Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk.

I plan on doing a lot of listening today at "Teacher Day at the U of A"! I hope to get to the Arizona State Museum for a Native American tour, called "Paths of Life", visit Flaundrau Planitarium to see a volcanic eruption, and also find out more about the "World of Words" and the culture book kits that are available to schools. Not to mention all the free stuff I hope they will be passing out for classrooms!
The Book Fair will be in the library all week. We will tour it on Monday so students get an idea of what books they would like to buy.
Our Social Studies News this week is titled, "How Culture Conflicts Lead to the Indian Wars". In Science, we'll read about "Competition and Adaptation: Wings, Beaks, Legs, Tails, and Feet". We've finished most of the lessons in our Buckle Down series, and will continue working in the Saxon Math Books. Everyone is enjoying reading, "Holes"! There will be a vocabulary test on Friday that will cover all the words we're studying from Chapters 1-10.
We will also be reading a Character Education Weekly paper called "Caring". It deals with the importance of caring for others, and has stories on Mother Teresa, Clara Barton and Harriet Tubman.

If You Play To Win The Game Never Ends!

Sports, much like school, is all about the effort. You might not win right away, or know how to do a certain math problem right away, but if you work hard, things are bound to eventually turn in your favor.
This is an important lesson that I've stressed in class the entire year. If you know you've given your best effort, no matter what the final score, you can walk off the field with your head held high. I've been thinking about sportsmanship with our upcoming field trip to the bowling alley just around the corner. The class has made tremendous strides this semester in their willingness to encourage their classmates whenever we have played kickball, basketball, jumping rope, or our daily Jumping Jack Challenge during AIMS. I love it when someone repeats an old quote from the board, like I heard last week, "We're here to help each other up, not put each other down!"
Spirit Week continues on Tuesday with "Hippie or Disney" Day, along with the Character Trait of CARING. Wednesday is a "Dress Down Day", with the Character Trait of RESPONSIBILITY. Thursday is "Pajama Day", with the Character Trait being FAIRNESS. We will wrap things up on Friday with RESPECT DAY, to coincide with "Crazy Hat or Hair Day"!
Lots of fun activities, but we'll still be tackling a lot of new material in class to keep them busy!

Success if often just an idea away!

Success! We did it! The class worked very hard all week on their AIMS tests, and the majority of them said it wasn't nearly as bad as expected. They were divided pretty evenly about which section was the most difficult. Only time will tell how they did, but at least they felt prepared and were up to the challenge. I was extremely proud of their positive attitude.
We wrapped up the week with the investigation of owl pellets, which I'm sure you all got to see when they brought the bones home. They were fascintated by this science experiment and I'm hoping my niece will be able to round up some more of them at her job at Forever Wild before school lets out. Everyone wrote her a thank you note, and included some art work, thanks to a website I found on how to draw a variety of owls!
The "Penny War" has begun, so please send in whatever loose change you have so the Boys will defeat the Girl's Team!! Whoops, I mean so that we can raise money for our school.
We raised a lot of money at the golf tourney this weekend, and I know my foursome had a lot of laughs. A big THANKS goes out to Mrs. Stewart for all her hard work at the event!
Wednesday is a dress down day for Spirit Week, and everyone must wear something that shows their love for their favorite sport's team! Go Cubs!

I Believed In Myself Because You Believed In Me!

We've been talking about approaching the AIMS Test with a positive attitude! I believe in their ability and know they will give it their best effort. Please encourage them to come to school this week with an extrememly positve attitude, and an "I Can Do It" feeling!
Here are some ideas to talk about at home to help them this week:
Get in at least eight hours of sleep.
Eat something healthy to start your day.
Be prepared with pencils, and a book to read when you finish.
Send them out the door with some positive reinforcement, remind them how well they've been doing in certain subjects.
Give them a big hug and say, "Try your best. I love you!"
Coming to school with a smile helps set your attitude for the day.

A Number Two Pencil And A Dream Can Take You Anywhere!

Students turned in some fantastic stories last week with their practice AIMS Writing Test. Very creative! They were asked to use their imagination and tell a story about what would happen if they found a secret door in the back of their closet. The class enjoyed listening to them!
We still have a lot of work to do for next week's testing. Students are allowed to use highlighters during the test, so if you're able to donate any to the class, it would be greatly appreciated. We still need pencils, sanitizing wipes, crayons and colored pencils, too.
The five girls from our class who participated in the talent show last week did a wonderful job! I know how hard they'd been working to put on their dance routines, and it certainly paid off! Congratulations to all of them!