Settling into the Routine

      There isn't much new to say this week. Students are continuing to do so much great writing, reading, and math work. They have settled into the schedule of each day, as well as the schedule and routine for each subject. We've also seen some great discussions during our community time around emotions, feelings, and how we can respond appropriately. 

Student continue to enjoy Unified Arts classes as well:

     In Art, they completed their first assignment in their sketchbook in which they needed to draw a self-portrait (minus the mask!).

     In Music, they listened to music from Bach and Vivaldi -- discussing how it made them feel or what it made them picture in their minds.

     In Library, they listened to Where the Wild Things Are and colored their own monster masks.

     In PE, they finished the rollerblading unit and started a unit on soccer.

     In Enrichment, they continued to work on their marble mazes.

Thank you for sharing your children with us! 

Even when emotions are big, bodies are wiggly, or feelings seem heavy, we enjoy getting to know each and every one of them! They are all unique individuals who are working hard to be a community.

Enrichment Class with Mrs. Roll

      Some new unified arts classes have been added back to our schedule. We still have PE, music, and library, but now we also have art and enrichment. Mrs. Roll came into our classroom last week and did an activity with the class involving reading body language (since it can be hard to tell what people are feeling behind their mask). Then this week she started a project with students building marble mazes. Students really love the opportunity to be creative and construct something. We will continue adding to these mazes next week and then eventually students will be bringing their creations home. In PE Mr. G is wrapping up the rollerblading unit and will start something new next week. This meant a celebration in PE yesterday! Students were able to rollerblade around a dark gym with disco lights lighting it up. It was fun!

Unified Arts Schedule

Monday: Library

Tuesday: PE and Enrichment

Thursday: PE and Art

Friday: Music

     Outside of Unified Arts classes students continue to work hard, developing their academic skills and social skills. We have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks talking about 'Unthinkables' which are names and characters given to emotions and feelings that we all feel stuck on sometimes. They are all a part of a specific social thinking curriculum called Superflex. Students might come home talking about these characters like Rock Brain, Negative Nick, Mean Jean, Tiny Teacher, Wasfunnyonce, and Glass Man. By giving these feelings a face and name we are able to talk about them with students and teach specific strategies to overcome these emotions and not let them control the day.

Learning and Playing Together

      Our crew of students works hard on reading, writing, letter sounds, and math. They also really enjoy downtime where they get to play together, though! We view these times in our classroom as important because this is when students are working on foundational skills in interpersonal communication. In order to play together effectively, kids have to communicate; they have to think about other people's wants/needs; and they have to be kind.

One of the benefits of our multi-age classroom is that older students can read to younger students!

     Last week Miss Callie took a small group of students to one of the outdoor classrooms again to explore and do a mindfulness activity. 

     We are just about to wrap up our PE unit on rollerblading. It's amazing to see the progress of students. Some students who had never used rollerblades before felt nervous or uncomfortable on them. Now, they are moving around without concern. Some students who had used rollerblades before got even better at weaving and avoiding obstacles in their path.

This is week 4!

      We are now in our 4th week of school, and it feels like we have been at this again for much longer than that with how well students are adjusting to being back in the school building. They are getting reacquainted with our established systems while getting comfortable with some of the new ways of doing things this year. The continual cleaning and mask wearing can feel annoying to many students, but they are all persevering and doing what they can to keep everyone healthy. We are also composting in our classroom this year, which can add an extra layer of difficulty to cleaning up from snack and lunch.

We are doing our best to maintain social distancing, but sometimes you just have to sit close (for a short period of time) and read a book together! Our classroom library is a great spot for that.

Rollerblading continues to be our PE activity.

Miss Callie is a school-based clinician through the Howard Center who helps support many students and families at RES. She continues to spend time with some of our students one-on-one and in small groups. She is doing a lot of her work outdoors right now (to protect her health and well-being) and students are loving it! She joins us for recess multiple days per week, took a small group to explore one of RES's outdoor classrooms, takes walk-and-talk breaks with students, and even did some outdoor artwork. What fun!