Week of December 10-17, 2008

Hello Students and Parents of the Rainforest Room,
This blog will update you on:
1) current and upcoming events
2) standards covered
3) highlights of the past week.

Enjoy!

Current and Upcoming Events:

• Tomorrow, Thursday, December 11, 2008 we will be viewing the Kroc Cener's version of Guys and Dolls. They have asked each child to pay $5 to cover their costs. Please send this money with your child.
• Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday we have swimming P.E. The kids needs swimming suits and towels, and something warm to change into is always nice.
• We are making gingerbread housese next Tuesday with Drisana. Please send small, lightweight candies with your child to make this possible.
• On Wednesday of next week, we will be ice skating again and then having a brief holiday party and bake sale. Be there, ready to buy baked goods!
• On Thursday of next week, we will be walking through the upper grades home made wax museum.
• We've started a new partnership on Fridays: Legos and Creative movement.

Standards Covered:

Highlights of the past week:

• We've started a penpal with Roekmini's sister's class in San Jose, Costa Rica. Each child has received a penpal and has met them over skype. We will start writing letters and then typing them in through e-mail. Ask your child about their conversations with their penpals!
• We've read Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus. It's about a young tiger who's father desperately wants him to start writing, reading, drawing, and eating neatly. Yet, Leo has a hard time blooming when his father is watching him so intently. We tracked the put ups and the put downs. We also did a book report on this book as a class.
• We've been learning how to pick a just right book.
• There are three steps: pick a book that makes you want to read, read one page and put up a finger for every mistake, and if there are less than four fingers up that's the just right book, if there's five or more fingers, try again.
• We've also been having fabulous morning meetings and sharing every single morning. The kids are free to bring in artifacts and stories from home.
• We've been learning about weather in Science. Specifically, appropriate clothing choices.

In addition, some of you may have noticed that Genesis Wasson has gone to another school. We've talked about writing him goodbye letters and you may want to talk to your child about any feelings they have about this change.

We're coming up on Winter Break very shortly!

Hope all is well,

Meital

First Grade

(858) 568-6335

Week of December 1-7, 2008

Hi All,
I hope this blog finds you in good health and winter cozy.
This blog will discuss:
announcements
standards
creative endeavors
current events and peoples in our classroom.

Announcements:
Swimming is happening. Please pack a bathing suit and towel if your child has signed up for swimming, which most of the rainforest room has.
Also, we have a number of students who do not have snack at snack time. This is very sad and disheartening for all involved, so please don't forget to send a snack.


Standards:
For those of you who are curious about what standards we are covering, they are as follows:
MR 1.2, Music 5.1, 5.2
Life Science 4.4, 4.5, 4.7
Language 2a,b,e
LE 4a
If you want the specifics of what this means, please see me, I have a binder in the classroom you can reference to.

Creative Endeavors:
We have put off our Gardening this week due to the soggy field and overcast weather in favor of journal writing and writing more in general. The children are writing about their Thanksgiving Breaks. They are also learning how to pick out a "just right" book and write a meaningful book report on it. We also went ice skating on Wednesday, which was awesome and invigorating! Please join us next Wednesday. We've been doing a lot of sharing in the mornings. On Monday, I went to the Children's School in La Jolla and saw that the morning meetings consist of a lot of sharing and we have really gotten into that and learned a lot from one another this week.

Current Events and People in our Classroom:
I am proud to announce that Innovations Academy is working with Roots and Wings. Our classroom is essentially the pilot run and it is already fruitful. Roots and Wings is a two team partnership between Aisha (a licensed counselor) and Megan (an early childhood teacher). Together, we are working on all the tools available to us as teachers without using behavior modification as a crutch. They are both very pleasurable to work with and the kids already love them!

This concludes the weekly blog. I appreciate your feedback. Hope to see you soon.

Meital

Monday 11-17-08

Hello,
We have some important events to announce, so I will use bullet points for clarity.

• Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday. Most people have signed up. If not, contact me ASAP either through e-mail or call me at school.
• Thanksgiving Break is coming up next week. The Kroc center is running a camp in case you need day care. Be prepared for a myriad of art projects!
• Monday, December 1 is a Staff Development Day. Students are not to attend on this day.

We have redecorated our room and it looks fabulous. We added cubbies, Rainforest decorations and table coverings. We also added to our stations, such as the dress up station and the math center. Our rug came today. I am looking forward to more organization!

Well, that's all for today. Looking forward to seeing you all.

Meital

Another Weird Wednesday

Hello Rainforesters:

Yeah! I know at least one person is reading this blog, Cheryl, I know you're out there. Thank you!! How about the rest of you? Please respond on the respondents section.
Okay, so what's been happening lately? What have we been up to?

We have been up to a lot of writing projects, such as book reports and bubble poetry. We have also been practicing our Giraffe Talk and the notion of....'Have you got a minute to talk?'. That's right, we have been discussing possibly asking someone if they have a minute to talk before just telling them what it is one needs to communicate. This helps your voice and your needs really be heard. That is, if the listener is ready to hear them, and that can be determined by asking. We have been practicing all week. So far, not great results. But, as this age suggests, we must keep persevering, and we will see some breakthroughs.

Thank you Judith, who brought in and organized a dress up corner. Thank you Claudia who met with me last Friday. We went around the classroom and discussed what was needed. She then went out to buy them and we are going to set up on Friday. So essentially, we will have a new classroom on Monday. I am so excited and I haven't mentioned it to the kids. They love surprises!

This week, besides DI, we have been working on standards LS 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 as well as W 1.7, 1.1. If that is all a foreing language to you, they are CA state standards to ensure your child learns what is required this year. My intention is that they will master all of the first grade standards and even dive into second grade. The standards are posted in a binder in the classroom as well as on the internet.

Important announcements:
-No school on December 1 due to Staff Development Day
-Earthquake Drill tomorrow for all schools in SDUSD
-Next Wednesday and Thursday are parent teacher conferences and are half days. The reason for that is because we don't have access to our classrooms at night. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope you can find a way to make it work.
-Please, please, please empty the Wednesday manila envelopes and return them with your child for next Wednesday.

Thank you very much,
In Joy Beauty Vitality and Love,
Meital

Weird Wednesday

Today was our first Weird Wednesday. We call it that because we are choosing to stay in our homerooms on Wednesday. We got a chance to do our very first book report on the The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. It was great to see everyone working together in our class.

We also voted yesterday, and our class overwhelmingly would have elected the now president elect, Barack Obama. We talked about both candidates. We also discussed the role of the vice president. Genesis says his role is to give advice to the president. As if he needs more of that. Talk to your child about it and see what discussion ensues.

Tomorrow, we have our City Farmers Nursery field trip and that kicks off our Garden Project. The chaperones are Vivien, Drisana, Cheryl, Claudia, Drisana, Roekmini and I. The kids will have a little assignment along with the tour which is supposed to be fabulous.

Friday is Picture Day! Have them dressed to their best! Also on Friday is a Craft and Bake sale. The kids are very excited so send them with a little money so they can partake in the goodies. All proceeds go to the school and the Kroc Center scholarship fund.

Thank you,
Meital

Monday, November 3, 2008

Hello!
Oops! I forgot to blog on Friday, so I will cover Friday and today. On Friday, we had an awesome Halloween. Everyone came in costumes and brought candy, cookies, and popcorn. We went trick or treating around the school and watched High School Musical II. We made Halloween masks in Art in the afternoon and heard ghost stories from Mark in Drama. I hope everyone had a safe and fun Holiday.

Today, we worked hard in Math and L.A. We had sharing in the afternoon. It looks like Monday will be the official sharing day. We also counted our recycling, which has been amazing and overwhelming. So, this is the last week of the project. Wednesday is the last day to bring in and Thursday is the last day we will count. The winning table will be announced on Monday. They get to choose how we will spend our classroom money.

In P.E., we are learning Ping Pong, fooz ball, and table hockey. Needless to say, the kids love it!

Tomorrow, we will be finishing our 'All About Me' book presentations and officially move into our Intergenerational Garden project! I and the kids are very excited.

Thursday we will be visiting City Farmers Nursery. So far, we have Cheryl Geck, Vivian David, Jaime Nilles, and Roekmini as drivers and chaperones. That leaves space for one more car and chaperone. I am assuming that each driver can fit at least four kids with seat belts in the car. If this is not the case, please let me know.

Also, Friday is Picture Day! Let's look our best!

O.K. Thank you for checking in.

In Joy, Beauty, Vitality, and Love,
Meital

Words for Wednesday

Hello Rainforesters,
This has been a great week so far. Our trip to the San Diego Zoo was phenomenal. Kalli's mom, Rachelle was nice enough to load some pictures up to a smilebox, definitely worth viewing. I'm interested in putting all of the pictures up, so send them to me. Our small groups worked wonderfully.

A word of acknowledgment to our class chaperones: Joe, Jaime, Rachelle, Cheryl, Drisana, Roekmini, and Claudia. It is not ordinary that seven adults take time out of their lives and work schedules to attend a class field trip, it is extraordinary. Thank you for being extraordinary individuals and having a hand in creating our extraordinary classroom. The impact of your service was great!

Your Wednesday folders came home today, unfortunately, I don't think work samples made it in, so next week, there will be a lot of papers. Would you like me to tear out the math as well? It's not perforated, but we can find a way to make it work.

Pictures are next Thursday and so is our City Farmers Nursery field trip. A great day for them to be looking good! The City Farmers Nursery will kick off our garden project. Bring a sack lunch to enjoy. We do need chaperones and drivers. Desiree will be contacting you or contact her if you so wish.

Tomorrow, we will be presenting our 'All About Me' books to the class. This is a big deal, as I will be assesing them on their artistic expression, how well they followed the instructions, and speaking in front of a group, as well as honoring and respecting the speaker.

As you may have noticed, we have been working a lot on honoring and respecting the one who speaks. We have also been working on giving value to our words. Hence, saying our agreements in the morning and following through with them, gives us power and freedom in our lives. An excellent lesson for us all! You can talk to them on having our actions match up to our words and how we as individuals gain more freedom, power, and respect when we do so. We lose power, freedom, and respect when our actions don't match up with what we say we are going to do.


Some more key phrases: When you give, you get. As was highlighted by Jules giving Adriana her beloved zoo map. Minutes later Adriana gave her a bottle of water. Wow! That was unexpected. You can speak with your child of a time when you gave something out of friendship, love, joy, and the pure gift of sharing. When we do that, we almost always get back in ways that are often unpredictable.

Friday is Halloween. We will be dressed up and eating candy! Aaaaahhh! Stay away if you need quiet or order, because those will probably not be present on that day. We will also watch High School Musical, have Art, and Drama. A fun and crazy day!
I apologize to those who do not celebrate Halloween. Be sure to do something fun with your child and I will also speak with the other children about being sensitive to them. It's also an option to bring your child, undressed up, and ready to share about why they don't celebrate Halloween.

Once again, this class is amazing from the parents to the custodians to the grandmas! Thank you~

In Joy, Beauty, Vitality, and Love,
Meital





http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4e5445334e7a4d304e6e77784d4445784d7a67304d513d3d0d0a&sb=1

Hello Rainforesters:

We have such an exciting week planned.  

Tomorrow:  the Zoo!  We have chaperones set and rides.   A lot of folks have not sent in the $6 for the bus.  Please do so.

Wednesday:  Half Day. Fun as usual

Thursday:  We have our class presentations of the All About Me book in the afternoon. Kids will be presenting their pages to the class.

Friday:  Halloween.  Come in your costumes, and yes, candy is allowed.  If you do not celebrate this holiday, you are totally excused to have a fun restful day at home.  However, we unfortunately do not have the extra staff to accomodate alternative programs.  

Okay stay tuned for more on Wednesday,

In Joy, Beauty, Vitality, and Love,

Meital

Forever Friday

How goes it Rainforesters?
We had a very powerful work. We have been working on the integrity of our classroom. What is working and what is not working. We have been finishing up our "All About Me" books and some of you will be working on them over the weekend. On Monday, your children will be presenting their pages to the class and being assessed.

Also, very important: on Tuesday, we are going to the Zoo! We are still looking for chaperones. So far we have Roekmini, Drisana, and Bill. So, we have room for at least two more.

Well, have a wonderful and rejuvenating weekend.

Don't forget, Halloween is coming up and costumes are allowed.

In Joy, Beauty, Vitality, and Love,
Meital

Feel all of your Feelings

Hi Rainforest Room,
Lately, in Social Emotional curriculum, we've been talking about feeling all of our feelings. I've been letting the kids punch and kick the pillows. Yesterday, during P.E., I took them out under the tree and gave each of them a try. Most of them seemed to really like it and get a good release out of it. We have been holding regular classroom meetings about some of the physical hurt that is not acceptable in our class. We have seen a nice turnaround.

Well, we have a lot going on in class. Our All About Me books are coming together. If you have not sent in pictures of your child as a baby and family pictures, please do so ASAP. This project will be assessed, it has criteria that I grade. And, we are presenting it in the Kroc Center Library.

Our next project will be the intergenerational garden. It will combine Humanities, Earth Science, Language Arts, Math, and Art. We are taking a field trip on Thursday of next week to kick it off.
Our field trip is to City Farmer's Nursery, which is fabulous! Mr. Tall is the owner and is very excited to have us. We will need drivers and chaperones. I was thinking of at least five volunteers. Any takers?

We also have a field trip to the San Diego Zoo on Tuesday. It costs $6 to ride the bus. Please send that money with your child to school. Also, if you wish to give more for other children who may not have the money, you may do so. It will go to me, and I will disburse it to the children in need. That would be very nice (and no, I won't be going shopping with the money). For the zoo field trip, the more chaperones the better, but we need at least five. The best way for them to get the most out of the zoo and the safest is to make small groups of two to three with one chaperone.

Well, it's been a great week so far. Thanks for all of your participation.

In Joy, Beauty, Vitality, and Love,
Meital

Marvelous Monday

Hi Rainforest Room,

We are back and had a marvelous Monday!

We tracked our B.C.'s (ask your child what that stands for). They each got to see how blaming and complaining can make us feel powerless, hopeless and just in the pits.  Tomorrow, we will be tracking our A.D.'s and will see how powerful, graceful, and happy we are when we are busy acting and dreaming.

DI Math and Language Arts are in full force.  Your child should be learning an incredible amount in a short time.  Ask them to read you something or to add something on a number line.  

Our recycling project is going well.  I am amazed at how table 3 is gaining on table 2.  They might just win the contest.  Help your child out by bringing in recyclables.  I have told them it's okay to ask neighbors (with your help) for their recyclables.  

We went on an observation nature walk.  We found a huge spider amidst the treetops in the K play area.  They also got a chance to sketch the details of the leaves, a caterpillar, and the trees.

What's needed:

1.  We could use some classical music, as you may have noticed I play classical music to start the day off.  Well, it's the same cd every morning.  So, if you are a classical music buff and felt like burning a cd or two of Rachmaninoff, Schubert, or the like.....that would be very welcome.

2.  We need more play.....toys that is.  If  you have old toys (appropriate for school) such as costumes or  items for dress up, legos, puzzles, etc. and wanted to donate them for the year, that would be splendid.

3.  Also, Adriana Grays is looking for a carpool.  She lives in Spring Valley.  What a great way to save gas and ensure you get to school on time!  Please contact me and I will connect you.

Well, that's it for now.  

In Joy, Beauty, Vitality, and Love,

Meital

Rainforest Room

Grade 1

Wonderful Wednesday!

Hello Rainforest Room!

We had a wonderful Wednesday! Our DI groups are working like clockwork, everyone is focusing, on task, and actively learning. Look for their work in the manila envelopes that were sent home today. Also, those must come back. They are to be used every week. The all school Pow-Wow was fun as usual and Genesis was brave enough to sing a song in front of the entire school.

On Tuesday, we worked on our All About Me books. If you could, please send in pictures, clips, or copies of your child's hobbies, family, and baby prints. Those are all needed. Prints are better than actual pictures as it will be pasted.

Thank you to Drisana who has been lugging the recycling to the station. We have made a whopping $8.00!!! So, I have encouraged our kids to be creative. Ask neighbors (with you of course) friends, relatives, and just be more conscientious in your homes of bringing in the recycling. Please if you could wash them so they are not juicy! Also, milk containers are not accepted.

We are coming up on the last week of October. It will be a fun week. We have two field trips and Halloween. On the Tuesday of that week, we will be going to City Farms in the afternoon to prep for our next project: the Intergenerational Garden. We need drivers. On Thursday, we are going to the zoo. We need chaperones. I am wanting 5 or 6 volunteers, so that we can split our class into groups of 3 and 4. We will have a fun and safe trip that way. On Friday (Halloween), kids can come in costumes and we will allow candy on that day. If you do not celebrate Halloween, you have the option of keeping your child home, we will not be doing much academia on that day, due to the disruptive nature of costumes and candy. If you don't celebrate Halloween, though and want your child to come to school, unfortunately, we don't have the staff to provide them with alternative activities.

If you are wanting to contribute, we need whiteboard markers (colors please) and Halloween candy.

The kids have been getting here on time and I appreciate that! We are having such a great time! If you wanted to come in and observe, please email me back or call and we can arrange a time, (858) 568-6335.

In Joy, Beauty, and Vitality,
Meital

Wild Wednesday!

Happy Monday!

Hello all!

Here we are in the middle of October.  We are learning, creating, and playing.  

We, as a class, need to improve a couple of things in order to keep the joy alive.

1. Please get your child to school on time!  We had eight people late today.  The mornings really set the tone for the whole day.  So, the smoother the better.

2.  Please please please please please send pictures or copies of your child's hobbies and interests, family prints, and baby pictures. Again, it is better if they are copies of the pictures. We are glueing them into a class book.

3.  Toys, magazines, scooters, etc. are quite distracting and I usually end up having to confiscate, unfortunately. So, please keep them at home.  I am acquiring quite a collection.  

We learned "life is our mirror" today.  Basically, it's the idea that what we love and admire in others is what we love and admire in ourselves.  It's a beautiful concept and very energizing.  Try it at home and in your lives!  

In Joy, Beauty, and Vitality,

Meital

Monday, monday!

Hello Rainforest Room:

Well, it's the beginning of a new week.  I love new beginnings and fresh starts.  We worked on our four class agreements:

I agree to listen to the teacher when he/she is talking.

I agree to be respectful.

I agree to speak giraffe.

I agree to keep my hands to myself and my stuff.

We also had some very good DI language arts and math hours today.

This is very important, please bring in or send with your child pictures of them as babies and pictures of your family.  Also, if possible send photocopies or extra prints because they are going into a classroom book.  Pleas do this ASAP.

We did some Earth Education on the interconnectedness of eco-systems.  

The class also had P.E. with Kim the 3,4,5 teacher.  We switched for P.E. for the next three weeks.  They have been playing kickball.

Thanks for tuning in.

In Peace, Harmony, and Play,

Meital

Whew!

Whew!
I got behind on my blogging there for a bit and I apologize. I will stay on top of it and blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
What have we been up to?
Well, Direct Instruction has been successfully launched into the learning atmosphere. The students are split into groups and are engaged in a fast paced lesson in Language Arts and Math in the mornings. We have also been continuing our work with "Giraffe Talk" or Compassionate Communication and our Eight to Great curriculum.

We are starting two new projects. A recycling project, and a classroom book. The recycling project is essentially a competition between tables to see who can collect the most recyclale materials (mainly plastic bottles and aluminum cans). We will graph and see which table raises the most money and they then get to choose how to spend the money. Jeremy's class is raising money to buy a play structure for the outside area so I'm hoping they'll donate to that. They can also opt to buy some fish for the classroom, pizza for a pizza party, toys, books, music or pretty much anything they decide on.

Our other project is a classroom book that will be presented in the library once complete. Each student contributes a page. In the page, there are four quadrants: baby pictures, family pictures, likes and hobbies, and dreams for the future and now. So, I am asking for baby and family pictures that are copied off (I don't want to use actual copies unless you have doubles). Also, if you have pictures of them in their hobbies that would be great to send as well.

I am looking for a room parent. Drisana (Jazmine's mom) has volunteered. If there is anyone that would like to work with here, please come forward.

We are working on being friends and friendly in our class. Please talk to your little one about teasing, maybe share a story from your childhood and how hurtful teasing can be even into adulthood.

Thanks so much for all of your support.

In Peace, Harmony, and Play,
Meital

Monday, monday!

Hey All in the Rainforest Room,

I hope you all had a great weekend.  I know Jules did as she shared about her camping trip.

We had an awesome show today by the musical group, The Sages.  They are a group of seniors that came in and sang various show tunes and classics.  

We also got an inservice by Marcelline Brogli, who is a certified trainer in Non Violent Communication.  She spoke to the children for about an hour and they were drinking it up.  The rest of the day, we practiced speaking in "Giraffe" instead of "Jackal".  If you want to know more about this, please do come in or e-mail me, or respond to this blog.  

Your child might say things like, 'when you told me to clean up my room, I was upset, because I need rest, would you be willling to let me clean it up in one hour?'.  Don't be shocked, they are simply speaking a new form of communication,  Compassionate Communication!

We got our DI books in today and will be starting on Monday of next week.  The pace will pick up and prove to be more rigorous for our kids, so if you so desire, you may mentally prepare them.  Tomorrow is the twins' birthday, Happy Birthday to them! We are celebrating at 2:45pm, if you wish to pick up your child early, you may do so.

In Peace, Play, and Harmony,

Meital

Friday

Hello All,
We have had a great third week of school. We have been succesfully rotating and getting into some curriculum. The students are really sinking into their schedule. I can't wait to start adding some exciting stuff!
We should be getting our permanent furniture in the next week or two along with our DI materials.
In the meantime, I see no reason why the students need to bring their backpacks to and from school other than to hold their lunches. We will be getting cubbies soon to hold their backpacks and other materials. Until then, they can keep them at home. Of course, please continue to bring lunches. Almost everyone has a pencil box with writing materials in it and that is exactly what we want.
Village experts went fabulously well with emerging arts and drama kids.
We have a nice schedule of volunteers, however, I am looking for someone to come in on Tuesday mornings from 8 to 12 noon. Any takers? I am also looking for a room parent to help organize phone trees, meetings, field trips, volunteers, etc.
Let's play a game. If you read this blog, please respond or mention to me at school that you are actually reading this blog.

I am off for the weekend. Hope your weekend will be relaxing and rejuvenative.

In Peace, Harmony, and Play,
Meital

Wedne

Hi All!
Thank you for your overwhelming desire to make our first grade Rainforest Room a success. I have noted all who are looking to help. Our volunteer schedule has started this week and will be fully integrated by next week.
We had a good day! We had a lot of fun doing Brain Gym/Capoeira in the Dance Room this morning. We are switching for our rotations in Language Arts and Math and that is taking us a little while.....so, we could encourage our students to be alert and attentive as to when we are cleaning up and moving into the next subject.
This afternoon we had a successful all school pow-wow!

See you all tomorrow and stay posted!
In Peace, Harmony, and Play,
Meital

Monday Monday

To all parents and students of the Rainforest Room,
Today was a great day! We did our rotations for our DI instruction and everything went off without a hitch! Good Job! We also received a new student into our classroom, Genesis. He immediately felt at home and befriended Ty and some other students.
We are still working on following directions and working as a cohesive unit. Please speak to your little one and let them know that I am not asking for their attention because I am mean, but simply because I want to TEACH them! I am sure they will understand.
Our cubbies and backpack racks are on their way in which time we will be much better organized. Can't wait! Please write me with any questions, comments, concerns, or to just say hello!

In Peace, Harmony, and Play,
Meital

Imagination is more important than knowledge. -Albert Einstein

Hello!
Welcome to the first official Rainforest Room blog. We have completed the first two weeks of school with flying colors! I have received many questions from parents wanting to know......what have we been doing all day??? The following is an abridged yet unabridged review of our last two weeks. (note: this blog is much longer than they normally will be)

To start, we have been setting a standard in our classroom of routines and procedures. This involves a lot of tedious and boring, yet necessary work. For example, lining up quietly, coming into the classroom or quiet zone and sitting down, transitioning from one activity to the next, being loud and then being called to attention. I know this hasn't been the funnest thing your child has ever done but we will be so thankful that we have it down once we start going on field trips, having village guests, and getting into curriculum. They have been doing very well and you can applaude your child at home for their efforts!

Every morning, we have been doing Brain Gym, which is a neuro-cognitive excersize. It uses a crossing motion to integrate the left and right side of the brain. It is also a lot of fun! If you are wanting to join our classroom at some time during the day, this is a good time to do so.

We have also been integrating our social emotional curriculum through storybooks, reading, and art. The first highway of our eight to great program is: Get the Picture. This is about thinking about what our dreams are, imagining them, and feeling them! We read, Verdi, Skippy Jon Jones, and Pinnochio. The children imagined their dream vacations and shared them with a partner.
The children also decorated the quote above the whiteboard by Albert Einstein: Imagination is more important than knowledge. We discussed the difference between imagination and knowledge. For instance, one can know their ABC's, but one can only imagine the story they will write using their ABC's. The students had a chance to imagine themselves doing something. Elijah put two pencil boxes under his feet and imagined he was getting a foot rub in two tubs of hot water!
We will be moving on to the next highway: Healthy Risk. We will discuss risk in terms of running toward our dreams not from. This will involve taking a risk and eating lunch with someone you don't normally eat lunch with or playing with a new friend. A risk might also be reading in front of the group or writing a sentence when you didn't think you could.

The project we have been working on is Time Capsules. This is a manila envelope containing a self-portrait, a writing sample, a height and weight measurement, the recording of likes and dislikes, and a picture. We will put them away and do another one in the last two weeks of school and compare! We are not quite done so we will be continuing this during the next week.

This coming week, we will be moving into academia. The students will be put into groups and might be working with another teacher. I will be posting on Mondays and Wednesdays for now and might increase as the year progressess.

As you get to know me, you will see that authenticity is very important for me. So, I will blog about what went well and what needs to improve.

What needs to improve:
Getting out notices to you on time. i.e. flyers about school events.
Organizing the parents who want to volunteer.

What is working well:
We have created a tight knit class and I see many children flourishing and enjoying friendships that they will continue to cultivate.
We have routines, procedure, and order in our classroom which sets a sturdy foundation for us to build an amazing year!

With Peace, Harmony, and Play,
Meital