Welcome to 3rd Grade!

Hello families!

It's almost time for third grade. This is a big year for your child and I'm very glad to be there to help them along the way. Most of you already know me, but to those of you that don't yet, I want to welcome you to a school where real learning happens, where kids are encouraged to ask questions, and where everyone is on a journey of outgrowing themselves.

I wanted to send you a quick post outlining some info about the beginning of the year and how I will communicate with you.

Schedule
Our schedule will vary depending on the day. Some structures will stay in place, but others have to move around. I'll be sending each of you a copy of our class schedule. Plus, it's color coded!

MAT
Our class will have an MAT for the fall semester. Her name is Mrs. Katie Watson and I've had the pleasure of getting to know her over the last couple of days. She will be a real asset to your children this year. I was an MAT several years back, so it's a program that I really believe in and I'm excited to contribute to.

Traffic!
Dr. Mueller sent out an edconnect explaining that you may want to consider bringing your child between 7:45 and 8:10 because our parking lot gets extremely congested on the first day of school. It's really not bad the second or third day. So, you may want to plan accordingly for tomorrow.

First Day Jitters
If you are able to come in, look for the tall, lanky guy with a tie surrounded by tiny people. I would love to meet our new parents and reconnect with the old ones...(get it?). The first part of our day will be getting our supplies organized, so some help with that will be appreciated. However, my goal is for our class to get started around 8:20-8:25 so I can start getting everyone acquainted and setting the tone for our day.

Forms/Technology
At the beginning of each year, your child comes home with all these forms. I'm not sure when you'll get them, but I'll send an email letting you know to check your child's folder for them. It's very important that we get these back ASAP, especially the one dealing with technology. I need to have that form before I can get the students started with their Chromebooks.

Weekly Communication and Homework
I communicate through email when I need to share information quickly or am giving you specific information about your child. If you send me an email and I haven't responded in 48 hours, just assume that I didn't see it and send it again; usually I'm pretty good about responding quickly.

I communicate daily through our class Twitter feed: @footecfi. I use this to share pictures and videos of what we're working on during the day.

I will communicate weekly about homework and a reflection on the week in our class blog. I'll send you an email each Monday with a link to the blog post. It will start with a bulleted list of what your child will have for homework, explanations if needed, and due dates. Then, if you continue reading, you'll get a summary of how our previous week went.

Alright, there you go! I hope to see everyone tomorrow morning. Tell those kids to get some sleep. :)

-B