Room 10- Ray
email: ray.henry@ridgeline.org
Classroom Update 5/19/23
Hello Families!
What a whirlwind this month has been! This year is wrapping up fast and there are a few things you should have on your radar.
NEXT WEEK: OUTDOOR SCHOOL:
On Tuesday, May 23rd, 6th graders and Lead Teachers will be off to outdoor school. We will be spending 3 days and 2 nights in Ashland learning all about the wetlands, farms, and forest. Unfortunately, there are not enough subs to accommodate all of the leads being out of their classes. To help relieve the burden on substitutes, Room 10 will be split up into two groups and welcomed into Rooms 8 & 9. Jacob will be joining Room 8, and there will be a substitute with Adriene in Room 9. We appreciate everyone's flexibility and dedication to new opportunities. It is our hope that the 6th grade overnight outdoor school can become a new standing tradition at Ridgeline elementary school!
6th Grade Families:
Please be sure to pack a lunch with students on Tuesday and remember the bus leaves at 8:00 a.m. sharp, so all students must arrive early that day. There will also be no showers, so please save me and have students pack some extra deodorant.
Science Fair! This year’s science fair is going to be held on Wednesday, June 7th. I introduced it this week, so you should have some kiddos coming home excited to get started. Here is the handout I gave the kids. You will find a schedule on page two. Here is a list of testable questions if your kiddo doesn’t already have an idea. This is an experiment that needs to be conducted at home. All the writing, charts and graphs can be done in the classroom, but the actual science experiment part should be conducted at home. If you have any questions, please reach out! I am happy to go over any experiment details or design questions you or your kids may have.
Human Growth and Development
I sent home an email earlier in regards to the Human Growth and Development lessons that will be conducted by Planned Parenthood from May 30-June 2. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Planners:
I’ve been asking the students to bring home their planners so they can more readily share what works they are completing in class. I’m hoping this can help give families a clearer look of the day to day components of our classroom and help facilitate conversations with your kids. I would appreciate a signature just so I know, you know… you know?
END OF THE YEAR PICNIC!
You are invited to the end-of-the-year picnic on Thursday, June 1, 2023, 5:30-7pm!
Families bring their own picnic dinner & blanket and gather out on the front lawn. You will have a chance to meet and welcome incoming families to our community (you’ll recognize them by their nametags) as well as chat with Ridgeline staff!
This year our art teacher, Merideth Turner, will be hosting a student art show in the outside covered area behind the playground so you can see all the amazing art our students have been working on all year.
We hope your family is able to join us for the picnic!
Hope you are enjoying the sunshine!
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 5/12/23
Hello!
This has been a fun week. I appreciate the understanding of my late Weekly update! We have a lot of end-of-the-year things going on and life gets hectic. Speaking of end of year things, here are a few on my radar.
Science Fair
Outdoor School (for 6th years)
Human Growth and Development
Laughing Planet
Science Fair! Science Fair is a 3+ week project where students develop and design their own science project. Don’t worry, we have lots of ideas and support to get kids started. The projects will take place at home, but the data analysis, typing, and poster board creation will happen at school. The fair is scheduled for Wednesday, June 7th. Mark your calendars to visit all three upper el classrooms after school that day!
You are probably also wondering about Human Growth and Development. This year Planned Parenthood will be joining us on May 30-June 2 to talk with all Upper El grades. We will have an info session for questions as well as handouts later this month.
Another fun upcoming fundraising event is Laughing Planet! This year it will be Tuesday May, 16th at 2864 Willamette St. near Market of Choice. Hope to see you there!
This week we’ve launched into our ancient Sumerian society studies. We’ve split the class into separate groups and are exploring different aspects of Sumerian culture. It’s my hope once we have some experience working together. The groups can go off to study a variety of ancient civilizations.
For math, we’ve done several different practical projects. 6th graders are learning about the fun world of taxes and creating a personal budget, 5th graders are working on Going Outs and how to calculate and plan their own trips. Finally, 4th graders are exploring and planning their own trips to a National Park. Their park passes will be coming home shortly with their planned vacations.
We had some surprise practical life lessons today. Where my 4 year old had to join our last hour of the day. It was AMAZING to see them all unite and be so kind to a little one. It really encourages me to work on more collaboration with our Kinder and Lower El CLasses.
I hope you all have a happy Mother’s Day weekend!
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 4/20/23
Hello Room 10 Families,
This past week officially launched our state testing time! We worked really hard on our English Language Arts portion of the test, and some of our fifth graders even started their science test. I appreciate all the effort that goes into making sure everyone is well rested and well fed. Next week we will start the math portion and it is so important everyone starts the day ready to go.
After state testing wraps up we will be starting to look ahead at the science fair. This week we began working with small groups to develop a hypothesis and an experiment to test out the hypothesis. I’m hoping this exploration can help pave the way for their science fair projects.
These past two weeks we have been working with graphs. We broke up into small groups and analyzed the same data set. We tried to create a variety of graphs, histogram, bar graphs, and scatter plots. This week we have looked at how we can use data to push a personal opinion. I am so excited to see how those graphs turned out next week.
This is a reminder that April 29th is our Student Marketplace. It starts at 11am and ends at 2pm. They are still looking for some help! If you are available please consider reaching out to Heather Hickox. They are looking for people to post signs, set up and clean up crews, volunteers to support the vendors and loans of tables, tablecloths, and tents for our many, many vendors! You can sign up for times here.
Today we wrapped up volunteer appreciation week! Thank you so much for all of our wonderful volunteers. We wouldn’t be able to do it without you! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 4/7/23
Hello Room 10 Families,
Ridgeline wear is here! It’s great to see folks representing our school in such a fun way. Please reach out to equity@ridgeline.org if you ordered some, but your child has yet to bring it home.
Next week we launch our practice testing for state testing. I work really hard to reduce the stress load as I know there are a lot of negative connotations associated. Everyone is split up into three teams as we work together to answer questions and show what we know! Please make sure these next couple of weeks your kiddo has a good breakfast before school, solid snacks, and a hearty lunch to fuel that mind!
Our new tortoise, Aztec, has been adjusting well. The students have been so respectful of his environment and have really stepped up to take care of our new addition.
We started our ancient civilization studies and will be exploring more in the next coming weeks. This week we focused on how historians classify ancient civilizations and the importance of legends and facts. I think it is so important for students to analyze the perspectives in which history is being told and recorded. I’m excited to dig deeper into ancient civilizations and encourage the students to start their own research studies.
For reading we started looking at the historical fiction genre through the “I Survived” series. We have small groups where students are reading and researching about these events and working to sort fact from fiction.
With writing we worked on our five paragraph essay format. This week we have been writing about our goals we want to accomplish before the end of the school year.
To see what has been happening with the wellness center you can click here to read their newsletter.
Best,
Ray
Classroom Update 3/24/23
Hello Room 10 families,
We have finally wrapped up all of our book clubs. We spent the week presenting all about the stories we have read and today we got to play and learn through the board games so many have created. After all the presentations, students voted on which movie adaptation they would like to watch and “Coraline” was the winner. We watched it in our fancy outfits. Students who thought it would be too scary had the option to do something else, but in the end all students wanted to watch our PG movie. After the film, we created a venn diagram to compare the ovel and the movie. As we were watching we also noticed a lot of comparisons to our classroom novel we just finished, the Thief of Always. STudents were quick to identify all the similarities of these two very different novels. We have had a splendid day and I a m certain this was a great way to launch our break.
We had Heather Hickcox come in to tell us about the student marketplace on April 29th. Here is the information from the ENEWS:
Now is the time for students to start planning their offerings. Marketplace is a student inspired fundraising art and craft fair. Students can create art and crafts (sorry no food can be sold by students) either individually or as a group, set their prices and donation amount (minimum 20% of profit donation is required to participate, but students can choose to donate more, up to 100%). All donations go to the school wide fundraising effort.
Students and families can submit proposals here: Student Marketplace Proposal. Due to time restraints, all proposals will be considered approved UNLESS you hear otherwise within 2 business days. If you are interested in participating, but do not have the means to get supplies, please contact Heather and we will try to find a way to get supplies for your student. Families can also utilize community resources to get supplies such as MECCA or Facebook “Buy Nothing” groups.
This event is open to all grades K-8.
Contact Heather(sweetladyh@gmail.com) with any questions!
We’ve also been working very hard on our Russian tortoise informative essays. Students have spent 2 weeks researching a variety of facts and carefully compiling paragraphs to inform each other about these fascinating creatures. While this has been helpful to develop our essay writing skills, students were very perplexed on the subject matter. I am happy to announce we will be inviting a new member into our classroom community! Meet Aztec, our new classroom pet. After Spring break he will be a permanent resident of our classroom and we will know exactly what he needs to thrive in our environment. Tortoises have been shown to have a calming effect on students and I was thrilled to surprise the students with this announcement on Friday. I have attached the slide show I used to surprise them if you would like to ask them to walk you through it.
This week we had a zoom meeting for our 6th grade families. If you missed it, you can find it attached here. May 23rd-May 25th, all of 6th grade will be attending outdoor school. Upper elementary is excited to bring this opportunity back and create a tradition that will last for many years to come. If you have a 6th grader and have questions about our outdoor school plans, please reach out to Liz: education.coordinator@thecrestatwillowwitt.org
Here we are at Spring Break! Hopefully we can take this time to rest and recuperate after the slew of illnesses that have befallen us. Spring is a time of growth and I am excited to see what is to come.
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 3/10/23
Happy Friday Room 10 Families,
We’ve had a lot of absences these past two weeks. Some bugs are going around. Please be sure to take care of yourselves. We miss all those smiling faces. Winter seems to have a strong grasp on us and is making this flu season extra powerful.
For our math studies we have spread out a bit. Some of us are still working with fractions. Others are working ratio and proportions. Finally some folks are finalizing concepts with operations and variables.
Reading has shifted to incorporate Women’s History month. We are practicing vital reading skills while learning about strong women who have made a difference in history. We are still working on our book club projects and students are doing an amazing job and putting in a lot of detail and effort into their projects.
With cultural studies we are still working on our black history research. We are looking at aspects of American Culture and finding black voices that have helped shape our culture to what it is today.
These long term projects will hopefully be presented March 20-24th and I can incorporate some videos in our next updates!
As for goings on throughout the school we have launched our Direct Donation Drive (DDD). Here is a blurb from the ENews.
This year’s Direct Donation Drive is officially here! Flow is the "magic" of a focused student and a humming classroom. Flow is key to growth and thriving. Flow and how it helps us grow is this year's DDD theme!
The DDD is Ridgeline's annual just-give-and-feel-good-about-it fundraising campaign. Your financial support provides PE and art for every Ridgeline student, helps maintain and improve our school buildings, and supplies resources for our teachers and classrooms. Our goal is the same as last year: raise $10,000 in 10 days and earn a matching $10,000 gift. You can donate right here, right now if you’d like! Every gift matters…every gift is appreciated! Check your students’ backpacks and watch your email for more about DDD 2023 and support Ridgeline students as they Grow with the Flow!
There have been SO MANY STUDENTS who have been forgetting their lunch or not bringing enough food. We try to serve them as best we can from our pantry, but we are running out of resources. If you are able to, the office would truly appreciate donations of Granola bars and Z bars, Cuties, Individually wrapped snacks, Applesauce or fruit cups. It might also be helpful to check in with your kiddo if they are packing enough or need to start getting school lunch every once in a while.
As always, thank you for your support. I look forward to sharing with you all the hip happenings in room 10.
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 2/24/23
Hello room 10 families!
February has flown by. It’s hard to imagine that the next time I write to you we will be in March! With that let’s take a quick recap of all we have done this month.
This month all grades have been working with fractions for mathematics. Fourth graders are finding equivalent fractions, 5th graders are working with the operations for fractions and 6th graders are a little different working on percentages and ratios. Fractions can seem intimidating, but I am confident we can work it out.
Cultural studies has been a hoot as we made our Humans Closest Relatives timeline. It took a lot of collaboration but I hope the students are proud of what they accomplished. Click for the link to see them in action!
We took a pause from our ancient studies to honor black history. We examined and presented the origins of black history month and are going to be launching a unit where we look at black cultural influences we can recognize today.
This week we are wrapping up our book clubs. We should have read our entire book by Friday and ready to work together for our book report next week. If your child has not finished reading their book, I have encouraged them to take it home this weekend so they can equally contribute to the project.
Jon, our counselor, has introduced a new communication system for the Wellness Center. The students can fill out a quick form to let Jon and Jenine know they would like to talk. Students check whether their problem is a small, medium, or big problem, and Jon and Jenine will respond accordingly. It’s a great system. If you hear your student talking about an issue at home, encourage them to fill out a form.
Fundraiser Alert! Wednesday, March 1st at MOD Pizza is donating a portion of its profits to Ridgeline. See the attached flier for more details.
Student Marketplace is coming Saturday, April 29th. Students or families can fill out the form here. Check out the eNEWS for more information. You can also contact Heather if you have any questions or need help getting supplies.
There’s definitely been a bug going around. As we are inching towards spring break, winter still has a tight grasp. I hope you all take care and stay well.
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 2/9/23
Classroom Update 1/27/23
Hello room 10 families,
As January comes to a close I am happy to share all the fun things we have been learning and exploring.
We had really fun social studies lessons that had us digging through sand to find ancient artifacts. Coming up next week, students will work in small groups studying a fossil relative of ours and working together to create a timeline.
In reading, our book clubs are in full swing. We have several groups with a variety of books and roles being completed. We are learning how important it is to meet deadlines and how much our group relies on each other. I’m excited for the growth we have made.
Straight from the ENEWS, apparel is here! I have been so eager to get my hands on a Ridgeline hoodie and I am so glad it is here!
The orders for Ridgeline apparel are up and running! Please enter your information in the website, https://ridgelinemontessorigear.bigcartel.com/ and place your order before February 2, 2023. We will be processing the order in the beginning of February. All apparel should arrive by early March!
We continue our “T-shirts for All Students” program which provides a t-shirt at no cost to any student who qualifies on Ridgeline’s Income Survey Form. If you are able to, please make a donation to go towards another child's t-shirt order. If you need any assistance getting a t-shirt for your child please reach out to the Ridgeline Equity Committee. If you have any questions about ordering, reach out to equity@ridgeline.org.
I also want to bring another item from the ENEWS. There will be a virtual information session about our middle school intended for 5th and 6th grade families. It will be Monday, February 6th from 6:00-6:45pm. Next week, they will send out the webinar registration link so that families can sign-up. Participants will be able to hear from each teacher about their program and then time will be provided for questions and answers. Ridgeline is a pretty special place and I hope you are able to make it.
Remember our talent show is coming up. While it will still be a virtual performance we will have a showing in the gym on Friday, February 10th at 6pm. Students need to submit a video clip of their talent to wobblykate@hotmail.com by Monday, February 6th.
Next week is slightly different with no school on Friday, February 3rd nor Monday, February 6th. Hopefully that gives plenty of time to submit the talent show video!
Thank you all for your continued support. I look forward to what the second half of the year will bring!
Best,
Ray
Classroom Update 1/13/23
Hello Room 10 families!
I hope you all had a lovely break. Now January is here and we are back in the swing of it. We hit the ground running by following up with a math assessment we took in the fall. All students showed tremendous improvement. Winter benchmarks will begin next week. Please make sure your kiddo arrives at school well rested and ready to go so we can show all the growth that they have made so far.
We also wrapped up our book clubs this week. Students spent time on their book reports through a “TGI-Fiction Menu” and created some delicious work! Next week we will begin new stories with new groups.
We also heard from Kate this week with updated information about the talent show. Here’s a summary of what she had to say.
“Friday, February 3, 223 @ 6 PM is the Ridgeline Talent Show! This year, the talent show will be a hybrid model. We are still asking students to submit a video clip of their talent to wobblykate@hotmail.com, but we are thankful to have the opportunity to come together on February 3rd in the school Gym to watch the video together on a big screen!
Talent Show Acts must be 3 minutes or less. Any musical lyrics must be school appropriate. Please avoid themes of violence, drugs/alcohol, sex, etc. Kids are welcome to provide a solo act and/or a group act.
If your child is interested in being a classroom MC and introducing their peers, please email wobblykate@hotmail.com. We will accept the first 2 applicants from each class on a first-come-first-picked basis. Parents will be emailed a script for their MC to read/recite on video a few days before the talent show and those videos will play before the class performances. MCs may also submit a talent act, but do not have to submit an act for the talent show.
We will have volunteer opportunities for the evening of the talent show, so please email wobblykate@hotmail.com if you would like to help.”
We also heard from the office that they are in DESPERATE need for extra clothing in the office. If you have anything to spare, please feel free to send it in. Here is the official request:
“Ridgeline students spend time outdoors, rain or shine, and that means we sometimes need to lend them clean clothes when theirs get soiled!
We are in need of:
rain pants in all sizes, youth size 5 through adult small/medium
versatile pants (especially leggings and athletic pants in gender neutral colors) in all sizes, youth size 5 through adult small/medium.
Your clean clothing donations, brought to the office, are appreciated!
It is important to us that students are comfortable in clean, dry clothing while they are learning, and we are happy to loan clothing to students whenever necessary. Please return laundered borrowed school clothes as soon as possible.”
Next week will be a short week as we take Monday off to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I look forward to seeing everyone back and ready to roll on Tuesday. Have a lovely weekend and as always thank you for supporting your learner!
Best,
Ray
Classroom Update 12/15/22
Welcome to our final update of 2022!
These last two weeks have flown by. I can’t believe that this is the last update for the calendar year. We have learned so much already and it’s been delightful to see how much everyone has grown!
We have started our first round of electives and it is so fun to get to socialize with all of the upper elementary students. Building relationships outside of our classroom can really help strengthen our resolve as a community.
We have had a long look at the democratic process as we try to decide as a community how we want to celebrate together before we leave for break. The winner was PPFRBSS (or students can wear pajamas and bring in pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, board games, books, and snacks to share). Please know that nothing is required, and it should just be a fun time that does not add stress to this busy time. I just ask that the students be responsible for their own items.
I hope we head into the break with restful thoughts. Stay warm, stay safe, and I’ll see you all in 2023!
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 12/02/22
Hello room 10 families!
It was so odd to have a full week after all of our November adventures. Our Stone Soup was an incredible experience. I can;t believe we were able to make 4 varieties of soup with the ingredients the students brought in. I loved hearing all of our original takes on the classic fable and I encourage the students to share them with you.
With the delayed start Friday morning, we were unable to launch our new elective program. We plan on starting Next Friday, December 9th. We have 5 options that students chose from; journalism with Adrienne, Outdoor Exploration with Meridy and our Adriene, Chess Club with Jonathon, DnD with Jacob, or water coloring with me! Be sure to check in next week to see how it goes. This is a fun opportunity to collaborate and mingle with other upper elementary students.
Jacob has been a tremendous asset to our classroom and I am so glad they are settling well into our community. This year has seen quite a lot of change and I’m truly looking forward to the next two full weeks before the winter break.
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 11/17/22
Happy days room 10 families!
November has been flying by. Today is our performance at Whirled Pies! We’ve been working tirelessly this week and I think we will actually pull it off! The event starts at 5:00, but we will not be performing until 6:30. PLEASE make sure your child is there BEFORE our 6:30 performance. Hopefully, you are all able to make it and I can see you there. It should be a great fundraiser to get new books for our classroom.
Next week is a short week with no school on Thursday or Friday, but a lot of fun is packed into the beginning part of the week. We invite families to bring in some fresh vegetables so we can make stone soup together as a whole school. Room 10 will be washing and cutting our vegetables on Tuesday, November 22nd from 8:45-10:00. On Wednesday we will eat the soup we made together and bread at 1:10. This will be a late lunch for us so please send your child with a snack to tie them over. If your child needs a gluten-free option please let me know and we can make arrangements. They are asking we bring our own bowls and spoons, but they will have disposable ones available for those who forget. I’m so excited for my first Stone Soup at Ridgeline. I have a version of the fable I’m hoping to share, but I know there are so many interpretations. If you happen to have a version at home I hope you will send it with your child and we can look at a variety of interpretations. I know Becky (Becky.Fay@ridgeline.org) is looking for volunteers to help out so if you are available and interested please reach out to her!
This is our last week with Adriene in our classroom. Adriene has been incredible in our classroom this year and we couldn’t have done it without her. Her knowledge and guidance have been invaluable to me and I have grown so much as an educator with her by my side. While it is hard to say goodbye and let her return to Room 9, I have the utmost confidence that Jacob will do a phenomenal job as our Room 10 assistant. It has been a pleasure to work with them in the afternoons and their gentle compassion shines through with every interaction with the students. I couldn’t be more excited to have them at my side and I look forward to what the future holds for Room 10!
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 11/03/22
Greetings from Massachusetts!
I am currently attending my Montessori Fall Seminar and Adriene and Jacob have taken over Room 10! I’ve heard great things and am so excited to have Jacob start the official transition into room 10. November 21st will be Adriene’s last day with us and she will be moving back to her original room 9 assignment. She’s been a tremendous help as I learn all the ins and outs of upper elementary at Ridgeline Montessori. I’ll be back on Tuesday, November 8th, but here are some highlights from our past week.
Spirit week was incredible. I loved seeing all the incredible outfits and celebrating Ridgeline. The Fun Run was a delight and I’m so proud of all the work our students have done. If you have not yet turned in your pledges, please do so. They are Due November 14th.
Throughout October we have been learning about the Winchester Mystery House, and this week we put it all together. Students designed their own spooky house tourist destination and presented it to the class through the lens of trying to encourage investors. Students made a model of four of their favorite rooms and so many got really involved with the engineering designs of the model. We have videos of everyone who presented and I’m hoping to have them all ready to share for conferences.
Conferences are being coordinated through Becky Fay in the office and you should have received a link from signup.com. Conferences can be in person or online, please identify your preference when you sign up. If you have not chosen a time, please do so now using this link:
https://signup.com/group/254278842045
If you need any more help, please reach out to our wonderful Becky Fay. She can help guide you through the process.
November 14th-18th we will have our bike safety unit back and ready to roll. The smoke postponed our event, but I’m so excited to get back to it. If you would like to volunteer for our street ride please reach out to Becky Fay! We will also have our Performance for the book fair at Whirled Pies November 18th from 5:00-7:00. We will be needing a commitment from our families to bring the students to the venue so our class can show off what we come up with.
Thank you all for your continued support. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and I’ll see you all Tuesday!
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 10/20/22
Hello, Room 10 Families!
The weeks are getting away from me and I didn’t realize I missed an update day!
Curriculum night was absolutely incredible, and I’m so glad I got a chance to check in with so many of you if you weren’t able to make it no worries! We will be able to connect during conferences coming up on November 9th & 10th. Be on the lookout for a signup link.
This week is Spirit Week and we will be launching this Monday with PATTERNS DAY. Send your kiddo to school wearing some wacky patterns. The rest of the week will be as follows; Art/Artists Day, Crayon Day, Decade Day, & Rainbow Jog-A-Thon. I’m excited to see what the kids come up with.
We’ve had a bumpy start with illness hitting our class, but we’ve reached our Normalization day and I am so proud of how we have come together. Our classroom community is forming into something to be proud of and these students blow me away each and every day with all they can achieve. If you are eager to get in our classroom, just reach out and let me know. I’m working on getting a volunteer schedule running and we are always open for observations.
It’s hard to stay positive when the smoke had ruined many of our plans. We have had to postpone our bike adventures until November 14th-18th. We were so glad to have the rain on Friday and it allowed us to stretch our legs and explore the outdoors. We combined with the Middle School to have a mega awesome recess.
We also have a book drive on our Radar for Friday, November 18th, 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Whirled Pies. Our class will be putting together a performance to raise money for books for our school. More information to come, but I wanted to ensure the information gets out there so you can mark your calendars.
Finally, as promised, click the link to see our video of our First Great Lesson.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19S4uF96RvXKVegsmxZl42l7zQTvsjiON/view?usp=sharing
We watched our performance and reflected on how we did. All in all, a majority of the respondents felt they did really well, but some think we may to rehearse a bit more and practice projecting our voices so all can hear.
Thank you for your understanding and I will do my best to make sure these go out more regularly.
Warmly,
Ray
Classroom Update 10/6/22
These past two weeks have seen a tremendous amount of growth.
Classroom Update 9/22/22
These past two weeks have seen a tremendous amount of growth. We’ve started exploring our mathematical minds and challenging ourselves to look at the world through a mathematical lens. We toyed with frustration when there were no ‘right’ answers and discovered there are so many different ways to approach a problem. It is my hope that we continue to challenge our way of thinking and allow our brains to grow.
We also created our class constitution. This was a very involved process where small groups identified what words described a safe classroom, then we individually defined what those words meant to us, and finally collaborated to draw up our constitution. It reads as follows:
We the students of Room 10, in Order to form a more Inclusive and Supportive Community, establish Respect, insure Kindness, provide a Welcoming and Fun atmosphere, promote Self-Regulation, and secure clear Communication with ourselves and our school, do ordain and establish this Classroom Constitution for Room 10.
We celebrate and embody the Ridgeline Montessori Public Charter School Mission.
Each student had the opportunity to accept and sign our constitution with a cool quill and I am so honored to be a part of the Room 10 community.
Unfortunately, this past week left me bedridden with Covid, but Adriene has fearlessly led the class through this time. They have been working on the Great Montessori Lessons and I am so excited for the presentations when I return.
Please be on the lookout for information regarding our bike safety week, October 3rd through the 13th. We will be sending home forms to be signed and returned to class.
Classroom Update 9/08/22
Hello, Room 10 families!
This week has been an incredible whirlwind of new adventures! Change can be hard, but I am so proud of all we have accomplished in our short week together.
Wednesday we spent a lot of time exploring, expressing, and sharing who we are as an individual. We learned so much about one another. Essentially we concluded we all have differences and it’s important to respect one another.
Thursday was spent focusing on us as a community and how we affect one another. We have discovered that each of us holds value and we need to support each other in order to cooperate as a community.
Please remember to send your child with indoor shoes and consistently bring in a water bottle. Our Wednesday “Get to Know You” activity involved a lot of water bottle stickers so they should be all ready for personalization. If you are sending your child with lunch, please be sure to include any utensils they may need as we will not have any available in the classroom.
Becky in the office has put together some wonderful resources regarding COVID-19. If you have any concerns or questions please feel free to reach out.
I look forward to how much we will grow and learn together throughout the school year. We are just getting started, but I can tell that this is an excellent group of dedicated learners eager to jump in and accomplish hard things!
Warmly,
Ray