My Philosophy


I believe it is important to create a community where all learners feel safe, respected and have a sense of belonging. It is important to focus equally on the social, emotional and academic needs of students. I strive to meet children where they're at by differentiating instruction, choosing developmentally appropriate activities and providing a balance between teacher-directed and self-directed learning. I value play, the arts, movement, creativity and laughter as important and meaningful parts of the learning process for children.



Thursday, February 17, 2011

Another Week of Fun Events!

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We have had another week filled with fun events!  On Monday, we had Hands On Nature and learned about sound.  We also had a fun Valentine celebration.  AJ shared his science table about outer space with us on Tuesday.  Today we had a "Kids On the Block" presentation about healthy foods and dental health.  We also had a visit from some UVM athletes who shared how they keep healthy and showed us some fun exercise ideas.  These presentations both greatly supported our "February Wellness Month" theme.

When we return in March we will continue our study of magnets and will begin a new math unit which will focus on geometry.  In reading and writing we will be focusing on story elements and begin learning how to write a response to text.

A quick reminder that we will be going to the Flynn on March 2nd to see Knuffle Bunny.  Also, please scroll down the blog and check the parent/teacher conference schedule for March.  Please send me an email if the time you are signed up for will no longer work for you.



Have a fabulous vacation!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Penguin Party and Snowshoeing

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A big thank you to everyone who attended the Penguin Party yesterday.  It was so much fun to have families there to share our fun afternoon!  Thanks to Amelia, Marge, Maggie and Zynnia for helping out with snowshoeing this afternoon!  And a big thank you to Holly for leading our indoor exercise!  Have a fantastic weekend!

Check out this great math website:  http://www.worldmathsday.com/

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

100th Day Celebration!

Our study of penguins is slowly coming to an end.  We have been creating penguin problems, sorting penguins and working hard to create life sized penguins.  Miss Claire has been busy helping everyone stuff , staple and paint their penguins. This unit has been a wonderful learning experience for everyone.  It has been a lot of work, but well worth it!  After vacation we will be moving on to another unit of study.

Yesterday we attended the Kindergarten concert dress rehearsal and returned to the Book Fair to purchase books.  Everyone did a fantastic job choosing their books and making their own purchases.

Today was our 100th day of school!  We did lots of 100th day activities and enjoyed our 100th day team snack.  We also had a visit from "Zero the Hero" this afternoon.  He read a book and practiced different counting strategies with us.

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Tomorrow we look forward to our "Penguin Parade" with our life sized penguins and our Publishing Party at 2:00 PM.  We will also be making our Valentine holders and taking our "On Demand Task" in writing.    Tomorrow is also Red Barn pick-up for those families who placed an order.

Finally, a quick reminder that we will be snowshoeing again on Friday afternoon.  If your child didn't snowshoe last week, he/she will be going this week.  Please make sure he/she comes to school with snow gear so he/she can be a part of this activity.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Lunar New Year and Snowshoeing!

We had a very busy Friday today!  Jordan's mom came in and shared with us about the Lunar New Year.  We learned a lot about Korean celebrations.  In Korea they have 11 days of fireworks and everyone wears red for good luck during this time.  They often get new clothes to wear.  Boys wear pink and girls wear blue!  Cathy brought in examples of "Hanbok" which is traditional Korean clothing.  We learned how to say "Saehae bok manhi badeu seyo" which means "Have a lot of luck in the new year"!  We enjoyed fortune cookies and clementines and spent our choice time today doing Lunar New Year activities.  Many thanks to Cathy for teaching us about the Lunar New Year!
We also had a visit from Gracie's mom today for Gracie's birthday.  She shared about Gracie as a baby and brought us a birthday treat of cupcakes and Rice Krispie treats.  In addition to that, Claudia's family sent in cucumbers and grapes for our Friday healthy snack.  Many thanks to Gracie and Claudia's families for providing these delicious snacks for our team today!
Wednesday will be our 100th day of school!  We are sending home sashes with each child for them to decorate with 100 things and bring back to school to wear on the 100th day.  In addition to that we are asking each child to bring in 100 of some kind of snack so we can make a big "mixed" snack to share as a team on the 100th day.  We are also expecting a visit from "Zero the Hero", who appears to be a little shorter this year than he has been in the past!
We had a fantastic day of snowshoeing, and aerobics and yoga today.  Many thanks to Zynnia, Cathy, Holly, Kristen, and Amelia for helping out with these activities!  Next week we will swap, so if your child didn't snowshoe this week, he/she will have the opportunity to do so next Friday.
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Finally, I would like to share about how much fun I had looking at homework this week.  I am so amazed by the creativity and clever ideas all my students have.  Looking over homework is actually something I look forward to every Friday!  It is often another window into who my students are.  The comics,mini- books, poems and other ways they showed their learning this week were terrific!  Thank you for supporting this at home!  

***Evan has lost his snow pants and they are nowhere to be found!  Could everyone please check at home to make sure they didn't come home to your house.  They are black bib snowpants. Thank you!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Chinese New Year, Snowshoeing and a Publishing Party!


 Science Experiment- "How many drops of water will fit on a penny?"



Tomorrow Cathy Townsend will be joining us in the morning to help us celebrate the Chinese New Year.  She will be sharing a book, a snack and an activity with the Adventurers Team.  We look forward to having her join us.  Be sure to ask your child what he/she learned about the Chinese New Year tomorrow after school.
We will also be snowshoeing tomorrow afternoon.  Please make sure your child comes to school tomorrow with all the appropriate clothing and winter boots so he/she can take part in this activity. Half of the team will be snowshoeing while the other half participates in an indoor exercise activity.  Next Friday we will swap groups for these activities.
We are finally finishing up our penguin reports and are very excited to have a "Publishing Party" to share them with our families.  Our Publishing Party is planned for Thursday, December 10th at 2:00 PM.  Each student will be sharing their own report about a particular kind of penguin.  Please consider joining us for our party!  Every student has worked so hard and has done such an amazing job on these reports, they are very excited to share them! 
Just a reminder that the SCS Book Fair is this coming week.  We will be previewing books on Monday and returning to the book fair on Tuesday to purchase items.  Your child should come home with a wish list on Monday for you to look over with them and make decisions about purchasing.  Please let me know if this is a financial hardship for you family.  The school has vouchers that can be used for the purchase of books for those families in need.

 Please be sure to check the Upcoming Events part of the blog.  There are MANY events happening during the month of February!

Pictures of Jack's science table about the history of planes: