Oh Dear. I am very afraid that I have goofed BIG TIME. Today was make up picture day. I have been keeping a list (or thinking that I was keeping it) along with the picture orders. Today when it was our turn I called out the names and sent the children to have retakes made. All was well until……..

Just now when I dug out all of the order forms. Imagine my shock when I saw a BOY with a completed order form with money enclosed….and I had sent him to have retakes made. Now, this may not seem like a problem to you but what I am thinking is that I wrote down BOY A’s name (who by the way went a long and had his picture made anyway and did not protest one little bit) and I should have really written BOY B. (But I don’t know who BOY B is……) Now I am upset that BOY B’s mawmaw won’t get a good picture for Christmas and that some mommy is going to be mad ’cause I did not do what I promised when I said that BOY B could have his pictures remade. See the quandry? 

So, if you are a mommy of a girl, you are golden. However, if you are the mommy of a boy and you wanted him to have remakes taken, you need to email me and let me know. I will check my list and let you know if your boy had his remakes taken. This will also let me discover the identity of BOY B. Then I will have to grovel and apologize to the whole BOY B FAMILY and probably his mawmaw, too. I may even have to spring for a session at Portrait Innovations to make up for it……’cause the Bill Miller School Photography folks are G.O.N.E. people. Oh, I have messed up badly. I am like Junie B. Jones……I am feeling a little sweaty on my head right about now…….

If it turns out that all the BOYS, A, B and C, who needed to have photos made, did just that, and I did not leave anyone out…….then we will all pretend that we never had this conversation.

Email me, BOY mommies who needed retakes…….

Let the groveling and apologizing begin………

Alicia (who told y’all last week that I needed a secretary!)

I just realized that we have 1 container of Clorox wipes left from the stash that you purchased in August. If you are shopping this week and would like to buy some disinfecting wipes for the class, I would love love love you forever and a day for it! 🙂 We use at least 20 wipes per day in the afternoons to clean our tables, the door handles to the class, the restroom door handles, and other areas in the room. So, it’s no surprise that we’ve plowed through the supplies brought at the beginning of the year…..

I know it would be more economical for us to use spray cleaner and paper towels….but have you ever tried to help 17 children stuff Bear Books, go to the library, get backpacks, get in the correct dismissal line and sanitize the room all at the same time?  Add a spray bottle of some sort of disinfectant to that mix…..imagine bottoms in the air as they stuff backpacks……what do you see in your head?  I’ll tell you what little Bears see…..TARGET PRACTICE!  

Want to come monitor the spray bottle? No?  I did not think so. Neither do I…..so indulge us…..we like the wipes……

That being said……we are not wipe-snobs. Store brand is just fine! Smooches!

Alicia (who fears germs, yet chose to teach little children and ALSO to pull their teeth….strange, I know…….)

This upcoming week is Red Ribbon Week! You received a schedule of events on a pink half-sheet of paper on Friday. Just in case you ‘ve misplaced yours….here’s the schedule:

Monday- wear red to support Red Ribbon Week

Tuesday- Too bright to do drugs (wear sunglasses)

Wednesday- I’m a “jean”-ius, I’m drug free! (wear jeans)

Thursday- Put a cap on drugs! (wear hats or caps)

Friday- Get T’d off about drugs! Wear a t-shirt to school. Please remember that the PTA will be providing free Rockin Rodeo T-shirts for all children on this day because it is ROCKFEST!

Happy Sunday Everyone! Alicia

1:00 pm EDITED AGAIN: It is up and working now (although we are no longer in the lab and the Bears are mad)! You can enjoy this program on any computer that has internet access.  Use the code at the bottom of the page.

11:30 am EDITED to say: We just tried Kid’s College in the lab and our access code is not working…….I have emailed tech support and will let you know the correct code as soon as I find out…..

Alicia (with many little disappointed children in the computer lab……..)

 

We recently received some good news.  Rock Quarry will be participating in the Kid’s College academic program this year.

Kid’s College is an Internet-based academic program that gives students the opportunity to enhance their reading and math skills while working at the computer.  Because it links learning, sports, and a video-game format, students see Kid’s College as a fun way to master grade-level skills.  It is based on Alabama’s Course of Study Standards and, therefore, is closely linked to the content students will study here at school.  Problems are presented in a manner that is similar to the ARMT and SAT-10 so this is another benefit of the program.  We are so thrilled to add Kid’s College to our educational curriculum!

Again, this program is free of charge to all our students this school year.  However, to participate here at school, each student must have on file the Internet forms sent home at the beginning of the year.

 Students are now using the program at school and can begin to use the program outside of school on any computer with Internet access. This is a great way for your student to practice the skills taught at school at home or at after school programs. We hope that you will join us in this project as we strive to improve student learning and performance on the SAT-10 and ARMT next spring.

 The web site for the program is http://www.kclogin.com 

Your child’s classroom code to login is:  KCC30586

Have Fun!

I have a secret to confess. With very rare exceptions, I don’t automatically fall in love with a class on day one. (I don’t know any other teachers who do either…so don’t get all judge-y on me here….) On day one, they are too new. They don’t know one another yet….they don’t know me….I don’t know them…..and really, honestly, on day one, I am still in LOVE with last year’s class…..(nothing against the new Bears, it’s just that we don’t have a connection yet…..)

I am patient though. I know the love will come. I know that one day, I will be sitting at the yellow table and all of a sudden I will look around, and it will hit me….full force in the stomach…..just how much I love these little people. I will watch them working together, hear them reading with one another, smile at them being silly little people who have just discovered that our classroom library has a book entitled Underwear…..and I will be smitten……and I will know that I would not trade places with anyone else in the world……..

Today, for most of the day…..I saw that…….I saw the potential for the classroom family they are becoming. I saw them problem-solve and share and work together. I saw them trust one another and interact just the way I wanted them to…..

And I fell for them, just a little bit…..

It did not hit me full force, yet……but I know that day is coming…….and I am ready for it……

Because today, they begin to show me just what they are made of. And it is some GOOD STUFF……..

And today, I thought……”They pay me to do this………”  🙂

We have a Tuscaloosa Public Library Key Tag that was found on the floor in The Bear Class…..

The number is-

2913400226913 6

Let us know if it is yours. You can look at the wallet card to match the numbers. I have picked up two cards for folks whose forms needed more information and those are coming home to you today! I hope you are using your new cards! Happy Reading! I can’t wait to see all of you tomorrow.

Don’t forget to bring the surprise stuff for Ms. Ashmore. Thursday is her last day…..

Happy Rainy Sunday Night! Alicia

We have some reading practice books that need to be torn apart and grouped into like sets. I won’t need the pages for a few weeks, but I am trying to get ahead a bit. This is a project that can be completed at home. All you need is a bit of free time and a stapler. I can provide the stapler if needed. If you would like to help, please send an email, and we will love you forever!

Also, thanks to all who have donated soap. We have enough for a while now. Thank you so much!

Happy Thursday! Alicia