Welcome to Grade 5.

Well, here we are back in the classroom! The kids seemed to get right into things this morning; perhaps the late start gave them more time to sleep? It was nice to see some familiar faces and plenty of new ones as well. I think we have a great mix in the class this year.

We spent most of the time today going over classroom protocol, rules and organization. I plan to keep things very simple when it comes to rules and routines, in an effort not to confuse the issue or give students too much to consider. In-class roles (cleaning, technology, agendas, schedule, les chefs, etc) will change weekly. Only one of these roles entails any work at home; that being "Nouvelles", wherein the student(s) responsible have to find something in the news to present briefly the next day. This can be trivial or serious, and they should be able to present it in a sentence or two in French.

My main priority in class is that all students feel very safe and able to express themselves in a meaningful way. I adhere very closely to the school's policy on bullying, particularly in the form of intimidation or verbal abuse. That being said, I don't see this as being a problem whatsoever given the fine group of students in our class. I want to use the many assets the students bring to the class each day, and help them achieve their own goals and improve their in-class performance. I will try to keep in steady communication with parents and guardians at home, with the hope that you will support this learning model as students bring home projects and reading each week.

I plan to make time daily for students to share things they have accomplished or participated in at home or in their communities as well. If your child wants to bring in something to share, please let me know so I can highlight it and set some time aside. We also have a place in the classroom to post newspaper clippings, awards and any other mementos that students want to share. If your child has some resource at home that they would like to use in class, I would also encourage them to bring it in.

Here are a few notes on upcoming events, etc.

• Curriculum Night will take place at 7:00pm on Wednesday, September 14th. It is critical that parents attend this evening in some capacity, since I will be passing on resources and information that will be of great help this term.
• I sent home an envelope full of forms to be returned. The sooner I have these back, the better.
• Tomorrow we will be using the new Outdoor Classroom! Please make sure students are dressed appropriately.
• September's schedule will be sent home by the end of the week
• This year, we will be participating in the Remembrance Day assembly and the Spring Concert.
• I will be giving students a weekly reading assignment in French, to be completed at home. This, along with a list of pertinent words to become familiar with, will be distributed each Friday.
• We will be using a Drama in Education program to study Newfoundland geography and early Beothuk-European interactions this fall. This will conclude with a visit to Cupids.

If you have any questions or concerns, I am always available via email at sampaterson@esdnl.ca. If you become a follower of this page (bottom right sidebar), you can also get automatic updates when I post. This site is also formatted for access by your smartphone or iPod. This site will often have links to useful sites and information that we are addressing in class, as well as musings and news on what we are up to. I welcome your comments and input.

For today, here are two links. The first goes to Glogster, a site that we will be using to create visual representations for some of our projects. I have already created a class account, and will give students their login information next week. This link takes you to a small tutorial that you may find interesting.

 http://edu.glogster.com/what-is-glogster-edu/

The second link is to Kidblog, an interface we will be using to create individual student blogs. Again, I have already created class profiles that will give each student access to our confidential class group. We will be using Kidblog as a group of 28 (my class and Mme Curtis' classes together). This link will give you an idea what Kidblog looks like, and show some screenshots.

http://kidblog.org/about.php

I've rambled long enough, have a good evening!