Mark Your Calendars

I hope you have your datebooks handy. I am going to give you the important dates that are approaching between now and the end of year.

• May 2 -- Career Day (This will take place mainly during specials)
• -- Night at the Ballpark (Children will get a free ticket to the game for reading in class)
• May 9 -- Field Day (Lunch information came home today. Send in your $3 to reserve your lunch.)
• May 12 -- Ring Around the School (Students will come together as a school to clean up the campus)
• May 13-15 -- LCO (It is finally here!)
• May 14-15 -- Multi-Cultural Festival
• May 16 -- Culture Cafe (Students will sample foods from various cultures. Donations will be needed; look for more information from Mrs. Moradian)
• May 20-- Fourth Grade Picnic (Parents are invited to come and spend the afternoon at school with their child)
• May 21 -- I AM Somebody Program (time-TBA All students will receive recognition of their hard work)
• May 22 -- 1/2 day and the last day of elementary school for our class. PLEASE plan on allowing your child to come to school this day! It will be a special day that we will share together.

That is about it for now. As other events are planned, I will let you know! Have a great week. Also please know that next week will be our last newsletter of the year. I will add updates here on the blog after next Monday. Thanks!

Field Day

A note came home today asking for your input and help with lunch on Field Day. Please let me know if you have any ideas. With the LCO coming up, I don't really want to add more to my to-do list. I would be fine with having a simple picnic lunch, but I will be happy to hand it all off to a group of willing parents. Any help you would like to offer, I will gladly accept. Thanks!

Good for the Soul

As I was sitting at home indoors on a beautiful Saturday enjoying a lovely sinus infection, I heard a beep letting me know that I had received a new e-mail message. I had to share with you the photo I got that just made my day. Yes, I have admitted before that I am less than impartial when it comes to my nephew, but I would dare anyone to see this picture and not break out into a big smile! I may be sneezing, coughing, and fighting the sinuses, but at least now my heart is warm! Thanks for indulging and letting me share!

1st Anniversary

Can you believe that this blog is one year old today? It feels like I have been doing it forever. I know I only have a few faithful readers, but I enjoy writing for the blog. It is kind of cathartic for me. Students have not been as big a part as I imagined, but that can be a goal for the future.

TCAP testing is going well. I have been immensely impressed with the effort the class has put into the tests. It is not easy sitting there trying to focus and think hard for two hours, but they are doing it! I am sure they have been exhausted at home. We have two days left and then it is over for another year.

Don't forget the LCO meeting one week from today. Mrs. Ward and I plan to send a note home tomorrow. Look for it!

Well, thanks for checking in and reading the blog over the past year. I hope that I will be able to keep it going so that all of my students can come back and check in, even after they hit the doors of middle school. Thanks again and have a great week!

TCAP is a-Comin'

We are less than a week away from TCAP testing. We began talking about test taking strategies in class today, so hopefully we will be calm enough and prepared enough to actually show what we know. The students signed a pledge today stating that they would do their best. I will send those pledge cards home with them on Monday to help remind them what they can do to be ready. My intentions are not to make too big of a deal out of the tests, but I do want the students to take them very seriously and try their very best.

The scary thing to me is that once TCAP are over, our two year experiment will almost be over. We have had many ups and a few downs, and I'd like to think that we have all learned a lot. I haven't been perfect, but you have all accepted me and the rest of our school family with open arms. I know that the LCO will help cement the great relationships that have developed over the past 2-5 years. There are a couple of relationships I would like for us to really focus on over these last few weeks. I would love to put together a packet of letters from the students for Mrs. Ward, and for any other teacher they may have had while at Jones. Parents, if you would like to do this as well, you are more than welcome to join us.

If you have any questions about TCAP or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me! Thanks. (And please remember that we are in need of photo album pages that would fit in a three ring binder.)