Home Reading Incentive

If you want to know why I'm beginning this incentive, read here.

Every day a student comes to school with their home reading book bag, and a signed tracking sheet with an adult's initials on it, I will enter them in a draw for a weekly prize. This will begin on the week of November 2, with the first draw being on Friday, November 6.

Let's get reading!

Things We Need to Work On

As adults who are partners in our children's learning (I speak as a parent with 3 children of my own), we need to be vigilant in supervising certain aspects of their daily activity, especially their school work.

Are the kids in Room 9 supposed to be reading at home every day?

YES

Are the kids supposed to be bringing home a black, zippered, home reading bag every day?

YES

Should it contain a new book every day, that the students (or the teacher and the student) have chosen to read?

YES

Should someone take time to enjoy the book with the child at home, every day?

YES

Will any of this happen if the adults at both ends are partners with the child in making it happen?

NO !

And that is what I'm seeing. Our home reading bags have stopped being used. I think they have been forgotten. Fellow adults, we need to pull up our socks. Read the next news post to find out what I'm going to do about it.

Wild Rompus

Every day for the past 3 weeks, the entire school has been doing daily physical activity, or DPA for short. DPA is mandated by the Ministry of Education: each day students are to engage in vigorous physical activity for at least 15 minutes, in order to attain and maintain an acceptable level of physical fitness. I think it's a great idea. And, the students really enjoy it.

We organized a 3 week school wide DPA, with much assistance from our P.E. teacher, Miss M. We used the story Where the Wild Things Are, which is a current movie and a classic children's book. Look on the Parkdale School News web site for some pictures of our activities.

Where the Wild Things Are

Our Wild Things...

Family Book Bags

Family book bags are exchanged every Wednesday.

You should expect a new bag to come home, if you have given signed permission, about every second week.

Family book bags are a great enrichment experience, and a good to share with the whole family. The book is meant to be read with and to your child, and the other activities included will need your input and assistance so that you'll get the most out of it.

What makes an effective teacher?

The only way to have an effective school is to have effective teachers.

- Harry Wong

The genius of effective teachers is described in various ways:

They watch all, but only steal from the best.

Always thinking, dreaming and planning.

They have high expectations that all of their students will succeed.

They are extremely good classroom managers.

They know how to design lessons to help students reach mastery.

Teachers who have become ineffective, have become that way because they have lost their habit of continually learning. Good habits are the key to all success.

What is a habit? It is something you do over and over again, without thinking about it. For example, fold your hands together. Which thumb is on top? That is something you do without thinking... it's a habit.

What do successful students do by habit? Think about this for a moment...

Did you think of things like:

• bring everything they need to school
• sit near the front
• ask questions

Even in grade two, students are developing habits. You, as a parent, have a very significant role to play in the development of those habits. So do I, as their teacher. The most significant habit that I aim to pass on to my students is my continual desire to learn.

A person can only learn when they have learned to listen. Rather than saying, "This doesn't apply to me," and tuning out, I am always trying to take everything in, just in case an "Aha" moment may come along.

An effective teacher will help their students connect learning to the great ideas within the modern world. That is my role.

The message must fit the student. The learning activity must fit the student. Students must experience success and know what they are responsible for learning.

"Successful classrooms are structured and businesslike, but they have a very warm and loving environment." It is who I am as a teacher, the principles by which I live, that will make the difference for my students.

Settling In...

So, as we move through October and Thanksgiving, I'm happy to say that our class is settling into a sense of routine and the students are generally feeling at ease. I'm getting a grasp of where each child is at in their reading and writing development, and now am able to start pinpointing the types of activities that will bring the required learning.

Thank you, parents, for your overwhelming support of our Family Reading Bag program. Each reading kit can be kept for a week. The kits that came home today will be due next Wednesday, October 14. There are neat activities that are built around the story. I hope you enjoy having some fun time with your child over these stories!

GB