One tool that I love to use while teaching math lessons is a personal whiteboard. Each student has their own personal whiteboard, dry erase marker, and felt square to use as an eraser. It’s nothing fancy and all made from office supplies. Having all of these tools in their desk gives them a sense of maturity and responsibility. I’ve relayed to them the importance of taking care of their tools and the consequences of losing or tearing the tools up. So far, they have all valued their supplies and have taken excellent care of them. When I instruct them to get their whiteboards out and get ready to have math, they get excited! These help the children to stay engaged and have hands-on experience with the concepts they are learning. Working with me to solve problems lets me know almost immediately who is on track and who needs more scaffolding. It builds the children’s confidence in math and builds them up to their daily work.

This year we have a long term community service project and, at least one, short term project. Our long term project is to collect pop tabs and donate them to the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Little Rock. The RMH is a nonprofit charity and it makes it possible for families to be close when a child is being treated at Children's Hospital and other local hospitals. The class made a little house that the Ronald McDonald House charity sent to me to hold the pop tabs. The little house will serve as a great little reminder to collect tabs. I’ve never seen them so eager to cut and glue! They took their time and worked hard on coloring and constructing these houses. They’ve spent a week, working here and there, on the houses and you can definitely see the accomplishment that they feel shine through their smiles. They’ve been wanting to take them home all week, I know they will put them in a great place to help us bring in a lot of tabs to help this fabulous charity!

Tuesday was our day to go to chapel. This year, to keep in adherence to safety guidelines and the health of our students' top priority, chapel is being live-streamed and we take part in our classroom. Every week one class attends chapel- with just one class it is easy to keep everyone distanced and ensure everyone keeps their masks on. It was so nice to have the covered face to covered face experience. Chapel is one of the most special aspects of St. James. It was refreshing to get to be there and set a great tone for the week!

Have a blessed day!

Claire

In science, the class has been studying the different types of bodies of water. When discussing rivers, streams, and lakes, we’ve learned that they are fresh water. Noting that fresh water is also the water we use for our drinking water. Of course, we all agreed that you can’t go grab a cup of water from any river, stream, or lake. We must know where our water is coming from before we drink it.

The discussions about oceans have really interested the class. Many already knew that the ocean is made of salt water and that we cannot drink salt water. The class has learned that there are five oceans, and the Pacific is the largest - covering 30% of the Earth’s surface. Since the class had a fascination with oceans, I thought making an ocean in a bottle would be fun and help solidify some of our ocean facts. The class was so excited when I pulled out all of the supplies for their own ocean! Everyone had their own bottle. First, they had to drink half of the water, we didn’t want to be wasteful. Then I added the food blue coloring and glitter of their choice. Everyone got to pick the items that were to be in their ocean. Some items I handed out and some they got to choose and add a personal touch to their ocean. It was a neat activity and I loved the extensions I used with the ocean in a bottle. The following morning the children used their ocean to create a story and add an illustration. It was the most excited I have seen them get about writing!! I love it when learning and fun take place simultaneously!!

Have a blessed day!

Claire

We’re back! You can feel and even see the energy — the kids are so excited to be back at school. There are new rules and procedures, but that’s not keeping us from learning and having fun! One of my favorite things to do is to take pictures on the first and last day of school, the comparisons are unbelievable. First grade is such a magical time where so much learning and growing takes place not just academically, but physically too. 

One new change to our routine is that choir will be held outside, weather permitting. This is wonderful because we get to utilize our beautiful amphitheater, the children get to be outside, and their beautiful voices can be easily heard. Whenever possible, the children will have class outside. This isn’t limited to the homeroom teacher. Already this school year the children have had art, PE, and music classes outside. 

In science, the class has been studying how to classify matter according to its properties. One lesson was mystery bags. I put items in a bag that had distinctive physical properties. The children were put into pairs/small groups and took turns describing what was in their bag and discussing how the items could be grouped together. It was a great way to have hands-on experience determining the properties of the items.

In math, to better understand the concept of adding to equal ten the children used their rekenrek bracelets to have a visual representation. Each student had their own bracelet to aid in the completion of math. It is important to have visual cues and aids because it enables the children to make a stronger connection with the concepts.

We are off to a great start in first grade and I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for us!!

Claire

Monday was the last day of school. It looked very different from previous years. I was so thankful to get to see my students and tell them to have a happy summer. Even though the end of this year has been completely different and new to us all, I like to reminisce and think about the year as a whole. Not just the past 2 1/2 minutes. The first graders had a terrific first semester. We were able to enjoy book character day, fall festival, Thanksgiving program, Christmas festivities, and candlelight. The beginning of the spring semester was full of getting ready for grandparents’ day and preparing for the busyness of spring. While we anticipated a busy spring, clearly our plans were changed for us. I can definitely see the blessing in slowing down and taking time to be with your family and those you love. We will look back on this time and grieve the loss of loved ones, but we will also remember with joy this special time we were able to spend with our families. I look forward to having my classroom full of happy excited first graders again. I’m thrilled that this precious bunch of students will get to enjoy second grade in the fall and I will still get to see them every day!

Happy summer!

Claire

To say these are times are different is an understatement. Navigating through this new territory has been challenging and rewarding. There are many challenges: too much work, not enough work, are the children gaining the targeted skill, how are the children feeling, how are the parents, and the list goes on. The rewarding part of this experience has been seeing my students rise to the occasion and take on responsibilities that typically they would not have to consider. To say I am proud of my students is such an understatement. I can not find words to describe how impressed and proud of them I am of them through these atypical times. We have all been doing our best to continue on with teaching/learning the best we can. There have been paper packets and digital packets and the children and their parents have been amazing through it all.

Something I already had planned was the community building project. It is something first grade does every year. Each child picks a building in our community that is meaningful to them and they construct it. Usually this project is completed at school. The parents come up and the children work with their parent to build the chosen building. It is always fun and something the children look forward to doing. I didn’t want to take that away from them, so I adapted the assignment. The children built their buildings at home and uploaded the finished project to a shared folder so everyone could enjoy all of the buildings. I loved being able to watch the children present their projects. They all have done a fabulous job!

The thing I have enjoyed the most is being able to digitally meet with my class. So far, we have only met one time, but it will be a weekly meeting until the school year is over. The first meeting was great and it was wonderful to see and hear my sweet students. I know they loved seeing one another. This week we will have a digital show and tell and I know that will be a hit!

We are all trying our best and putting the children first. I pray that this will pass and be a memory we can look back on and learn from. I will never forget this experience of teaching my first graders from a distance.

Stay safe!

Claire