Tuesday September 10th and Wednesday 11th

Sorry everyone... I have been having huge issues with the editing program on the Blog and have come to the conclusion that it actually might be time to begin a new one for this school year. I'll keep you posted!! Tonight although it is much later than intended, I am resorting to my I-pad.

I have been busy - usually busier than the students at the beginning of the year trying to assess the learning and social needs of our combined class. We have had a very positive and, in my opinion,  productive week so far. I have had to be firm in math class as I do find some social habits that need to be addressed.

We have made a good start on creating our class charter which we have discussed and agreed on the most important things we need to do to have a successful year together-  you would be proud of the participation and ideas that your child shared during this activity. Once it is completed, I will post our class agreement charter which we will all sign and refer to this scoop year when things go bump and get 'ugly'!

I was impressed with the response to the writing and thinking activity about setting goals for the year - it was completed on the school computers in our lab on Word using a header and making the documents similar with double spacing, justification and using 12 point Roman font.

The program Wordle was introduced- if you have time you should check it out. The students enjoyed playing around with it but so far I have not set an activity using it. We tend to use it quite often for creative presentation of ideas and thoughts for a variety of curricular areas.

In Math 7 so far I have really been focusing on basic arithmetic skills in particular multiplication skills and algorithms. We most definitely have to work on stamina- need to build up focus to and time on task. I can't expect them to run a marathon just yet!!

Band class starts tomorrow as most students have their instruments. Tom Lee music will be at our school this Monday for anyone who needs to rent an instrument.

Thanks for the forms that are coming in and for taking the time to give me a quick idea of your son's or daughter's strengths and challenges. Every little bit of information helps me learn how to encourage my students more quickly.

The students seem to be enjoying the read aloud novel Word Nerd (one of my all time favourites). So far with the Daily Five literacy skills we have more or less been covering three to four a day
Word work
Read to self
Be read to

I have enjoyed getting the school year underway and look forward to completing the organizational
component and watching the magic happen. I have a mentor that always reminds me that if I spend six weeks introducing a new concept or routine and it still isn't working smoothly to dig deep and spend six more weeks being as consistent as possible - such a great reminder for me not to give up because the going gets tough!

I fully intend to be more consistent with this Blog- thank you for your patience.
Mrs. J.