{Open House and thoughts on moving}
Last night I attended the Back To School Open House for parents at our elementary school. There was a long general PTO meeting followed by a curriculum presentation in each classroom. I left feeling so good about the school and happy that my kids are learning there.
All three of their teachers (Gracie has two teachers this year) impressed me with their professionalism and enthusiasm. All clearly love working with kids. Gracie's teachers are partner teachers so she will spend part of her day in each classroom. One teacher hosts an after school book club once a week and the other has open free tutoring/ math review two afternoons a week for any student needing it. I love that these two teachers are willing to stay late after school for their fifth graders.
The theme of the fifth grade presentation seemed to be that the students will be working hard this year in order to prep for middle school. (gulp. I am not happy that we are already thinking about middle school. Slow it down, Gracie girl! Slow. it. down.) Gracie's class will be doing a lot of writing this year and the instruction will follow the same Writing Workshop philosophies that I used in my own classroom. I am really happy about this and think Gracie will grow so much as a writer this year.
I loved looking at the artwork and projects on display around the school. Above is Gracie's landscape project. It is hard to see because I only had my phone to use as a camera, but each part of the landscape is supposed to tell the story of her life. The peaks of the mountains were the best things that have happened to her- the births of her siblings and moving back to St. Louis to be closer to her family. The valley was the hardest thing- moving from Knoxville. (This made me sad.) The clouds were her hopes for the future- be a mom, become an interior designer, and do lots of travel. The butterfly is the thing that makes her smile the most- her baby sister. (I might have teared up a little when I saw this.)
These were on display outside of Luke's classroom. When lifted, they revealed a photograph of that child. Really cute. The students had also created a poster showing their goals for the year. He listed learning all of the multiplication facts, not being late to school once, beating the subtraction fast fact test in an online game in his classroom, reading books from all different genres, and working hard in class as his goals.
I think third grade is going to be a good year for Luke. Remembering my own experiences teaching third grade and even teaching many of the same units of study, I couldn't help but feel so excited for him. There will be many projects and field trips to supplement the units. I liked that his teacher seems to have a good sense of humor. He has many years of experience in third grade and also has a second grader and fourth grader of his own at home, so he seems really in tune with that age. I was nervous hearing about all of the class presentations and oral reports in the plans for the year; it will hopefully be a year of growth in this area for Luke.
I stopped by Luke's enrichment classroom as well and found out that the planned theme of the year in 3rd grade is mysteries. Could this be any more perfect for Luke? I was thrilled about this, but not as thrilled to learn that the number of minutes that he will be pulled out of class this year has increased to 350 minutes a week. While this is mostly a good thing because it means more individualized instruction and challenge for Luke, it also means huge chunks of each school day that he is not participating in what the rest of his class is doing. This can be tricky because once he returns to the classroom, he has to transition himself back in to whatever everyone else is busy doing. The teacher will try to help, of course, but with seventeen other students in the room, the responsibility to get Luke caught back up to whatever material or activities he missed while out of the room will belong more to Luke than to the teacher.
All in all, though, despite any worries I may have had about a heavy fifth grade work load or oral presentations or minutes out of the classroom, I left feeling great about this school year. I also couldn't help but think on the drive home about the difference a year makes. I went to that same PTO meeting and Curriculum Night last year and felt like the new kid in the class. We had just moved here and I did not know a single person or even my way around the building to find the classrooms.
While I am still on the outside of the very tight circle of Webster parents, (Another friend just compared life among the parents in the district to being back in high school. There are cliques and queen bees and popular families. The majority of the parents at our school grew up in Webster themselves. I don't think we'll ever be a part of the "in crowd" and I am truly okay with that.), I happily realized that I have made friendships here. I had someone to sit by at the PTO meeting. I knew other moms in each of the classrooms from birthday parties, class parties, and play dates. The PTO president saw me write my name on a sign up sheet and introduced herself to me, saying that she had just heard my name from a mutual friend. Another woman came up to me to ask if I was Luke's mom, saying that she was new to the school, but that a mutual friend told her to find me because our sons were in the same class and that we were a nice family. I had a similar experience in fifth grade when someone came up to tell me that her daughter talks about Gracie all the time and that she was looking forward to meeting me. As I was leaving the building at the end of the night, I happened to see the principal on the way out of the building. She asked me how Gracie and Luke were liking third and fifth grade and thanked me for the bulletin board I had decorated outside of the office.
I left there just feeling good about the community we chose to move to. Moving stinks and it is so hard to pick up and leave a life you like in one place to go start fresh in another. The first time we moved, the process took a while, but we eventually got happy and settled in Indiana.... and then we moved. It then took another long while, but we got happy and settled in Knoxville..... and then we moved. Now, a year later, we are starting to feel happy and settled in Webster. I love the fact that this "happy and settled" will not be ending in a year or two like the ones before it.
All three of their teachers (Gracie has two teachers this year) impressed me with their professionalism and enthusiasm. All clearly love working with kids. Gracie's teachers are partner teachers so she will spend part of her day in each classroom. One teacher hosts an after school book club once a week and the other has open free tutoring/ math review two afternoons a week for any student needing it. I love that these two teachers are willing to stay late after school for their fifth graders.
The theme of the fifth grade presentation seemed to be that the students will be working hard this year in order to prep for middle school. (gulp. I am not happy that we are already thinking about middle school. Slow it down, Gracie girl! Slow. it. down.) Gracie's class will be doing a lot of writing this year and the instruction will follow the same Writing Workshop philosophies that I used in my own classroom. I am really happy about this and think Gracie will grow so much as a writer this year.
I loved looking at the artwork and projects on display around the school. Above is Gracie's landscape project. It is hard to see because I only had my phone to use as a camera, but each part of the landscape is supposed to tell the story of her life. The peaks of the mountains were the best things that have happened to her- the births of her siblings and moving back to St. Louis to be closer to her family. The valley was the hardest thing- moving from Knoxville. (This made me sad.) The clouds were her hopes for the future- be a mom, become an interior designer, and do lots of travel. The butterfly is the thing that makes her smile the most- her baby sister. (I might have teared up a little when I saw this.)
These were on display outside of Luke's classroom. When lifted, they revealed a photograph of that child. Really cute. The students had also created a poster showing their goals for the year. He listed learning all of the multiplication facts, not being late to school once, beating the subtraction fast fact test in an online game in his classroom, reading books from all different genres, and working hard in class as his goals.
I think third grade is going to be a good year for Luke. Remembering my own experiences teaching third grade and even teaching many of the same units of study, I couldn't help but feel so excited for him. There will be many projects and field trips to supplement the units. I liked that his teacher seems to have a good sense of humor. He has many years of experience in third grade and also has a second grader and fourth grader of his own at home, so he seems really in tune with that age. I was nervous hearing about all of the class presentations and oral reports in the plans for the year; it will hopefully be a year of growth in this area for Luke.
I stopped by Luke's enrichment classroom as well and found out that the planned theme of the year in 3rd grade is mysteries. Could this be any more perfect for Luke? I was thrilled about this, but not as thrilled to learn that the number of minutes that he will be pulled out of class this year has increased to 350 minutes a week. While this is mostly a good thing because it means more individualized instruction and challenge for Luke, it also means huge chunks of each school day that he is not participating in what the rest of his class is doing. This can be tricky because once he returns to the classroom, he has to transition himself back in to whatever everyone else is busy doing. The teacher will try to help, of course, but with seventeen other students in the room, the responsibility to get Luke caught back up to whatever material or activities he missed while out of the room will belong more to Luke than to the teacher.
All in all, though, despite any worries I may have had about a heavy fifth grade work load or oral presentations or minutes out of the classroom, I left feeling great about this school year. I also couldn't help but think on the drive home about the difference a year makes. I went to that same PTO meeting and Curriculum Night last year and felt like the new kid in the class. We had just moved here and I did not know a single person or even my way around the building to find the classrooms.
While I am still on the outside of the very tight circle of Webster parents, (Another friend just compared life among the parents in the district to being back in high school. There are cliques and queen bees and popular families. The majority of the parents at our school grew up in Webster themselves. I don't think we'll ever be a part of the "in crowd" and I am truly okay with that.), I happily realized that I have made friendships here. I had someone to sit by at the PTO meeting. I knew other moms in each of the classrooms from birthday parties, class parties, and play dates. The PTO president saw me write my name on a sign up sheet and introduced herself to me, saying that she had just heard my name from a mutual friend. Another woman came up to me to ask if I was Luke's mom, saying that she was new to the school, but that a mutual friend told her to find me because our sons were in the same class and that we were a nice family. I had a similar experience in fifth grade when someone came up to tell me that her daughter talks about Gracie all the time and that she was looking forward to meeting me. As I was leaving the building at the end of the night, I happened to see the principal on the way out of the building. She asked me how Gracie and Luke were liking third and fifth grade and thanked me for the bulletin board I had decorated outside of the office.
I left there just feeling good about the community we chose to move to. Moving stinks and it is so hard to pick up and leave a life you like in one place to go start fresh in another. The first time we moved, the process took a while, but we eventually got happy and settled in Indiana.... and then we moved. It then took another long while, but we got happy and settled in Knoxville..... and then we moved. Now, a year later, we are starting to feel happy and settled in Webster. I love the fact that this "happy and settled" will not be ending in a year or two like the ones before it.
Comments
Great post, I am so glad you are settled in and feel more at home now. You have to take credit for jumping in and getting involved and meeting people - I know that is not always easy. I am also very thankful that you won't be picking up and moving anytime soon. Thanks for letting us share in their first week of school.