Happy Week Three

As week three comes to a close I am struck by how wonderful it is to work your students. My goal this week was to get into all the remaining classrooms (those that I hadn't seen last week) and sit-in with all of the homerooms. The first goal was met - the second proved to be a bit of a logistical challenge :) In any case I was able to spend a lot of time learning alongside your children. They are remarkable, brilliant young people. I always wish that parents could see what we as educators get to see everyday- you too would be impressed.

So what did I "learn" this week...
I learned about water (and the water system in our city), how Morning Girl got her name, what the probability of drawing a six is in a deck of cards, what and artist IS to a collection of 8th graders, what's so special about anecdotes, how to do OAI, how to make a graph from a frequency table, what America means from poets and songwriters, why The Watsons Go to Birmingham is the "best book ever"...the list goes on and on.

The classroom wasn't the only site for for learning. Two of our fall sports also started this week - Soccer and Flag Football. I made it out the yard for a little bit of tryouts (yes I do have pictures for those that are interested). It was exciting to see so many students eager to participate in sports. It is a dream of mine to establish an athletics program that is spirited and extensive enough to allow entry points for all types of athletes. Athletics are not only important for a student's own development - having sports teams are important for the culture and pride we have for our school. My goal is that we have at least 1/3 of our students participating in at least one sport over the course of the school year. Related, there was an interesting article in last weekend's New York Times Magazine about intelligence, development and physical activity. I encourage everyone to check it out.

There was also excitement on the fourth floor after school. As I was walking down the hallway on Tuesday I saw a line of children connecting room 429 and room 409 - each with a chair in hand. I stood in the hallway for moment watching as the line kept going (more and more students walking out of 429 with a chair). This continued for nearly 5 min. It was the math team setting a whole new record in members - 51. After all of the students filtered in I stuck my head into 409 to see a sea of children busily solving math problems. Thank you Ms. Feurtado and Mr. Evans (the math team coaches) for making math cool.

I am about to sign-off because there is much to do in preparation for the sixth grade dance this afternoon. Thank you to all of the families who are helping to organize a mixer for our littlest ones. The halls have been buzzing all week about this event. I promise there will be a schoolwide dance later in the school year (in case your 7th or 8th graders are asking).

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend - I can't think of much that I love more than autumn in the city.

Warmly, Meg