Mrs. V's Blog |
Mrs. V's Blog |
This was a very busy week. We started off the week with our quarterly awards ceremony. We recognized students that turned in all of their assignments on time and those students who didn't receive any behavior interventions. Those names were put into a hat and 15 were drawn for a "Free A!" If your student won a "Free A" they may choose an assignment to skip (please have them ask their teacher first!)! During this ceremony we also recognized a peer nominated award, the Positive Teamwork Award. This quarter students nominated Zoe T for her hard work, kindness, and her positive behavior in our class! Zoe received a gift card to Next Chapter Bookstore! Congrats Zoe! On Monday, we also did our next round of Team Building Activities. We spent the morning doing a challenge called the "Human Calculator." This challenged involved students pressing 30 "buttons" consecutively, following very strict rules, as fast as they could. The catch was this... we took the very competitive boys and put them into two groups, and we took the very quiet and reserved girls and put them into two groups. Here is what we found... the girls had a lot of success working together and sharing ideas and strategies. They were able to complete the challenging task in a very short amount of time. The said that they felt like their ideas were heard. They also learned that they NEED to speak up (even in uncomfortable situations). The gentlemen however, found that their competitiveness, and need to be heard, got the best of them . As you know we have a very competitive group that tends to always have to "be the best." The two groups of boys felt frustration, anger, and some gave up. As you can imagine, we did this on purpose. The sixth grade team was trying to send a message, a couple messages actually- 1. You need to work together to be competitive AND successful. 2. You need to communicate, and communicate positively, which involves listening to what others say, and not shooting down ideas. We had some awesome conversation when we brought both boys and girls back together. The girls shared that they feel like they aren't heard and the boys shared that they have frustration when the competitiveness gets out of control. It was a great moment! On Wednesday in our TA, we brought the boys and girls together, reminded them of the things they learned on Monday, and they tried the "Human Calculator" task again. This time, the task was completed quickly, with a totally different atmosphere in the room. Students were listening, one group didn't just "take over," and everyone had a chance to share ideas. All in all, I think a lot was learned from this very fun activity. The best was to see the success they reached TOGETHER as a group of boys and girls, as a TA. Announcements/Reminders 1/29/20161. Students have been spending a to of time on computers in SS and Science. This is a great time to remind families that students signed an acceptable use policy in order to use the Chromebooks. Students were reminded this today in their SS class. Students have the tendency to wander onto a site they are not supposed to, or to Google the funny video they watched at home last night, so they can show their friends. Please remind them that when they are caught doing these things, they lose their privileges of using a computer. It's also important to remind that because it is a school email and a school computer, nothing they search, click on, write, is private. Even if histories are erased, our tech team has the ability to look up anything that has been done on any school computer. While this seems like an invasion of privacy for some students, it's important for them to remember they can do the other stuff at home, and school is not the place for it! Please remind your students of this at home. 2. Students received last weeks' weekly ELA assignment from me today, ungraded (Attack at Sea). I did not put a grade on it because when I went through them I realized I did not explain the directions clearly enough . So, today each class received the assignments back, I retaught the skill, went over the directions clearly, and then we practiced doing the questions together, as a class. These assignments will NOT be graded, but should be used to guide them through other assignments that are similar. This week's assignment called "Mountain of Fire," is almost identical to the one they received two weeks ago. If you have questions about this let me know. 3. Thank you for sending your child with snow gear. This is making recess run smoother than before. We are sticking with the rule that if there is SNOW (or ice) on the playground, they must have snow pants to go on the hill! 4. Report card envelopes need to be returned. 5. If students know they are going to be absent, please remind them to check in with their teachers before they leave, then they can get the assignments they will miss. Thanks! I think that's all I have for you! Thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekends with your families.
0 Comments
A few things for you to talk over with your kiddos: 1. Due to temperature fluctuation between rooms it can be freezing cold in one classroom and very warm in another. This is something we cannot predict or prevent. Students have started wearing their jackets, or carrying their jackets around. This is becoming a distraction, as well as a safety hazard. Jackets are left on the floor in classes and tripped on, or they are becoming lost, etc. Please make sure your child is dressed in layers. A sweatshirt is highly recommended. Jackets will no longer be allowed out of TA. 2. Students are still playing soccer and football outdoors at recess, which we encourage. However, students are not going to recess dressed properly. We go outside as long as the temp is above zero. It is a safety concern if students are not dressed for our cold Vermont winters (keep in mind the wind at BT school is often more extreme than other places!). From now on, in order to play soccer, football, or to be on the hill at all, students MUST wear snow pants, boots, jackets, hats and gloves. When I told students about this today, there was a lot of grumbling. They are not pleased with this new expectation. Please help us enforce this rule. If they are not dressed for snow, with all of their gear, they will be required to stay on the pavement during recess. 3. Report cards were sent home today with directions for filling out the point sheets. Please fill point sheets out with your student and sign the report card envelopes. Report cards envelopes are due back WEDNESDAY. It's been awhile since I've posted pictures- here are a few from our very COLD recess on Wednesday. Tuesday marks the start of Quarter three. How is that even possible? We are half way through the year. Feels like we just started! Your kiddos had a very rigorous week. They had a test in science, two tests in math, a quiz in geography, and two tests in ELA! It was a long week of sitting, focusing, and doing their very best work! So, you can definitely expect them to be tired tonight. This afternoon some students were still working on assessments, which means that they did not get a chance to read and/or listen to the article for this week's weekly assignment. There is also a video they must watch. I have posted the link below because there will not be class time to do this next week. Usually it occurs on Fridays, but the assessments trumped the weekly assignment. So, please check in with your student. The assignment is posted on Google Classroom (linked on the left of page), and the link to the video they must watch, and the article the must listen to, are below. (The password they need for this content is lambtopaz633) Reminders:*No School on Monday!
*New special starts next week, students will be heading to Library for quarter three. *Some sixth graders are doing a community service project and are collecting DVD's in like new condition for the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth. These DVD's must be rated between G-PG-13. If you want to donate please send them in with your student. *Report Cards go home next Friday, January, 22. *Please remind students that they MUST wear boots, hats, mittens, and a jacket if they want to be on the hill at recess time. They need these items in order to play soccer and kickball as well. We have had some very cold temps this week, as well as snow, students were very disappointed to learn they had to stay on the pavement when they didn't come prepared for the weather! I hope you and yours all had a great vacation/holiday season. It was good to be back into a normal routine this week. However, I always find this week to be the most challenging. Students arrive back from break rested, but getting back into the swing of things makes them tired. Monday definitely brought sleepy eyes, slouched bodies, and not a lot of enthusiasm for school. But, by today things seemed to be back to normal. They were awake and back to their energetic selves. Make sure you ask your kiddo about the fun game of "Heads Up" we played versus Mrs. Allen's TA, it was a great way to spend Fantastic Friday.
As the quarter winds down (ends next Friday), I just wanted to give you a little picture of what is going on in each class. In ELA we will be finishing our book The Revealers next week, this is a great story that so many kids relate to. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them get excited about reading and discussion. Students got mad at me today because instead of reading the book, we read something else related to our weekly homework assignment. They just want to finish to find out the ending! There will be a mini assessment related to the book before the end of the quarter. In Geography students continue to read No Summit Out of Sight, which is about a boy named Jordan and his experience leading up to hiking Mt. Everest. This week they enjoyed learning about what it means to traverse from one cliff to another, at a high altitude. They were able to watch video footage of people doing this tricky task. In Math they will be wrapping up the current unit of converting fractions to decimals and percents. There will be a computation assessment and unit test before the end of the quarter. Lastly in Science, students have been studying earthquakes and where they are likely to happen in the world. Also they are looking at how earthquakes are measured and the impact of their magnitude. There will be a science test on Wednesday. Also as an FYI, both Mrs. Allen and I have collected they "redo" assignments that students wanted to have regraded. These were collected today and no more assignments will be collected for re-grading. Grades will close on Friday. I highly recommend checking the portal with your student! The app is available to download for your smartphones and tablets. Have a great weekend everyone. |
Archives
June 2019
Categories |