I hope your weekend is off to a good start! I'm hoping that you all had a chance to read over the letter from administration and 1st grade teaches regarding the change to platooning beginning November 9th. I want to give you some background into how this decision was made, why it was made and how it will benefit your child.
At Westerly Creek, 2nd-5th grade have been platooning for years. Platooning means that students have two teachers; one for Math/Science/Social Studies and one for Reading/Writing. The benefit to platooning is that teachers are able to focus on 1-2 subjects and share their passion for these subjects with students. Often, when teaching five subjects, as we do in 1st grade, teachers are spread "thinly" across the content areas. Often, the time in the day allows for math, reading and writing to take center stage and Science and Social Studies to take a back seat. With platooning, students are guaranteed a slot of time that is dedicated to Science and Social Studies. Subjects such as, writing, can be taught across all content areas allowing for the two teachers to compare the writing ability in different academic areas. For me, as the student's Math/Science/Social Studies teacher, I will now be able to dive more deeply into these subject areas and create even more engaging, rigorous and thoughtful lessons, projects and Science experiments:) Another benefit to platooning is that your child has two teachers who are focusing on specific academic areas and can identify a particular need faster and get students support sooner. For kiddos needing more of a challenge in specific areas, the platooning teacher can meet these needs more readily, as well. Lastly, research shows that students respond positively to the change in environment halfway throughout their day. The change in classroom setting gives students a "new start" to their afternoon:)
We did not want to wait until next year to start platooning and not give this year's students the benefits that platooning offers. And just think, next year when they platoon, they will be pros!
I sent home an informational sheet for you to fill out about your child in yesterday's Thursday folder. I don't believe that Ms. Lowenburg had a chance to get them sent out at the beginning of the
year. I thought they would be a good idea for parents to fill out now so that I could pass them on to Ms. Hernandez so she can get a jump start on knowing your sweet kiddo:)
I'm sure you have many questions and wonderings. I'm going to do my best to give you an "overview" of how this will all happen and what the changes will be...
1. Ms. Hernandez and I will be attending each other's conferences so that we can meet our new kiddos and parents and listen to the academic successes and needs of our new students.
2. Ms. Hernandez and I have extremely similar classroom set ups, behavior systems and expectations. It was VERY important to me that my students continue their learning in a classroom that would provide them with the structure and systems that they have become accustomed to. Ms. Hernandez is a phenomenal and very knowledgeable teacher and I'm excited for the students that they will be able to learn with her:)
3. The day will stay very similar for students...they will meet me on the playground in the morning, we will go to the classroom and embark on our Math journey for the day, they will go to specials, recess, lunch, students will come back to my classroom for Science/Social Studies, at 1 p.m. ALL 1st graders will switch to their afternoon classroom (my kiddos will go to Ms. Hernandez for Reading and Writing and her kiddos will come to me for Math), at 3:30 the students will return to me for our daily wrap up/pack up and head out to the blacktop to meet parents. As a first grade team, we requested that our homeroom kiddos come back to us at the end of the day to wrap up the day. :)
4. Ms. Hernandez and I will be working as a team for your child; another benefit to having two teachers. If you have a specific concern about your child regarding Math/Science/Social Studies you would contact me, if it's regarding Reading/Writing you would contact Ms. Hernandez. If it's something that is regarding behavior, we ask that you contact us both. Ms. Hernandez and I will be working together to meet the needs of every kiddo and will be in contact daily about any educational or other issues that arise. Please don't hesitate to contact both Ms. Hernandez and I if you feel it's something we both should be aware of.
5. Thursday Folders will continued to be sent home by the homeroom teacher and returned to the homeroom teacher.
6. As more details get worked out, I will let you know via email:)
I did talk with the students and today and explained what platooning is, how their day will change and how they will share a desk with the other class that I will teach for Math. The sharing of desks seemed to be the hardest for them to hear;)
Please know that everything we do as teachers, every choice we make and every decision we agonize over, is done with the needs of your children in mind. My own child attends Westerly Creek and I thoroughly trust that she is in good hands and that she is thriving. We appreciate your understanding and willingness to embark on this fruitful journey for the rest of the school year. I am SO excited to be able to give these kiddos the opportunity to learn through this teaching model. If you have any questions, please email me and I will do my best to ease your mind:)
Here is everything else you need to know for next week...
Specials Schedule:
Monday: NO SCHOOL
Tuesday: NO SCHOOL
Wednesday: E Day (Music)
Thursday: A Day (Art)
Friday: B Day (Technology)
1. Please remember to send your child's water bottle back on Monday and a snack every day:) Thank you!
2. Socktober is going awesome! You have all contributed 42 pairs of socks to our Socktober sock drive! That's amazing! The collection will continue until Friday October 30th!
3. Halloween party: Our fantabulous Halloween party will be Friday October 30th. The parade will begin at 2:30 and party festivities will follow immediately after in the classroom. We have some amazing volunteers who are working on getting everything set up and we will get more details out soon.
4. Fall conferences: Conferences will be held the week of November 2nd in the evenings from 4-8 p.m. I will be sending a Slyreply to sign up out this weekend once I confirm the dates.
5. Growth Mindset: Our growth mindset term for this week has been optimism . We discussed all week how students can have optimism throughout the day and outside the classroom. How does having optimism help us as students? How does it help me as a teacher;)? Next week, we will continue to discuss optimism and it's effects on our daily routines.
6. Picture retake day is Wednesday October 21st. Please visit the Westerly Creek website for more information.
7. Thank you so much to the families that bought books at the book fair for the classroom! The kiddos have really enjoyed looking at them this week. There is nothing more fun than new books:)
If anything else comes up this week, I will let you know. Have a great weekend! Thank you for entrusting me with your children during the day. It's an honor to be their teacher:)
Mrs. Bryan-Doherty :)
Here are some pictures from Book Buddies today with the 4th graders:) Students shared their Scholastic News with their buddy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment