Golden Tickets

As we have been talking about the Mary Castle Expectations, we have implemented our school wide positive behavior program. If a teacher sees a student following the expectations, he or she can give that child a golden ticket as a reward. These tickets will be placed in a bucket in the office and drawn each day. Those whose tickets are drawn will have their picture taken and name announced on the morning announcements. Many of our students in first grade have already earned their first golden ticket!

First Day of School

I am happy to have shared a great first day of school with my new students. We made new friends today, and saw some old buddies from kindergarten as well. A lot of today revolved around discussing the Mary Castle Expectations, and going over procedures in our classroom. We practiced lining up and walking in the hallway.

We also read the book Chrysanthemum, and talked about our own names. We played a game to learn our friends' names and how they are spelled, and we also made a class graph to show how many letters each name contained.

I am hopeful that the buses run smoother tomorrow and students arrive home safely and on time. Everyday they should get better. See you all soon!

Assigned Seats

We now have assigned seats in the cafeteria. The children are having a really hard time remembering to keep their hands to themselves, and are causing problems for the cafeteria monitors. Please help your child remember that there is no touching other people in the cafeteria. Even if it is in play, sometimes things get out of hand or it is misinterpreted. If students seem to be improving with their behavior, then we may go back to sitting anywhere they want to sit. Children may still choose a guest to sit at the back tables if they have adult visitors.

Resolutions

The students have been working on New Year's Resolutions this week. Yesterday we made up our class resolutions that are related to the five Mary Castle expectations. This is what we decided as a class to work on this semester:

Our Classroom Resolutions

~ We resolve to listen when other people are talking. (Be respectful)
~ We resolve to walk in the classroom. (Be safe)
~ We resolve to remember to take our mail, folder, coat, hat, gloves, scarf, backpack, and
lunch box home every day. (Be responsible)
~ We resolve to try to solve our own problems and not tattle. (Be a peaceful problem solver)
~ We resolve to take turns. (Be caring)

Today we wrote personal resolutions. Be sure to ask your child what they want to do better at this year. All will be posted on our classroom door to remind us what we should be working towards every day.