End of STARR Party!

End of STARR Party!!

Hello Parents and Students, 

     STARR is officially over!!!! Due to STARR being over, the entire 3rd grade will be participating in a small party on May 5th, 2017. We are ordering pizza and providing drinks. We will have a mini dance party before the pizza comes and will watch a movie while eating.

I am so proud of each and every one of my students and I would like to show how proud I am on how hard they have been working all year. 

The students do not need to bring anything. We will have the party right after Science. 

Thank you so much students for all your hard work and dedication. I has finally paid off and now we are rolling down hill to the end of the school year. Thank you parents for all your support and cooperation this year, your child(ren) and I deeply appreciate it!

YAY WE DID IT!

Just Kidding there is always more to learn.

Spelling Homework

Spelling Homework

Hello Parents and Students, 

     I have been noticing several students not turning in spelling homework and sadly it is effecting their spelling grade. There is spelling homework everyday and is due every Friday. 

The students have spelling homework options to pick from such as:

1. Rainbow words
2. 3x each
3. Pyramid words
4. Words in sentence
5. ABC order

The students have to pick for activities to complete throughout the week. Since this has become a concern of mine, I have created a consequence until spelling grades go up. 

If a student does not turn four completed spelling assignments, they will be required to do them during recess on Friday. 

I hope that this consequence will get everyone back on track with spelling homework. 

Colorado

Hello Parents and Students,

     I have been invited to a big teacher conference in Denver, Colorado. I will not be in class Wednesday April 19th - Friday April 21st. I will be back in class the following Monday. 

I have hand picked a special substitute teacher to be with the students all 3 days. I expect all my students to behave as if it was me teaching. School will go on regularly, including classwork and homework. The other 3rd grade teachers will be in frequently to make sure the class is on task and will let me know if anything goes wrong. 

I will still have my phone so please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or help with homework. 

I hope everything runs smoothly during those 3 days, but I know I have nothing to worry about. 

Easter Egg Hunt

Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Hello Parents and Students, 

     As you know it is April and Easter is upon us. On Thursday, April 13, 2017 during specials the whole third grade will be participating in an Easter Egg Hunt. The student do not need to bring anything. I will provide small Easter baskets for our class. 

The Easter eggs will be filled with candy and coins. The students will use the coins collected to put in their piggy bank for math class. They are able to use to coins to help with money counting and use them to get supplies from the school store.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me though Class Dojo. 

Happy April everyone and Happy Easter!

Tutoring

STARR Testing Tutoring

Hello Parents and Students,

     AS YOU KNOW STARR is upon us!! It will be here before you know it. I know some of you are a bit scared that you are unprepared but have no worry.... Super Tutor is here!!!!!!!!

I will be inviting the students who need the extra help during the week after school from 3:45pm to 4:15pm. During that time we will go over all topics that will be on the test. I will only invite those who I feel need the extra help, You will only be invited to the tutoring sessions you need help with. Mondays and Wednesdays will be Reading and Writing. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be Math.

After school, we will escort the students who are not in tutoring to their cars, come back to the classroom have a small snack and get to work.

If and when your child is invited you will receive a letter the Friday before the week the child is invited. 

Open House

Hello to all parents,

OPEN HOUSE IS HERE!!

Our school is having an open house on 

Thursday, March 9th from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. 

I am so excited to see all of the parents and meet all of the new parents. We will be going over artwork and the class work that is all around the classroom and outside in the hall. We will be discussing important dates, class schedules, daily routines, and have a fun ice breaker at the beginning. Please feel free to speak to me after the group meeting to ask any questions or talk about any special tutoring etc., or just to introduce yourself. I will have light snacks like cookies and juice. We appreciate all of our students and hope to see all the parents there.

Go Bengals!!

Canned Food Drive

Canned Food Drive

Hello to parents and students. Our school is doing a monthly canned food drive to feed our community. This Friday, February 24^th please bring all the canned goods you can carry!!. The school is turning this into a good cause competition between houses. The house that collects the most canned foods will win a special treat depending on what the house votes on. The Treat can be anything from a house wide pizza party to a recess party. The drive is only one day a month. So please parents, help the food drive and help KAPPA!!!!

Please bring your canned foods on Friday only! Please allow your child to bring the canned foods to class, we will then send all of our canned good to the office to be counted and compared to the other houses. 

Help us feed our community!

TEST DAY!!!!!!

CURRICULUM ASSESSMENTS ARE HERE!

As you guys know our school participates in the Curriculum Assessments(CA) tests every six weeks to prepare them even more when the STARR comes in April. The CA tests are to help us understand more what content in reading, math, and writing that your child(ren) need to review again to better help them on the real test. The test is only two hours long with only about 20-25 questions per test. Each child will get to compare their last CA scores and create a score goal they wish to accomplish on these CA tests. If the goal is met or exceeded from expectation, we will win KAPPA house points!!

One test will be taken a day to ensure other instructional time is wasted. Our CA's will be TWO week from today. 

1. Math - Tuesday, February 21st
2. Reading - Wednesday, February 22nd
3. Writing - Thursday, February 23rd

We will start promptly at 8:45 am so we ask that you please get your child(ren) here on time so they can have a good breakfast before testing.I myself, like to get the bodies warm by stretching and doing a couple GoNoodles to get their blood pumping and brain working. 

The students are allowed to bring water if necessary but since we do have lunch after test, we ask that their be no food while testing. 

 GOOD LUCK TO ALL STUDENTS!!!

REACH THOSE GOALS AND GO KAPPA!!!!!

Education Technology_Flipped-Learning Toolkit: Flipping the Non-Flippable Classes

About this Article:

This article is about maximizing class time by using technology to give information and as a result, have more class time to spend actually doing the actual fun learning activities. This article gave different scenarios on how teachers used technology to help reduce the instructional time and increase activity hands on time. The method is called flipped learning. "Lower-level cognitive information should be moved out of the group space and into the individual space where students can consume data at their own pace and interact with the content in a manner that meets their individual needs." The method is basically transformed into a center of learning where students are applying, analyzing, and creating content, rather than simply acquiring information.

Reflection:

I personally loved this method. I thought it was very informative in a way that not only myself can benefit but my peer teachers as well. We are becoming a technology based generation so being able to use it for instructional time would help significantly. The only downfall about the flipped method is yes it does help lower level learners but typically the lower level are in lower socioeconomic families and the schools they attend cannot afford the high technology. So how can we help the lower income school? Any ideas?

Here is a link to the article:

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipping-the-non-flippable-classes-jon-bergmann

Spelling Bee on Friday February 17, 2017

THE SPELLING BEE IS HERE !!

• I am happy to announce that our school is hosting a campus-wide spelling bee. Every student is welcome to participate. The spelling bee is completely FREE! This is a great opportunity for our little bees to buzz with pride. So come join our us by watching your bees sting the spelling list on                               Friday, February 17, 2017, at 1:00 pm. 
• Light snacks and drinks will be sold at the concession stand. 

• If you or you child(ren) would like to participate, please fill out the form that will be in their take home folder today, and have it returned by Monday, February 6, 2017. 

I am so excited for this great opportunity for our students here at our school. I hope they enjoy it just as much as I did. 

GOOD LUCK TO ALL PARTICIPANTS 
AND 
MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOU FAVOR!

Below is the 2017 spelling bee list link that our school will be using(please use the third-grade list on pages 9-11):

https://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_62416/File/Academic%20Services/Spelling%20Bee/2017%20School%20List%20with%20definitions.pdf 

Educational Technology_Assistive Technology: Resource Roundup

Here is the link to the article:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/assistive-technology-resources

About the Article:

          This article is about how assistive technology can better help your child in their education. It gives us the teachers an update and review on why assistive technology is beneficial and what are some resources to find assistive technology for our students. There is a little part for parents on the different types of assistive technology with links to further the reading. Throughout the article are mini video clips that I found very helpful and you might too. When you get down to the bottom part of the article it gives some more resources and links to follow that gives clarity on different types of technology to help your child such as less restrictive to provide mobility. 

Reflection: 

          I thought this article was very interesting. Honestly, there were some assistive technologies I have never heard of, which is great because with all the new technology coming out, some people have not forgotten about our students in schools that need the help the most. This article should shine a light on how far we are willing to go to teach your children. I only hope technology continues to grow to improve education for years to come. 

Field Trip on Friday January 27th, 2017_The Nutcracker Ballet at Bass Hall

Field Trip Day!!

Here are some reminders for our Field Trip to Bass Hall on Friday.

1. Please remember to turn in the permission slip by Thursday or you will not be able to attend. In the event you do not attend, you will be given a work packet with items to be done while you wait in an assigned 4th-grade classroom. 
2. Please dress formally. This is a banquet hall and jeans are not appropriate. 
3. Lunch will be provided at school when we return from Bass Hall. 
4. Students need to be here before 8:45 am to ensure everybody is counted for and has a permission slip. 
5. Sorry, this is a school field trip and the 3rd-grade teachers will be attending so NO parents.
6. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me. The show will start about 10:00 am so my phone will be off to avoid any interruptions. 

I hope our students have a wonderful time and enjoy this great experience in witnessing The Nutcracker!

The Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas.

525 Commerce St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Education Technology _ 9 Essential Online Tools For Distance Learning

About this Article:

          This article is about providing teachers with some quick information on some applications (apps) or websites that they can use to benefit classroom learning while achieving the highest adoption to our newest era of technology. The article gives nine key apps that can provide teamwork for collaborative learning. Sometimes when in a group working on a project communication and getting everybody the work can be difficult, so several of the nine are for that reason. Wevideo is a website that can mash together different videos into one. Scribble and A.nnotate are websites that can help with note taking and sharing. Prezi and WordPress.org allow teamwork for group projects. Dropbox is an app and website that can be used to provide teachers with an online turn in folder. All these apps can help benefit a teacher and increase a sense of organization. 

Reflection:

          I think this article would be very helpful to teachers, using some of these apps such as Prezi myself, they will definitely help. This article made me want to go research these apps and websites to learn more about how they work and if they would be helpful to me in my future classroom. I did think the author of this article could have shown more pictures of the websites themselves or added hyperlinks to help even more. Overall this article was very helpful and I hope to share this article with future group members and coworkers. 

Here is the link to the article.

https://elearningindustry.com/9-essential-online-tools-distance-learning