly thankful for both the opportunity to teach here at the Waitsfield School and to teach your children. We are an amazing community with a great leader and incredible educators. It truly is inspiring to work with such great people. The support we receive from parents and the community as a whole is absolutely remarkable. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Peace,
Tommy
November 20, 2015
November 20, 2015
Good Morning,
I left my iPad at home today so I can't create the video (during lunch). Sorry about that. I am really looking forward to meeting with all of you during our conferences. I would like your child to attend and please bring the report card. I ask that your child attend for several reasons. First, I want them to know that this is their report. They have a part in how the scores turn out. Specifically, they control the Work Habits and Social Development part of their report card. This is truly the only thing they can control. The academic part is my responsibility. If a child isn't meeting the standard, it is on me to figure out how to get them there. It really helps develop the idea that we are working together as a classroom team.
Notes
*The Weekly News Journals are in each child's homework bag.
*There is reading homework today.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
I left my iPad at home today so I can't create the video (during lunch). Sorry about that. I am really looking forward to meeting with all of you during our conferences. I would like your child to attend and please bring the report card. I ask that your child attend for several reasons. First, I want them to know that this is their report. They have a part in how the scores turn out. Specifically, they control the Work Habits and Social Development part of their report card. This is truly the only thing they can control. The academic part is my responsibility. If a child isn't meeting the standard, it is on me to figure out how to get them there. It really helps develop the idea that we are working together as a classroom team.
Notes
*The Weekly News Journals are in each child's homework bag.
*There is reading homework today.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
November 16, 2015
November 16, 2015
Good Morning,
I hope you all had a great weekend. I would like to take a moment to thank all of you that were able to volunteer at the Ski and Skate Sale. This truly is a community event and takes the community to obtain success. Once again the PTA was able to meet their goal to fund the projects they had budgeted for. A special thanks goes out to the PTA and all of the hard work that goes into planning such an extraordinary event.
This morning we chatted with our friends, at the Study school, in Canada. We each shared some work that we did based on two different books from the author study. My class presented their work form the book "!". I am hoping to have this work hanging in the hall by the end of the week.
Your child's report card will be sent home on Friday. I was able to complete these this weekend and am excited for you to see how your child is progressing. I ask that you bring these report cards to your conference along with your child. This way I can use the report card to set a goal with your child and include them in the conference. After the 1st 5 minutes, your child will be asked to leave I will spend the rest of the time chatting with you.
I hope you have a great week. Maybe I will see you at the Thanksgiving luncheon.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope you all had a great weekend. I would like to take a moment to thank all of you that were able to volunteer at the Ski and Skate Sale. This truly is a community event and takes the community to obtain success. Once again the PTA was able to meet their goal to fund the projects they had budgeted for. A special thanks goes out to the PTA and all of the hard work that goes into planning such an extraordinary event.
This morning we chatted with our friends, at the Study school, in Canada. We each shared some work that we did based on two different books from the author study. My class presented their work form the book "!". I am hoping to have this work hanging in the hall by the end of the week.
Your child's report card will be sent home on Friday. I was able to complete these this weekend and am excited for you to see how your child is progressing. I ask that you bring these report cards to your conference along with your child. This way I can use the report card to set a goal with your child and include them in the conference. After the 1st 5 minutes, your child will be asked to leave I will spend the rest of the time chatting with you.
I hope you have a great week. Maybe I will see you at the Thanksgiving luncheon.
Peace,
Tommy
November 14, 2015
November 14, 2015
Good Afternoon,
I am sorry I didn't get this post out yesterday. This week, I spent most of our literacy times assessing each students reading, writing, and spelling abilities. Yesterday, I allowed the kids to watch a movie and eat popcorn as I finished testing. It also helped control the energy that comes with transforming our school into a weekend retail store (Ski and Skate). I use this information to compare to previous assessments and to allow me to determine the growth made and the next steps in instruction for each student. I will use a lot of the assessment pieces to guide me in determining scores on the report card and will share the information during our conferences.
As for conferences, please make sure to schedule a conference time. If you are not planning on requesting a conference, could you please let me know.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
I am sorry I didn't get this post out yesterday. This week, I spent most of our literacy times assessing each students reading, writing, and spelling abilities. Yesterday, I allowed the kids to watch a movie and eat popcorn as I finished testing. It also helped control the energy that comes with transforming our school into a weekend retail store (Ski and Skate). I use this information to compare to previous assessments and to allow me to determine the growth made and the next steps in instruction for each student. I will use a lot of the assessment pieces to guide me in determining scores on the report card and will share the information during our conferences.
As for conferences, please make sure to schedule a conference time. If you are not planning on requesting a conference, could you please let me know.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
November 8, 2015
Monday, November 9th
Good Morning,
I hope you had a great weekend with your family and enjoyed this April weather. We have a busy week ahead of us. In the classroom, the students will write up a reflection about our visit from Mrs. Davis. We will continue to work on our small moment unit in writing and hope to get to our final piece by the end of the week. I will be testing kids reading levels on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. During our Language Arts time, I will not be meeting with the kids for reading but rather testing their text levels. I want to see how they have progressed during the trimester and will use the information for report cards.
On Wednesday, we will have the Compass Cup. This was rescheduled from last week. The students will participate in a variety of team building activities as they celebrate their success with our PBIS goals.
Friday will mark the major setup day for the school's annual Ski and Skate sale. Our morning should run as normal but our afternoon may get changed up a bit. It all depends on what is needed from the classroom as set up happens.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope you had a great weekend with your family and enjoyed this April weather. We have a busy week ahead of us. In the classroom, the students will write up a reflection about our visit from Mrs. Davis. We will continue to work on our small moment unit in writing and hope to get to our final piece by the end of the week. I will be testing kids reading levels on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. During our Language Arts time, I will not be meeting with the kids for reading but rather testing their text levels. I want to see how they have progressed during the trimester and will use the information for report cards.
On Wednesday, we will have the Compass Cup. This was rescheduled from last week. The students will participate in a variety of team building activities as they celebrate their success with our PBIS goals.
Friday will mark the major setup day for the school's annual Ski and Skate sale. Our morning should run as normal but our afternoon may get changed up a bit. It all depends on what is needed from the classroom as set up happens.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
November 2, 2015
November 2, 2015
Good Morning,
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and Trick or Treating was enjoyed by all who chose to participate. Today the students worked in teams of two to explain how the orbits of the moon and Earth work. We have been discussing the concepts of night and day and will now move into moon phases.
This Wednesday, the students will be celebrating the success of the compass cup. The school will gather in the afternoon as they bask in the glory of achieving our school wide behavior goals.
Notes:
*There is a new homework sheet in your child's homework bag for this week.
*I will be out of the building on Friday for personal reasons.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and Trick or Treating was enjoyed by all who chose to participate. Today the students worked in teams of two to explain how the orbits of the moon and Earth work. We have been discussing the concepts of night and day and will now move into moon phases.
This Wednesday, the students will be celebrating the success of the compass cup. The school will gather in the afternoon as they bask in the glory of achieving our school wide behavior goals.
Notes:
*There is a new homework sheet in your child's homework bag for this week.
*I will be out of the building on Friday for personal reasons.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace,
Tommy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)