Sad Thursday (PJ Day Cancelled, Spelling Quiz still on)

Hi parents,

We had a pretty challenging day today, but there were definitely some good points!

For example, in the morning, we had a lockdown drill, and the class did an amazing job of staying quiet and remaining hidden in the corner of the room. They also did a very good job following along with a yoga video that was intended to help them stay calm during the lockdown.

In the morning, the students wrote down lists of their classmates names, to help them with their Valentines cards. We will be having a small Valentines party / exchange on Wednesday, Feb. 12 - I'll put more information about that at the bottom of the post!

The students also did some writing about their favourite room in the house, and why they liked spending time there. In the afternoon, the students did some independent quiet reading because they were too loud and crazy for Daily 5. We watched a Bill Nye video about gravity, and had an interesting class discussion. The students were supposed to write a brief description about what life on earth would be like without gravity, but by this point, the energy levels were very high and only a few students completed it.

BAD NEWS: PJ Day Cancelled!

At the end of the day, I had already given about 20 reminders to the students about staying on task and being respectful, and told the students that if I had to keep giving them reminders then we would lose our party for tomorrow. I asked the students to put away their work and start the end-of-the-day clean up. I watched carefully for a bit to see who was following instructions, and sadly, even after 5 whole minutes, not a single student had started to clean. Many had actually started making more messes by throwing things around, ripping up paper, taking out Magic / Pokemon cards, or playing tag. So needless to say, I felt pretty disheartened by this, and I let the class know that they had really let me down, and they had lost their Pajama Day privileges. I've also decided that cards will not be allowed in class for the next week, because they have been quite distracting lately.

Hopefully we will have a good day tomorrow, even without the pajamas and toys. :(

Valentines Party Info:

When: Feb. 12, in the morning

Students have the opportunity to hand out valentines cards to their classmates. If you are sending Valentines with your child, please ensure they bring enough for everyone in the class! I will send home lists with students who were unable to complete them this morning. Snacks are welcome! But since this is a morning party, and the afternoon is intended to be a reading / literacy time, it might be better to keep them on the healthy side....

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at zalink@cbe.ab.ca

Have a nice night,

Zac