Hello salle 202 families,
I'm glad you've found this blog and I hope you've had time to scroll through the many posts I put up here to begin the year. I know there was a lot, so I didn't want to add too much more in the first week, but I've been looking forward to updating you on how things are going since we met your wonderful children. If you haven't had a chance yet to get through all the beginning stuff, don't worry - just scroll down, or dip into the archives.
First, let me say that your kids are lovely. I think Dominique and I have all the names sorted out and we are getting to know the different personalities. Everyone seems to enjoy being at school and is friendly and eager to help out. We have lots of little helpers, friends, errand runners, cleaner-uppers, translators, listeners... we have a great class!
If you got the idea from my first day letter that I like routines and structure, you nailed it. I think routines are important for kids, and it helps me stay organized and sane! You already read a lot about my routines, but let me just give you a snapshot of what it looks like with all the humans in the room.
We have been getting used to the routine of entering the school at 9 am like the older students, however, we will soon transition to our permanent routine of having outdoor time first thing and coming in later. This will reduce the amount of dressing and undressing we have to do as the weather gets cooler. Long stretches of uninterrupted play/discovery time is our goal!
So far outside, the kids have been gravitating towards digging, investigating bugs, drawing and scootering around on our many bikes and wagons.
We are often outside along with other classes, so it has been a challenge gathering up our group when others are still playing. Our class knows that we blow the whistle 2 times in a row when we need them to come to our table and we'll keep working on trying to get everyone listening for it so that we can speed up our transition time.
When we go upstairs, our first job is to unpack our bag and pochette. The kids have been really amazing at remembering where everything goes. Their extra clothes and shoes stay in their hall cubby (these are the only two items that are invited to sleep-over at school on a daily basis). Lunch bags and bottles are kept in our in-class cubbies. Pochettes are kept in our individual mailboxes with mail for me being dropped in my bin. When I have notes for the kids, I put it in their mailbox so that they can pack their pochettes at the end of the day.
After unpacking, we go to the carpet for our morning routine, which includes a song and some new vocabulary led by Mme Dominique, as well as working on our weekly alphabet letter in our morning message. On the board is a visual schedule (picture cards) for the day. When you visit our room, ask your student to show you how they know what they're doing that day. They can already explain very clearly what activity each card represents, and if something unexpected happens and we miss an activity, you better believe I hear about it!
Next we usually have some centre time. Our little house (which includes a lot of make-believe play and music making) has been quite popular, along with the big blocks area. I'm already trying to brainstorm ways to expand these areas so allow for more people. Our rule is 4 students per centre so that we all have room to build, play and move around. So far children have been very understanding when they can't have their first choice of centre.
Sometimes in the morning we try to squeeze in some kind of guided activity, such as working on our fine motor skill by tracing lines (eventually we will do letters). We usually have a special subject at some point - music, gym, drama or library. Mr. Greene, Mme Mary Ann and Mme Gaudreault are all experts in their areas and it always looks like so much fun that I almost want to stay and participate myself!! Please visit these amazing teachers on Thursday evening!
At lunch, Sally comes to watch the kids and she does her VERY best to make sure they are eating their healthy food first, and lots of it. Your lunches look amazing, and it's clear that you've spoken to your children about what is snack and what is lunch. Afterwards, they get to play in the class, sometimes have some stories with Dominique and then we all go outside for more outdoor play.
To minimize transitions, we stay out for the beginning of the afternoon, and similar to the morning, we come back to the carpet upon entry. This time, I teach the kids poems from the 3 to 3 program (I'll explain this on Thursday) and we've also been using this time to talk about and review our 4 class rules (as outlined in the first day letter).
After this, we usually have another snack and then quiet time. The kids love quiet time more than I imagined. Their choices so far have been rest, read or draw. We have cushions, blankets and some stuffies that the kids can lie down with, and many do (we are working on actually resting though :). Lots of kids also draw, or take some extra tracing sheets to practice their letters or numbers - also a surprisingly popular activity.
At the end of the day, we have story time and then we work on packing up lunches, pochettes, creations from the day etc. We usually have a Bravo note or two to give out, and the students have been so kind to acknowledge their friends without being jealous. They understand that we can't possibly write 26 every day and know that it doesn't mean we haven't noticed them being good.
That's pretty much how our days have been going so far. It's been fun!
Looking forward to sharing our classroom with you on Thursday,
Tamara