If you look directly to the right of this post, and just a bit higher, you'll notice a new "Contact Me" link. This is directly linked to the "Important Info" page which contains an email contact form where you can write me, day or night, about anything school related. I thought I had already created this avenue of communication. My apologies that it had not been added sooner!
The internet finally came back on line today around 12:30, so the hundreds of students who've been waiting to take AR tests will finally be able to take them tomorrow!!! Unless, of course, Accelerated Reader freezes up when they all try to login at the same time...Ahhh, technology....
We are using a new app that tracks our behavior in class! Each student is assigned a student code that they can use to create their own user name and password to login at home or school and see how they are progressing. In the classroom, every time they meet one of the GLOs (Self-Directed Learner, Community Contributor, Ethical User of Technology, etc.), they choose their little monster avatar on the classroom iPad, and select the GLO that they just demonstrated. If they were off task, forgot homework, were talking out of turn, etc., they have the ability to mark that down as well. When students sign up, they enter a parent email so parents can keep up with the behavioral progress as well. Please let me know if you object to having your child entering an email. The only thing this keeps them from being able to do is access their Dojo account at home. They can still keep track of their behaviors in the classroom. Please also understand that they will not be able to access an email account in any way. The program simply asks for this email in order to send you a parent code so you can access the behavior report.
Report cards are being finalized, Halloween costumes are being made, and next week IS EARLY RELEASE WEEK!!!! Please remember that we are on a Wednesday schedule (school ending at 1:08) for all of next week plus the Monday and Tuesday of the following week. This will allow us enough time to meet with the family of each student for twenty minutes each, at which time we will discuss the report card, behaviors in class, home life, etc. I'm looking forward to sitting down with you and your child and discussing our school year thus far! -Miss Cook
Conferences begin next week! Please make sure you get your desired times turned in by Friday, and please remember, I will do my best to schedule what you request, but I only have so many meeting times available. Thank you for your flexibility and consideration. Please bring any questions, concerns, and hopes written down ready to discuss, as we only have 20 minutes. Have a great week! -Miss Cook
You know how you sometimes just glance over things to get the general idea, and then go, "Yeah, that'll work"? After printing out the vocabulary work for this week, I realized I'd done just that with this week's assignment. Spelling City has a predetermined set of definitions that it assigns each word. Great, right?! Well, if the students were in college, maybe. Looking over some of the definitions that were used to define OUR vocabulary words this week, I realized that I need to do A LOT of editing before assigning this again. All that being said, if the homework is moving you or your child to tears, it's time to put the pencil down. I never intend to assign work that is frustrating (although I know I've done it) and I'd much rather you go do something else than fight with a vocab paper for three hours. These vocabulary words that are being assigned are all words we've discussed at some point over the first quarter, used in our math or language lessons, and they are words that all third graders, no matter level or ability, are supposed to be familiar with by the end of the year. There are over 300 of these words, and we've only covered 20 in the first quarter, so expect to see many, many more this next quarter. I don't expect to master all of them by the end of the year, but I will do my best to give every student an understanding of the majority of them by the end of the year. Again, mahalo for your hard work as a parent, and I look forward to seeing you at Parent-Teacher conferences! -Miss Cook
Here's a quick FYI: I'm seeing a couple of trends on campus, one of which you've probably already seen demonstrated in your own home. The first trend is called "poppers". Poppers are created by folding a sheet of thin paper (binder paper works great) in such a way that, when whipped through the air with a quick flick of the wrist, it catches the air and makes a sharp "popping" sound. While this is really cool and could be the focus of a great physics project, it is getting many students in trouble on the bus, in the classroom, on the playground, etc. If you see your child creating these, please discourage him or her from bringing them on the bus or into the classroom. "Scorpion" is much more alarming than the poppers. The game is played by hooking your thumb around your opponent's thumb, so that your right hand is resting against their right forearm, and their right hand is doing the same. Then, you both dig into that soft underarm wrist area with your fingernails until you either draw blood or your opponent gives in. It's kind of like a new version of "bloody knuckles". If your child gets off the bus with strange, fingernail-sized marks on his or her wrist, this is most likely what has happened. I've had a chat with a couple students who were caught playing this game about how a. it's not safe and blood is not ok to be messing around with, b. it can turn a game into a fight if one of the people playing suddenly decides it's not a game, and c. parents are going to be wondering how you got those marks on your arm and it could turn into a HUGE miscommunication and a messy problem. I hope you find this information helpful, and I'll see you in just a couple of days! -Miss Cook
As you flip through the slideshow, you'll see a snail that I spotted in our yard (so cool - look at his eye stems!), a quick glimpse at our class party the last day of school before Fall Break, the way the room has been rearranged (we'll give it a shot!), our list of vocabulary words from 1st quarter that we will be reviewing, some crazy amounts of snow that I saw from the plane (flying over Colorado/Wyoming?), and my Montana morning. It's crisp and clear here today. I flew to see my family over the break and they HAD NO IDEA I WAS COMING!!!! My mom was pretty pleased/excited. I hope you're having a grrrrrreat break so far! - Miss Cook
My apologies for how little the homework page has been updated. Things have been such a rush here, I confess I've been relying on the planners and pushing the site updates aside so I can get papers graded and lessons planned. Your child will take his/her final math test on Chapter 2 tomorrow morning, and we will have our last music lesson of the quarter on Friday. I would like to encourage any parent willing to join us to come to our very brief read-in on Friday afternoon, as we push for those last AR points, as well as our class party celebrating our days of perfect attendance and the class compliments that we've earned. I will be sending a packet of math homework home tomorrow, to be completed over the break. It will be introducing some new concepts to students, so please understand that I don't expect a lot of time and frustration to be spent on the packet...think of it more as an introduction to where we are headed. Multiplication will become part of our daily routines as soon as second quarter begins, so start drilling those facts! If you have any questions during break, don't hesitate to contact me via the website, but don't bother to call the school as I won't be there to check my messages!!! Have an excellent break. ;.)
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Miss Cook's Class Pledge
Today is a brand new day. Today we choose A fresh start A kind heart Words that heal and do not hurt Today we choose To work hard To work together To treat all others with respect. Today I choose To love who I am To give myself a chance I am a smart and valuable person My words are kind and honest I try hard at all that I do I am proud to be ME.