Hello Families,
It has been a fast few days, but I am really enjoying getting to know the 3/4 class, and I can tell we are going to have a wonderful year. My students are all kind, curious, and ready to learn. How lucky I feel!

Our days so far have been spent learning classroom expectations and routines. JES has only one school rule this year: Be kind and caring. With that as our overarching theme, we decided to make norms for our own classroom. The students came up with 3: Use materials as expected, be aware of and accept yourself and others, and follow classroom procedures. I think they did a good job, and these norms cover pretty much everything!  We also discussed what we thought would be appropriate consequences for not following these norms, and I was pleased to see that they were very reasonable!

We have also spent a lot of time getting to know each other and ourselves as learners. We have done some self-reflection and I'm impressed with how well these students know themselves and how comfortable they are sharing about themselves. We've also done a lot of team challenges so we can learn how to work in groups. Mostly, we have talked about how we are all one team and need to accept each other and always be kind to one another. That is always the expectation, and so far I am seeing a lot of kindness!

The class seems eager to get going with academics so we can have a routine in place. Next week we will begin our math program and also our first science unit. We have already started reading and learning how to choose books, where to keep them, how to record their titles, etc.  We probably won't start writing until the week after next, but we will do some small writing jobs in the meantime.  I will keep you updated about academics (and everything else) in this weekly blog. Of course I am always available to answer any questions in between!

The students learned how to log into a math game called Prodigy. This game is really engaging and allows me to set assignments for each individual student. As they solve problems, they can "battle" friends and move around different worlds. This is a game they will have the opportunity to play once or twice a week at school. Many of them will ask if they can play at home. Of course this is up to you, but it is not a problem for them to log in from home and continue playing.  The game works better with headphones or earbuds. If possible, it would be nice for each student to have a pair to keep at school. I have a safe place to keep them. If you can't send any in, I will get some from our tech department so every student has a set.

We are going to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum on September 19. Unfortunately I have not received a solid description of the field trip from them yet, so I have not sent that information home to you. Please look for it on Tuesday as it will be in the homework folder.  Unfortunately we will not be able to take chaperones since we will be going out in special canoes and space will be limited.  I hope to take the class to the river for some outdoor learning in the next few weeks, and would love chaperones for that. Stay tuned!

As you have probably heard from your children, we eat lunch late every day, 12:30 or 1:00 depending on the day of the week. Although we have a set snack time at 9:45 each day, the students are often hungry again well before lunch time.  It might not be a bad idea to send in some extra snack for those who seem to need it. I know how hard it is to concentrate when hungry, so I am okay with them munching on a snack during work time if they need to.  We do have a student with a tree nut allergy in our classroom. Tree nut snacks are not forbidden, but students who eat them must eat them at a table set aside for this purpose and wash their hands (and the table) afterwards. I know that a lot of students love to share their snacks with friends, but this is something I can't allow for many reasons. We have talked about this a few times, but I still see it happening from time to time. Perhaps a gentle reminder from you will help to discourage this and keep everyone safe and eating what you pack for them.  Thanks for your help!

That's all for this week. I hope you all have a lovely weekend with your children. I look forward to seeing them all again on Monday!