First Snow!!!

DANCING

ACE provided the funding for a dance teacher this year. Her name is Jenna. Jenna's first visit was last Thursday. It was so fun to see the kids so uninhibited. I knew that they were not just learning about dance and rhythm but about taking risks, trusting each other and being trustworthy.

The Annual Camping Trip

This year the new school district is emphasizing evidence based practices. In other words we need to choose what we teach and how we teach based on research that informs us about what works rather than doing what has always been done. I welcome this change. There has been so much research done and ignored in education and it can be very frustrating.

Sometimes though, we have to do something without evidence. I cannot quantify the benefits that come from our annual camping trip, but I know that when the kids feel a sense of community and connectedness with the school, they try harder. I know that when they know that their parents and the parents of their friends are friendly, they are kinder to each other and feel safer together. And I know that when they connect learning with nature their minds open in ways that they cannot in a classroom.

Thanks to all of you who made the effort to be there, even in the rain. (A special wet welcome to the Briggs.) And thank you again Pam for all the work you put into getting the trip organized.

ART

MATH

READING

Busy, Busy, Busy

As I was cleaning the board last night and even I had to laugh. There was the formula for finding the volume of a sphere, the linear equation and a graph, the long o spelling patterns, roman numerals, a student generated list for camping, the formula for finding your maximum heart rate, and "Van Gogh genius or crazy", all written. Thank goodness I have a lot of help, I don't think I could keep all of that in my head.

They are always learning something

I took the opportunity today to talk to the kids about the recent incidents of disrespect that have been in the news lately; at the VMA awards, on the tennis court and in the House of Representatives. The kids understood and were shocked by the appalling bad manners of people whom they think of adults. They were able to understand how disrespectful that type of behavior is and how the tennis star, the rap star and the congressman were the ones who looked bad. We talked about some of their choices and how they treat their friends, classmates and parents. I hope the shock they felt at the behavior of these "role models" influences them. I hope the lesson they learned this week was to behave better than those adults that were in the news this week.

September 4, 2009

Looking foreward

I took my niece to college this weekend. There have been some of my friends who say she is a lot like me, but only because I have had a 30 year head start on her. She will pass me soon. She is so full of confidence and excitement right now. I just loved it when she said, "I am so wierd, my roommates are going to love me!"

It was fun to be the one that got to experience her excitement at this point in her life. I have a friend that says we don't usually recognize the turning points in our life when they happen. I remember the day I got dropped off at college. Although I remember it clearly, that day was not a turning point, but the next few months were. Some of the change came from the things I learned in the classroom, but most came from learning about myself when I broke my leg, or decided at the last minute to drive to Mexico, or decided that clearing brush at the ski area was a good way to earn a season pass. It was those things that helped me recognize myself.

Good luck Tevi, and like I tell the kids in my class, Work Hard, Play Hard, Be Kind and Have Fun.

The new kindergartner is going to fit right in. When all the rest of us were playing duck, duck, goose today, he was playing pumpkin, pumpkin, scorpion.