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.



Friday, April 19, 2013

Good Luck Hisham!

We enjoyed several Mindfulness lessons from Ms. Garvey this week.  She helped us become mindful listeners, and practice mindful breathing.  We also learned how to zip up and sit tall.
We spent the week working with partners to create our final projects for our Cultural Geography unit.  Everyone had a chance to present their projects to the Firefly Team.  The projects compared and contrasted a tradition/celebration of ours with a tradition/celebration from another culture.
We have continued with our Farm unit in math and have been busy buying animals and putting up fencing for our farms.  We will continue with this unit after Spring Break.  We have also been exploring a variety of subtraction strategies.
We all finished writing speeches focused on something we would like to change our classmates' opinions about this week.  We worked hard to polish these speeches up and get them ready to present.  On Thursday  we presented them to our classmates.  Everyone did a terrific job!  This will mark the end of our Opinion Writing unit.  When we return from Spring Break we will spend the remainder of the school year on narrative writing.  This will connect to Reader's Workshop where we will be discussing story elements and strategies good readers use to get to know characters and stories better.
There will be no homework packet over Spring Break. If you would like your child to do homework during this time,  please have your child use the break to continue to practice their trick words and math facts.
We said good-bye to our friend Hisham this week.  His family is moving to Tanzania for five years.  We will miss Hisham and feel very lucky to have had him be a part of our classroom community for this short period of time.  After Spring Break we will welcome a new classmate.  Her name is Solie.  We all look forward to getting to know Solie and welcoming her into our classroom.
 On Tuesday, April 30th we will be visiting the Flynn Theater to see a performance called "Zuma, Zuma.  This performance blends acrobatics, dance and music to celebrate the richness of Africa cultures.  We look forward to seeing these Kenya and Tanzania trained performers!
Have a terrific Spring Break!
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1 comment:

  1. Rebecca&RamzyApril 21, 2013 at 6:42 PM

    Thanks so much for everything! You have all been so great with Hisham! Too bad he won't be there to see the Kenyan/Tanzanian trained performers, but maybe the class will think of him! : )

    We'll keep in touch. XO

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