What happened in Room 208 on Tuesday?

 With a few students away today and wanting to keep everyone on the same page, here's a quick glance at some of the main tasks we looked at today. Where possible, I've linked to past blog posts to provide supporting information. 

• During Morning Message, we had a class meeting about how we're feeling right now. We all agreed we're doing a great job at following the safety protocols, and that we're really noticing how different school is this year.  We're going to make this an ongoing conversation and find ways to stay safe, but still make lots of great memories together.  
• We reviewed our Text of the Week (TOTW) by reading it into our whisper-phones and paying attention to the italics in the poem. We had fun talking about which of the activities we'd most love to see! 
• We also talked about what it means to infer. We looked at ways authors communicate messages in a manner that requires us readers to read between the lines. 
• In Math, we began memorizing how to count by threes! There's a song for that in the top right hand corner of the blog (see Math Songs).
• We also used our PlayDoh to help us solve the problem pictured below.  
• The day ended with Wow Tags and a few minutes of reading from our class novel, There's a Boy in the Girl's Washroom (that Bradley character really has us talking!) 

We'll add some creative writing to this Math poster by writing what Pirate Pete might 

be thinking as he rows his way to the island!

 

What are WOW Tags?

This is a repost from September, 2019. My hope is that before we know it, we'll be able to hang our tags on the bulletin board in the video, where the boys and girls can retrieve them each afternoon when it's time to distribute the tags for the day.  For now, they are safely kept on their desks with magnetic hooks (see the photo below the video).  

Wow tags are my most favorite classroom management tool because they fully reside in the category of positivity!

Last week, I explained to the boys and girls that start Wow Tags on Monday, and although they were once called, "Brag Tags", one shall not violate the first rule of the tags: there is to be NO bragging.  The Brag Tag name is misleading, and I think "Wow Tags" are a better way to describe the reasons students receive them.  On Monday, we role-played behaviors we do not engage in with respect to our tags: 

• asking someone how many tags they have
• telling others about how many tags you have
• asking a classmate, "Do you have xyz tag? Because I do." 
• failing to cheer for others when they earn a tag 
• and other not-so-hot things that could be unbecoming 

But what are these things all about Mrs. M? 

Well, when I see something I like A LOT, students will earn a  tag that is presented at our Evening Meeting each day at 2:50 (you're welcome to attend anytime, bring coffee! 😉) There will be some days where we don't have a tag ceremony just because it was one of those days where someone threw up, while a llama ran threw the school and the sprinklers malfunctioned ALL AT THE SAME TIME, but for the most part, from Monday 'til just after Valentines Day, we'll do tags every day. 

By the time Valentine's Day rolls around, we'll have been at this for over 100 days and we'll do what all good teachers and parents do: we'll reel things in and raise expectations. Why? Because by that point, we know how grade three rolls and we'll need to move the bar up a little. And instead of earning 2-3 tags a week, a child might earn one every other week. 

But that's a long time from now! Staring Monday, look out parents and families, because your talented kid is going to come home with great news day after day about all the incredible things they did in Room 208! It's all about the positive. Yes, there's a Wow tag for bringing indoor shoes and getting your agenda signed. Do you bite your nails? Cause if ya stop, I got a tag for that! You name it, I'll make a tag for it. It's literally about celebrating every little thing that's positive. 

It's not that we aren't acknowledging where we need to grow and what needs improving, it's that we are telling kids, "You used to read for just five minutes by yourself and now it's ten, you just proved you have a growth mindset and you're willing to persevere."  

Sadly parents, these tags don't come home until June, so you'll have to pop in for a visit to check them out! You'll want to plan on staying a while because Wow tags are ALWAYS a hit and students consistently earn quite the collection! 

A Week 1 Update

On Monday September 14th, we'll all be together as a class for the first time! Last week, with a staggered start, gave us all an opportunity to settle in and get a feel for what our new normal will look like.  

Thank you to all the boys and girls and their families for your support last week. It was as smooth as one can anticipate at a time like this.  

Thank you also for the supplies you sent in.  The paper towels, soap, hand sanitizer, tissue and even a great story book I can't wait to read the class on Monday are sincerely appreciated.  

I made some notes over the course of our "three first days of school" last week and I want to share them here: 

• Where possible, please have your child wear a mask that they are able to adjust themselves (e.g. please do not tie knots that are too tight on the ear loops) 
• Please send litter-less lunches as this minimizes movement in the classroom to and from the garbage
• If possible, please send your child with their own bottle of hand sanitizer they can keep at their desks. Most children had this and it really made a difference last week. 
• Please do not send juice to school. The boys and girls are allowed to keep their water bottles on their desks, but large bottles of juice or half-filled juice boxes create sticky messes that I would prefer to avoid at this time so that I can focus on instruction and following safety protocols 
• If possible, please send your child with their own small pencil sharpener that also has a case to catch shavings such as the one pictured 
  
  
  
• Please also send markers, pencil crayons/crayons for your child. When each child has their own set of these items, we minimize movement in the classroom.  
• Please remind your child to line up according to our "line order" and to practice "Zombie arms"  (I'm sure they'll be able to show you, but we made a quick video last week!) 

At this time, students do not need the following items:

• erasers, highlighters, rulers, notebooks, glue sticks or binders 
• indoor shoes 
• locker accessories such as shelves, mirrors, etc. as we are not using lockers at this time 

I am very excited to begin our first week together as a class on Monday! I usually read this book on the very first day of school, but tomorrow seems like a more appropriate day! 

Check out the moments from last week! Moving forward, please be sure to follow @meandmythrees on Instagram as that's where I tend to post most of the events from our day.  

 

It's almost time!

We are just about ready for the return to school and even though many things are different, some things haven't changed a bit! Our classroom might not have that big red carpet, gigantic blue armchair and all those stuffies, but what we do have are lots of stories to tell, exciting new things to learn, soooo many books to read and memories to make together, not to mention a teacher who LOVES being a teacher!  Just like a family, we'll have a lot of our own funny stories and jokes before we know it! We are about to begin quite the adventure together and I can't wait to get started! I am so excited to be back in room 208, and I can't wait to meet you all! 

Here is some important information to share with families at this time: 

• students are to enter the school upon arrival each morning and go directly to their classroom (Room 208) 
• please send a baggie or case where students can store their mask while they eat and go out for recess 
• students do not need indoor shoes at this time 
• parents are not permitted on the playground or field during drop off and pick-up 
• if possible, the following items would be very much appreciated:  a box of tissues, a roll of paper towels, hand sanitizer, liquid soap 
• students do not have a lot of room in their desks and should not bring items from home such as binders, notebooks or toys  

I will be using Google Classroom to support my instruction this year and I'll let parents know when that's live. It should be in the next few days. 

Parents, you can reach me via email at: mihalidesp@hcdsb.org 

As promised, here's a quick hello and a tour of our class!