Category Archives: Uncategorized

Half Day tomorrow to start October Holiday Festivities

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We were notified yesterday by the Shanghai government that there would be significant traffic interruptions as part the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China celebrations in our fair city beginning at 3:30 tomorrow and continuing through October 4th.   Strict traffic limits will be imposed in Shanghai as the city celebrates the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and the holiday break with spectacular fireworks and lighting shows.  http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200909/20090928/article_415152.htm

If you would like to join us for the Spirit Assembly & Spirit Walk:
All school Spirit Assembly will start at 9:30 in the Hatchery
All school Spirit Walk will start at 10:15 in front of the Auditorium immediately following the Assembly and will finish at 11:15. Remind your child to wear their house t-shirt tomorrow.

Buses will leave the school at 11.30 to avoid the traffic disruptions.

Science and Soccer and Super Savvy Students

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HI 5KP

First of all, a sticker to the first student who responds to this blog telling me what literary device I have used to catch your attention in the heading of this post…

Secondly, well done today. All 20 of your did your best to play six very exciting games of soccer, sometimes under difficult circumstances. I appreciate your commitment and enthusiasm and I hope you sleep well tonight and are not too tired tomorrow…Try and find a few minutes there to study for tomorrow’s math test!

Upcoming Events

September 30th – House Spirit Walk
October 1-11 – No School:
October 15th – Treat Day
October 16th – Family Literacy Event
October 17th – (12-4) Fall BBQ
November 12th – Treat Day
November 20th from 3-5ish – Family Literacy Night

Readers, when you have the time check out this great wikipedia site for a fantastic list of young-adult fiction writers.

Scroll down the page (or read it, it is interesting)  til you get to this sub-heading :

Popular contributions to young-adult fiction

and check out some of the authors and book titles.

How many of them do YOU know? How many have you read? Were there any people you think were left off the list? Who and Why?

Write a detailed blog post telling me your thoughts.

Here are some of my favorites from years gone by…now I am getting ready to read some of them to my daughter which is very exciting…

I can’t wait to see the sort of list you come up with and what you think of the titles on the site.

Enjoy the photos of your last science class on Mixtures and Solutions and your wonderful day on the field today.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Happy Friday

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Well we made it through another week…we were one student down with poor Rosa being sick but fingers crossed she will be back with that beautiful smile next Monday.

I am excited about meeting many of your parents next Thursday 5KP.

Parents, here are some details about our Elementary Open House for you so I hope to see you there.

Fourth and Fifth Grade Presentations 5:00-6:00
Pre-K and K & 1 Presentations 6:00-7:00
Second & Third Grade Presentations 7:00-8:00

Presentations:
All grade level presentations will begin in the Elementary School library for specialist teacher introductions; introductions will be followed by grade level curriculum presentations and then end with time for families to explore their child’s classroom and talk with teachers.

Dinner & Transportation:
The Food Court will be open from 5:00-7:00 for parents to purchase a light dinner or snack.  Your attendance is supported through optional transportation from Starbucks in Jingqiao.  Buses will depart at 4:15 and return to Starbucks at 8:15.  Secretaries will be available to call taxis for families as well.

What to Expect:
Elementary teachers are looking forward to sharing with you the details of how your children spend their day at SAS, the curriculum that is delivered as well as an opportunity to explore the classroom and instructional materials.  Your attendance is very important.  Presentations are intended for an adult audience, due to time and space restraints, we kindly request that your children enjoy an evening at home.

So again, I hope to see you on Thursday.

Other notices include…

Class Photo

The class photos will be on Tuesday September 8th at 10.10 am.  Please return all money and forms to school asap.

Scholastic Book Orders

Please make sure that your child’s order is in no later than Monday 7 September. Orders were due back today but as I write this the forms are still in my classroom so hopefully Monday will not be too late.

After School Activities

Your child will be bringing home the ASA packet today. Please sit down with your child and go over all the choices available. Make sure your child has made 3 choices so that they do not miss out and also make sure that they take into account their other after school activities and homework obligations so they do not over commit themselves.

Have a great weekend

Study Hard 5KP…

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But not too hard…I think you will all do quite well tomorrow on this, our Unit 1 Math test. So don’t forget to get a good nights sleep and I will see you all recharged and fresh tomorrow.

Skills covered on the unit one test include:
*find the prime factorization of numbers
*rename numbers written in exponential notation
*use a divisibility test to determine if a number is divisible by another number
*identify prime and composite numbers
*understand how square numbers and their square roots are related
*draw arrays to model multiplication
*know multiplication facts
*identify even and odd numbers
*find the factors of numbers

Congratulations to Me!!!

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Thank you so much to the parents of Kyle Mc Ginley who I taught in 5KP last year.

Opening an e mail today from Kyle’s wonderful Mum Mary put such a smile on my face and indeed made me stop and think about what I have achieved in the last couple of years. She congratulated me on the completion of my masters which you can read about in the latest edition of the Eagle…

Thank You Mary for making my day…

First Blogging Session Fun

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Well done 5KP, you have entered the blogosphere…

For homework tonight please do the following :

1. Click on your name in my blogroll to the right of this screen. Check that it goes to your actual blog. If it does not, send me a comment to this post telling me the problem. If it does, finish today’s entry, change your heading and tagline or write a new post if you haven’t done these things already.

2. Click on at least 3 other students in 5KP and leave a positive comment about something they have done, their choice of them or the quality of their post.

3. Show a parent your blog and if possible, get them to comment on it or my blog.

See you tomorrow and thanks for another great day.

So far so good…

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Well, we still have Emma Li to meet but so far so good with the 10 girls and 9 boys who have made their way to the classroom of 5KP.

We are getting to know each other and learning how to function as a team in room 209. Every teacher does things differently so I am taking time with the class to show them how their room is set up; we are establishing rules and guidelines together at the same time as getting to know each other a little more through games and casual conversation.

Thank you for entrusting me with your child for the next 10 months, I know we will have an enriching and rewarding time together.

Reflection

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Taking some time out this afternoon led me to several posts on reflecting! First of all I had Jeff Utecht’s ‘The Thinking Stick‘ lead me to David Hamilton’s ‘Principally Yours‘ which led me to Andrew Torris’s ‘Sentiments on Common Sense‘. After reading and leaving comments on these posts I thought I might take some time to write about reflection myself.

It is undoubtedly something we should do more of, but what is it exactly? Am I reflecting now? Do I need the lights off to do it properly? Should others be here with me? I suppose everyone reflects differently when they give themselves permission to do so but as a parent, teacher, student and coach, how do you find the time to give yourself that permission and how much time should be allowed. Every day I give myself time for lunch, I make time to read with my eldest daughter and have a bike ride with my youngest when weather permits…so when should I schedule in this reflection time?

At the end of most conferences and P.D. sessions I have attended over the years, there is often a reflection sheet given out at the end. Most of the time you know it is coming and depending on how good or bad the sessions have been you sometimes plan a couple of things you would like to have included. However more often that not this reflection time is coinciding with ‘must catch the bus time/go to the loo time/check e mail time and so I don’t think at the end of something is the right time for me to do my reflecting.

Perhaps a better strategy on those days would be to have a reflection session at the start of the day. A workshop held at S.A.S. that I did enjoy was run by Dr Frances Hensley and was about the use of Critical Friends protocols. I liked this workshop because it was run with plenty of time for pausing and reflecting. You were forced to slow down and sometimes it takes someone factoring down-time into a day before you will actually do anything about it. Frances also did not allow us to have our lap-tops open…for me, that was crucial. I know right now this is counted as reflection time but generally when I have my lap-top open, it is more ‘ten-tabs-open-at-once’ kind of manic catch up time.

My main concern with the crazy pace in which I usually live my life is that this is what my daughters see, this is what my students see. We are always in a hurry. I don’t want them to feel rushed like this and yet this is what I am modeling for them day after day. If I were to practice what I preach then I would be conducting my business at a much slower pace. Instead from when the alarm goes off until when I settle my kids to sleep, they hear words like ‘hurry, come on, quickly, are you ready yet? etc…My students also contend with ‘quick, pack up, hurry up, don’t be late, get a move on’ from when they arrive in class to when they are dismissed for the bus. Philosophically this really grates on me and yet that is the way I have been conditioned and therefore that is what I am passing on to the children under my care.

I am going to try and slow down. I am going to try and take more time to reflect. How about you?