Wednesday

I succumbed to the stomach bug and had to stay home yesterday. My apologies for not updating the blog yesterday.  Seems as though there are many things going around.  We are using the anti bacterial wipes and washing our hands like crazy!  I am in need of tissues for the classroom. Thanks for any donations.

Today, we went to the library and Mrs. Alibrandi did an introduction to our unit on biographies.  Students chose their own biographies and will be reading them in class.  We will focus this unit on taking notes on important information.  We will then turn those notes into a written report in writing.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the unit.

We also began something in class today called the Magic Pocket Name.  This is a system to manage classroom behaviors that I am noticing.  We are all focusing on the 3B's: being safe, respectful and responsible.  Students, as of late, have been interrupting, talking out, not settling down after transition times and overall being very chatty.  My solution to this is the Magic Pocket Name.  For each time frame during the day (today it was morning meeting and snack; library and reading; and quiet time and math), I pull a name from a bucket where all the students' names are. I put this person's name in my pocket and keep an especially close eye on that person to see if he/she is following the 3B's.  At the end of the time frame, I will announce what this person (by name) has done (by following the 3B's) and put his/her name into another bucket.  If the person did not follow the 3B's during that time frame, his/her name goes back in the original bucket but I do not announce his/her name.  Students are then asked to reflect on whether they think the Magic Pocket Name was his/hers.   I want students to be reflective in their behaviors and I believe this system really will allow for that.  AT the end of the week, we will have a drawing of all the Magic Pocket Name winners.  If a student's name is picked for that drawing, he/she will win a "prize".  The prize will not be a materialistic thing but something like a chance to eat in the classroom with a friend or extra iPad time, etc.  Let me know what you are hearing at home about this.  I am interested in your thoughts.

Please don't forget about our Valentine party on Thursday of next week. If your child chooses to make Valentines, please have him/her do so for the whole class.  Thank you!

We had WIN groups today.  Also, we learned about our 5's times tables in math.