News from Our Classroom

        Before I get going on anything else, I believe that I have forgotten to welcome Drake Angell to our classroom.  Drake joins us from the Colorado school system.  In addition, one of our classmates has moved!  Aubrianna Kinder and her mother have moved to Virginia!  This week, I am also sending home to you a class list of names that you may wish to have if your child is going to give out valentines.  You will note that Drake's name has been added, and Aubrianna's has been removed.  In my classroom, children have the option of providing valentines to their classmates or not.  The valentines can be homemade or store-bought.  The one thing I DO insist upon is that if your child is giving valentines to his or her friends in the classroom, that they give valentines to ALL the children in the room.  Valentine's Day should not be a day of popularity, and I don't want any children going home feeling bad that they didn't get any or as many valentines as someone else in the room. Valentine's Day is actually the first Saturday of our February Vacation, but we will have a small party and exchange valentines on that Friday afternoon, February 13.  This will be our last class party before the end of the year ice cream party, so if you would like to contribute something edible to the afternoon, please let me know.
        Rugrats was a huge success last week, from what I hear!  The children all were very enthusiastic about it, and that was with spending time getting fitted to their equipment.    I was very impressed with the folks at Perfect Turn, and how organized and ready for the children they were.  Hopefully,  the weather will cooperate over the next three Tuesdays, and the children will have LOTS of fun.  Should your child be using his own equipment, you can leave it for him at Perfect Turns, or he or she can bring it on the bus, but he or she will have to be able to carry it.  We leave backpacks for children returning to school by the fish tank in the school lobby.  If we know you or someone else is picking your child up at the mountain, we bring that child's backpack with us to save you the trip into school to get it.  Please let us know ahead of time what will be happening with YOUR child that afternoon.  We leave Crescent Park at 12:15 pm, and leave the mountain at 4:00 pm.    If you wish to pick up your child at Sunday River (and maybe ski with them for a little while before heading home), you can do so at the Perfect Turns building at 3:45 pm each day that we ski. The bus leaves the mountain to return the children to CPS right at 4:00, so we are usually back at school by 4:15.  There are no bus runs at that time, so you will need to make arrangements to collect your child at that time.  Please let me know to whom I may release your child on each ski day.  MKA is still an option, if you can't be at school at 4:15.  MKA closes at 6 pm.   Though I will not be skiing with the children, I will be close by should there be any problems, and I will be dismissing them at the end of the day.  When you pick up your child (whether at the mountain or at school), please speak to me so that I know your child has been safely handed off to you or an adult of your choice.  Thank you.  I always worry a little that I won't get each child where he or she is supposed to go, though I have never lost one yet!  Your help with this would be greatly appreciated!
        Over the next two weeks, we will be during the winter NWEA testing.  Our first test is tomorrow morning at 9:45.  It is a long test, and will last almost until lunch.  Please review the idea of this testing with your child, and encourage him or her to try his BEST!  The results of the tests are used for many purposes at school, including deciding groupings for different programs.  The children has to understand that the test is designed to give them some easy questions, some really hard questions, and to give them lots of questions that are doable on;y if they really THINK about the question and APPLY strategies that they have been learning in class to answering it.  Though the time they take to do the test is recorded, there is no "time limit".  Each child is encouraged to take as much time as necessary to think about and answer each question.  I don't want anyone to be stressed by the testing, but I do want to encourage the children to work hard on the exams to show whoever looks at the results just how much they actually know.  Please talk to your child about the importance of trying his or her hardest to do their very BEST on these exams.  We have one tomorrow morning (Math, I believe), and one NEXT Tuesday morning at the same time (Reading, I think).   You can help your child reach for his potential by making sure he or she gets enough sleep the night before, and has a good breakfast that morning.  As always, the results of the exams will be shared with you, probably at our parent-teacher conference in March.
       I think that is all for this week.  I will be in touch again next week.  Have a good week!