Hello All,

We have made it through our first week!  It has been really lovely to be with all of the students again. I don't think I realized how much I missed being in school.  I feel lucky -- this seems to be a wonderful group of students! We managed to laugh a lot and enjoy each other despite the heat and the masks! Thank so much to Amanda Edson for donating her tent and taking the time to put it up and take it down each day! Having the tent gives us a place to spend time outside and take brief mask breaks.

This week, we spent our time getting to know each other and learning some of the routines in the classroom. This included how to use our supplies, how to get water, go to the bathroom, wash hands, etc.  We also worked on reading surveys, practiced a little bit of math, and did some community building activities.  Some of the students are anxious to get started with academics! We will ease into that more next week, and will be fully immersed in academics by the 4th week of school.

This afternoon I will put our first "Weekly Plan" onto the Google Classroom. This will show you and the students exactly what will be happening at school and at home each day for each subject area.  Of course, some of the lessons that are planned for later in the week won't have the appropriate practice pages until the students return to school next week, but there are plenty of activities to keep them a little busy at home.  We will figure out this routine soon!

One quick note: Our lunch time is at 1:00. It's quite a bit later than 3rd grade lunch was last  year. The students definitely get hungry! Please brainstorm together what some strategies are that might help them adjust to this new schedule. It's hard to work when you're hungry!

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. I look forward to seeing all of the kids Monday, either in person or at our Morning Meeting!

Enjoy the weekend.