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
