Oh...the frustration....

I hate to begin a post in such a negative manner. I do enjoy my job and I love the children, but some days can be a bit more trying than others. So as you read this, please know that sometimes I need to share my frustrations in order to move on!

Math class was a challenge...it started with children coming up to me and saying that they are struggling with word problems. I am SO glad they felt comfortable enough to share this with me. That is GOOD...But (you knew this was coming, didn't you?) I got the general feeling from many students that since they didn't "get it" yesterday and since the homework provided a challenge, they were telling me they couldn't do it and they were moving on...UGH!

I spent a good deal of time (and energy) both yesterday and today discussing that estimation is typically "uncomfortable" for children AND that the word "about" means you need to estimate. However, students are still NOT estimating and even when we reviewed the warm up this morning AND the formative, children still raised their hand and asked if the exact answer was okay to have...ever feel like NOBODY is listening to you?!?!?!

Math homework tonight is to review the formative with an adult...PLEASE go over the formative but not as a punishment or a "gotcha"...help your child realize what they did incorrectly and discuss what they can do differently next time. Also, PLEASE explain how important it is to KEEP TRYING and NOT give up...the more they practice the easier the work will become....giving up is NOT an option!

Reading was a lot less stressful! :-) We identified different types of nouns and began working on pronouns. I introduced pronouns as words that take the place of nouns. After that we sorted -ea words according to sound. Then we began a brief discussion of non-fiction text.

Following PE, lunch and recess, we will continue writing personal narratives focusing on making sure our writing has a beginning, middle and end. Then we will talk about what a geographer does and categorize parts of our geography as natural vs. human made.

Book orders are due by Monday. Monday is also Open House or Parent Visitation Day. This is a chnace for you to visit our classroom and see us in action. Don't forget, the Octoberfest is Sunday!