Posted by MrLynch | Posted in Weekly Newsletter | Posted on October 13, 2012
On Thursday, students have their first Z-Day of the year. Our team runs this a few times a year and on this day students will rotate amongst the other teachers on our team (staying together as a class). It’s kind of like their first experience with a middle school schedule for the day. It helps promote team unity and lets the students get to know the teachers and vice-versa.
Friday is our trip to Sturbridge Village. We will be gone the entire day so students need to bring a lunch. The village is large so they will be doing a lot of walking outside – sneakers and weather appropriate clothes are a must. Electronics are allowed on the bus, but they must stay hidden when at Sturbridge. Since the bus ride is long, it may not be a bad idea to have something to occupy the time.
As part of our Writer’s Workshop, we will be making a connection with a fifth grade class in Ruwais, two hours outside Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It is a very unique opportunity for both schools, being 6,700 miles apart. Their school has a U.S. based curriculum and students there come from countries all over the world. The United Arab Emirates (UAB) is one of the fastest growing countries in the world and Abu Dhabi in particular has become one of the financial giants of the world, know for both its oil industry and its financial center. Since it is an eight-hour time difference between Connecticut and UAB, live communication (like Skype) would not be possible unless students want to meet me here at school some morning at 6 AM. Then we could all take a mid-day siesta. Ok, probably a bad idea.
In lieu of the siesta plan, we will be communicating with them via video-messaging and blogging. The video messages were uploaded this weekend on a secure, password protected page on a website that I created for this project: www.tbsgsad.weebly.com. Your child has the password to access the page. We will also use the blogging feature at some point in the near future to have written communication with the class.
Upcoming Events
Z-Day – Thursday, October 18, 2012
Sturbridge Village – Friday, October 19, 2012
More Than Money Conference (8 students) – Friday, October 26, 2012
Parent/Teacher Conferences – Monday, December 10 and Tuesday, December 11
