I promised you pictures...

Dear Parents,

I spoke to many of you last night for curriculum night and you got a chance to see the surprises we baked up for you. There were mysterious mustachioed photos and self portraits for art, lots of writing samples and a chance to look through students' reading folders for language, Calendar math (all five strands are represented!) and a peek at the JUMP math workbooks for mathematics, plus a button spinner to help us start to think about energy.

Some mysterious characters

I also put out a sign up sheet for volunteers. I'd love to have parents come in and read with students. If you're able to come in, but didn't get a chance to hear from me, do ping my email and we'll figure it out.

Using writing to help us delve into the people behind the mustaches

A lot of parents wanted to know how their child was doing. A couple overarching trends appeared in all my talking:

Students are served well by reading daily with parents. If there's one thing you can do to help your child, this is it.

Students in Grade 1 are building stamina for focused work. This will be easier for some than others, but everyone will get better as they practice.

Students in Grade 1 are building their toolkits. They need lots of ideas for what to do when they don't know what to do. Coaching them through challenges to help them build resilience is probably more important than any content I teach.

Another way to look at the same kids

A class set, being cheered on by Rosie

Ultimately, we're a team. I'll communicate with you if there are bumps along the way. Please do the same for me.

Thanks for a great start to a new year!

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan