Hello Parents, 

Well, it's finally here. The last week of Kindergarten. This has definitely been an eventful year. I have loved every moment of it. I will remember the tears on the first day of school. The hugs each morning after that. I will cherish all of the "ah ha!" and "oh wow" moments that I was able to witness. I have loved spending my days leading your children to their own discoveries about themselves and the world around them. I am so grateful for all of the help, support, and patience you have provided during distance learning. Can you believe we made it through nearly 3 months of distance learning? It wasn't always easy...or pretty...or perfect. But darn it there was progress! I am so very proud of the grit, perseverance, and kindness that each student demonstrated during a time when their world was turned upside-down. Their smiles, giggles, silly faces, and sweet words brightened my day each time we met over Zoom. There were weeks that it was those moments that kept me motivated and driven. I will forever be grateful for the faith you placed in me when you entrusted me with your most precious possession, the hearts and minds of your children. 

Thank You! 

Mrs. Matthews 

 

 

 

Hello Parents, 

It was so great to see you all at Parent Teacher Conferences last Friday! It is hard to believe we are rounding the bend to our final days of school. We will maintain our normal learning this week with Moby Max and the learning mat and additional resources. Please click on the title of this post to download the learning mat and resources including a fun new challenge...building a catapult! Next week we will have alternative activities to celebrate our final week of Kindergarten. More details regarding our final week of school will be communicated later this week. If you have any pictures from school activities and field trips please feel free to share them with me via email [email protected]. 

If you have questions or need support please feel free to reach out via email or attend office hours via Zoom. 

Have a Great Week! 

 

Hello Parents,

As we continue to uncover the vast and complex topic of Wellness, it is important we continue to acknowledge that maintaining wellness during a global pandemic brings forth unique and unknown challenges. We are five weeks into distance learning and the routines are set, but even though there is a lot to do, we may be a feeling that things are getting to be “too routine” and the repetition is getting, well, boring. Boredom is not just a lack of something to do–because there is always something to do–but our inability to find meaning in a task and to pay attention to it.

With some of us now spending a lot of our time at or around home, where we used to find meaning– our friends, our work, school, clubs, going out to dinner, shopping or the movies–is no longer an option. But it’s just as likely that pandemic anxiety has also been shortening our attention spans. I like to think of boredom as a mindset where we are bogged down by our thoughts and can’t think of something fun to do. This can limit our thinking and lead to our attention wandering, having a lack of interest and feeling empty, tired and restless.

Luckily, we have the ability change our mindset and think about boredom in a whole new way. Crisis can bring out hidden reserves of human resourcefulness and times of struggle can bring out innovative solutions; constraints activate flexibility and scarcity of resources increases our creativity. If we let it, our boredom can help us be resourceful with what we have, it can lead to finding creative ways of seeing the routine in new and different ways, we can unplug and daydream, we can check in with ourselves and reflect on who we are, how we are feeling and find ways we can practice ways of being more resilient when we want to give up. So remember, boredom is ok and can be a good thing! So if you are feeling bored, 1) try to say to yourself, ”It is ok to be bored. How might boredom be a good thing?" 2) Try something totally new this week. 3) Check in with our feelings and see what you need. Get creative and feel free to share a picture with me about what you did as a boredom buster at [email protected]

Hello Parents, 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend an enjoyed some time outside in the beautiful weather. This week there are a few small changes in our learning mats. I have mixed up some familiar activities and added a few new activities for students so be sure to check that out. Also, I have included a chore chart as part of this week's Glorious Kindness Challenge. To access all additional materials just click on the title of this post, download the PDF, and print at home! 

Enjoy your week and please reach out via email or during my Zoom Office Hours. 

Thank you for partnering with me in support of your child's learning! 

Hi Parents, 

Over our first two weeks of distance learning I have received some really helpful feedback via Moby Max and parent emails. I appreciate your willingness to jump in and continue to use a resource that is new and pushes all of us out of our comfort zone.

 

I have made a few small changes and improvements to our weekly learning calendar to include more play based engaging learning opportunities in literacy, math, and general exploration. I have also included additional math, literacy, and online resources for those families that wish to print them off and use them. These additional resources are not required and will not be graded, but do provide learning opportunities for students struggling with being on the screen for extended periods of time. 

 

Also, I have made some small changes to Moby Max to include a more game based platform which will hopefully increase or maintain engagement. So, students will complete 10 minutes of the learning module (click on the books icon and select the subject area) followed by 10 minutes of Fluency Board Games (found in the assignments tab). 

 

This week I will also be emailing a link to a read aloud and fun activity that connects to our reading. Keep an eye out n your emails for that. 

Remember to check in on the classroom pages for our specials teachers as well! I know they have set up some fun learning sctivities and the chance to Zoom with them as well. 

 

Have a great week and feel free to reach out at any time. Thank you so much for partnering with me to support your child's learning!

 

Hello Parents,

Congratulations! We all survived week one of distance learning and placement tests. I loved seeing all of the smiling faces on Zoom and watching their progress on MobyMax.

Attached is this weeks learning calendar with added interactive learning opportunities. These activities are not required, but are an option to break up the amount of time your student spends on the computer.

This week you will notice a few things on the MobyMax Page. First, we will be assigning minutes to various subject areas. This will help support goal setting and keeping track of what should be completed each day. Don't forget to check in on the classroom pages for our Specials Teachers! They have come up with added learning opportunities that will help break up some of the academics on MobyMax. Below is our assigned specials class based on advocacy:

Matthews: P.E. with Mr. Wise

Rollman: Art with Ms. Cox

Chalstrom: Technology with Ms. Pederson

Also, Ms. Valenza emailed all families with some really fun and engaging advocacy lessons for the week. Be sure to check your email for that! Finally, we will be uploading some engaging read alouds for students this week so keep an eye out here for those to pop up! 

Remember that this is a journey we are all taking together and there will be bumps in the road. Be patient and flexible and if you need anything or have any challenges please reach out via email or attend one of my Zoom office hours.

Thank you all for your hard work!