Experiments

We learned about mixtures and solutions today! We discovered that Mixtures can be separated but solutions can not be separated. Our mixture was skittles and M&Ms. Our solution was chocolate syrup and milk.

Test/Grades

Unit 1 test grades for math are in the grade book. This test was HARD! It was their first test that was as long as the STAAR exam with STAAR like questions created by the district. If your child scored around a 50 then they are right on track where they need to be. Don't worry, I will be putting in extra grades this nine weeks to help their overall grade.

Also, the grade book is update on skyward.

Have a GREAT three day weekend!

Our First Test

We made it through our first math test of the year!!! Whew! The class successfully followed exam procedures which was incredibly exciting. It was very tough to stay quiet that long but we did an amazing job. Grades will be posted soon. : )

PICTURES!!!

We are filling other friends' buckets every day!!!!

We are learning a lot of new vocabulary words

We are earning bingo numbers for compliments

It Was a Purple Kind of Day

Congratulations to a few people!!!

A few days ago we had three students go home on purple, and today we had one student go home on purple. Everyone was on blue! YAY!

Clarification

I love love love these kiddos, but when it comes down to it more than half the class is not being respectful and safe. That is our class goal, and my goal. I will do everything I can to ensure that we get there, but I can't do it all. The students need to put in an effort as well. I am always looking for positive incentives. If something works well at home, please let me know. If I can find away to incorporate that in class, I most certainly will. In class tomorrow we will do a survey so that the kids can tell me what they want to work for. I think that will be a very powerful incentive for them.

A Constant Struggle

As a whole our class is struggling with being safe, respectful and responsible. We are talking about this every day in class. Please talk to your kiddos about this at home as well. Expectations need to be followed. Starting tomorrow, I am going to be more strict when it comes to following rules and expectations. Clips will be moved on our color chart, and self-manager badges will be taken away from the kiddos that do not follow the rules and expectations. Every student in this class is very capable; I have seen it. Every student in this class, is smart, capable and caring. These are qualities that I want to see everyday. Also starting tomorrow we will have a morning meeting at 10:00 am where we talk about how to give compliments, how to solve conflicts, etc. From what I am seeing in class, we need to work on how to solve conflicts and how to speak with kindness. Sometimes things are said that the speaker doesn't even realize is hurtful, but another students feelings were hurt. In our meetings we will be talking about how it is important to think about what we say and how it could affect someone else. We will be "filling each others buckets" (giving compliments that raise self-esteem) with kind notes throughout the day, If you have a note that you think would fill your child's bucket please send it to school, and I will give it to them,

Picture Day

There was a little confusion about the date for picture day. Picture day will be on Monday September, 21. As of right now, Ms. Caperton's class and Ms. McGarey's class is signed up for pictures at 9:40AM. I chose an early slot because some of our kiddos will have PE at 11:00AM.

Homework

Our lesson with the counselor went a little longer than expected, therefore we did not pass out homework today. I will pass that out tomorrow. They may turn it in on Monday if they need to so that they don't lose a day.

This Weeks Homework

This weeks homework is more challenging, because the questions are modeled after the STAAR test. Each day we will go over how to answer each question type. Today, the kiddos may not know how to answer each question on the homework. That is okay. Each day they should be able to answer one, and by Friday morning they should  have the math section completed. I've already talked to them about this in class.

I Hope you Had a Great Weekend!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. As you enjoy your Sunday before we had back to school tomorrow morning, I just wanted to give y'all a few reminders.

1. We have some new procedures in class when the kiddos enter the classroom in the morning, and for when they work on independent work. We did a great job with these on Friday, so let's keep it up.

2. We are working on creating a more positive environment. One of the things we talked about was giving and receiving compliments. We discussed that compliments are to be intrinsic; something about the person that is not physical. Some of the wonderful compliments I have heard already are: "I like that you are a good friend, and that you are nice to me." "I like that you help me when I'm not sure what to do on an assignment." I like that you take your time with your handwriting." "I like that you work very hard." These are some great compliments that make us feel great!

3. Please sign your child's behavior chart everyday. It is the child's responsibility to ask you to sign their behavior chart. If they do not have it signed, they will be asked to move their clip down. They will have opportunities throughout the day to move their clip back up to blue.

Again, enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'll see everyone bright and early Monday morning!

Happy Friday!

I am leaving school extremely happy with joy in my heart. These kiddos put in a tremendous effort with our new procedures, and we had a great day. As a class we earned seven numbers on our bingo board helping us get closer to earning a mini party. We even received a compliment from another teacher for how awesome we walk in the hallways. We had three students go home on purple today for following all the class rules and for going above and beyond all day. We also had several students earn their self manager badges back today! YAY! Overall today was the best day we have had all year. I am a very proud teacher. : ) Let's keep up the amazing work!!!

New Procedures

Starting tomorrow I will be changing some procedures in our class. I feel as though these changes need to be made to keep our kiddos safe and happy with our classroom running in a positive way. I will also be introducing some new rewards that the kids can earn to help increase positive a atmosphere.  If there are any positive incentives that you see working at home with your kiddo, I would love to incorporate that in my classroom. I want the rewards that they can earn to be something that they really care about and want to earn.

We also had our first self manager party today. We had a small dance party to celebrate following our classroom rules and being safe, responsible and respectful. I can't wait to have our next self manager party, it's going to be a fun one. That should be coming up in the next few weeks. : )

We had a GREAT day today!!

As a class we are learning our classroom routines and procedures! YAY! I love seeing all of the kiddos progress when it comes to learning these things. We still need to work on our classroom rules. See whole brain teaching and  the self manager system to see our rules. In particular, we are working on rule #2 which is raise your hand for permission to speak.

In math we are working on place value and in science we have just introduced the scientific method and matter. We will continue working on these things this week!

Looking forward to a great week,
Ms. Caperton

REMINDER!!

We have no school on Monday 9/7/15
ENJOY your three day weekend! : )

Welcome to the New School Year!

I am so excited that we are off to a great start this year! It has been an exciting two weeks. I can't wait to get to know all of your kiddos over the next year.