First day 2013

Hello and welcome back to the blog!

It was a pretty uneventful day.  It was very different from my usual first days.  I usually try to bring a ton of energy and convince the class that they are about to embark on a fantastic educational journey.  This year, not so much.  It was great to see everyone, but they know the deal.  I'm going to do everything in my power to introduce the subject matter to them as interestingly as I can figure out.  Fifth grade has a terrific curriculum and I'll put my spin on it as best I can. 

The first two big units will be Exploration and Chemistry.  I've got some dynamic interactive periodic table apps that I downloaded that I'm anxious to try out.  I'm gathering a lot of materials from the rest of the fifth grade team and sifting through what I want to try and what I'm leaving behind.  I'll be sending home the curriculum requirements later this week so you can see the goals of what I'm trying to teach.  Let me know if you have any ideas as well.

The first read aloud of the year is Wonder by R J Palacio.  It is about a fifth grade boy who is horribly disfigured.  The story of his school year is told from several points of view.  This will be a focus of many of our read-alouds and discussions: points of view.  I hope to hit them with many of these lessons before they get to the "world revolves around me" teen years. 

We explored our new assignment notebooks this morning.  It has a lot of factual information in it and can be used as a resource for more than just the daily homework assignments.  Tonight's homework is mainly for you.  Please go through the giant white packet of information and get it back to me as soon as you can.  The emergency card is the most important.  Thank you.

We played a little math game called "200".  I'm going to alter the rules a little tomorrow and we'll have a little tourney.  It involves addition, prediction and probability.  I was defeated in the demonstration game in a ridiculous turn of events.  I forgot... it also involves luck. 

We heard from several students about their summer vacations.  It's great to hear about all of the outdoor activities.  Maybe that's because they know I don't want to hear about the video games. 

I'm very excited about the loop.  In my first blog post of the year, I usually try to convince parents that I never underestimate the importance of my job.  I tell them that I understand that I have all of your little darlings for a substantial portion of the day and I know how much they mean to you.  I tell them that I will learn to care about them a great deal and that I want to see them succeed just as much as you. I don't have to do that this year.  You know that I already care about them.  You know that we're all on the same team.  If you ever have any concerns, questions, requests or suggestions, please get in touch.  We solve issues together.  Your child will thrive if we are on the same page.  My home email is stevejshea@gmail.com.  My school email is sshea@brunswick.k12.us.  My cell is 841-2599. 

My wife and I don't have any kids of our own.  She understands that this class is my family for the next ten months.  Please don't hesitate to call, email or come in.

I've got a few new expectations that I'll be introducing this week.  I'll keep you informed right along with the kids.

Have a great night.  Thanks for reading.

Mr. Shea