Friday, August 17, 2012

First Week a Success!

Our first week has been a success! The children are quickly adjusting to a new routine and a new teacher (for some of them), and those students who are returning to my class for the second year as fourth graders are doing a fantastic job of helping their new classmates learn the routines and procedures of our classroom. By the end of next week, we hope to have our daily schedule down to a routine!

As third and fourth graders, the students are expected to demonstrate an increased level of responsibility and independence inside and outside of the classroom. They are already proving they're prepared to take on this task by checking their schedules before the next class begins and having the necessary materials ready, recording their assignments in their planners and turning their finished work into the appropriate trays, carrying the bucket of playground balls in and out to recess for all the school children, monitoring the restrooms we share with the younger grades and checking to be sure the water is wiped off the sinks and the paper towels are in the trash, exemplifying positive examples when lining up and walking through the halls, and completing our classroom jobs ensuring that our classroom remains tidy and our plants stay watered. I am very proud of them!

The students have had the opportunity to delve into all of their new textbooks this week and see what we will be learning this year. They were already asking for homework by 9:00am the first day of school! They have been working diligently on their timelines—posters of pictures and captions describing each year of their lives. They will share their timelines on Monday as a way to get to know one another better, and then their timelines will hang in the hallway all year long so the other students in our school may get to know them as well.

Today we started our Friday Bible study by reading Psalm 100 which includes our school theme for the year, “Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing.” –Psalm 100:2. As a group we read through the chapter several times noting any repeated words or ideas and then asked questions about specific parts of the chapter so that we could better understand it. As students asked their questions, their fellow classmates shared their own thoughts on what the verses meant. It was beautiful to hear their insight into the Word of God. We’ll look forward to continuing our study next Friday!

I praise you for the wonderful job you have done as parents as evidenced by the bright, eager students I have in this classroom. They are hard workers and I am pleased by the love they demonstrate for learning.

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Blessings for a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. McLaughlin

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