• Tuesdays are our library day so please send back books for exchange.
• Kindergarten registration for BEST for the 2020 school year opened on Jan 27th. This registration is not first come, first served. Check the BEST website for more information.
• ​Don't forget to send in your Unplug & Play tracking log early next week to be entered to win a prize.
• Wednesday Feb. 5 is Global School Play Day and Mrs. Farber's Friends and Team Awesome, as well as some of the other classes, will be participating. A blog post with more info will go out early next week.
• Thursday Feb. 6 we will have a fun yoyo presentation in the gym at 8:45ish. You are welcome to join us. Yoyos will be for sale at the office from Feb. 6- 14.
• PAC pizza day  on Thursday, Feb. 6. Yum!
• The Valentine Cookie Gram sale deadline for orders has been extended to Feb. 6. 
• Pink Shirt Day is at the end of the month and shirt order forms will be due Thursday, Feb. 6. They came home this week.
• Friday Feb. 7 is a Non Instructional Day so Team Awesome will have a long weekend.
• Tuesday, Feb. 11 BEST will have a robotics tournament and Team Awesome will participate using the Blue Bots.
• Scholastic book orders came home and are due Thursday, Feb. 13. Don't forget if you make an online order of $30 or more you can get a free book ($7) using the code CLIFFORD.
• Friday. Feb. 14 is Valentine's Day and a post with information will come out at the end of next week.
• We are required to have an informal report in February and to that end I have been doing some academic assessments with Team Awesome. Sometime in the next two weeks or so, either at drop off or pick up, I will snag you to go over your child's results. If I am unable to meet with you I will email to let you know my assessment results are coming home and we can arrange to meet if needed.​
• February Family Projects are due whenever they are done. Have fun!​
• Don't forget to download any of the pictures or videos you love that I share with you via Google Photos onto your own devices so you will always have them.
• The February sight words are: come, did, have, get, love, of, said, very, will, yes. Please feel free to practice them at home. We will practice them regularly in class.
• BEST monthly newsletter can be found here.

Go forth and Embrace February! 

​Have you ever seen such a great display of grit, determination and perseverance?! Team Awesome was awesome at skating! If there was a gold medal given for perseverance and sheer grit, every member of Team Awesome would have received one last week. It made my heart sing to see the sheer determination from those new skaters on the ice. It also made me a little ashamed of my own lack of similar joyful determination when learning something new and difficult. Many of the children had never been on skates (as evidenced from the spaghetti legs and slapstick falls) and spent more time getting up than they did actually staying up. And some of those falls were hard- there might be bruises. But not one single child asked to have their skates taken off early. Not one of them complained or cried or whined. And every face had a beaming smile despite the difficulties some of them were having staying on their feet, much less actually moving. And a big thank you to those parents and family members who were able to come with us. It makes activities like this so much easier when there are extra adults to help out. I am so proud of Team Awesome!

​The struggle is real. Some of us have been having a difficult time settling back in after the long break. It seems one fire will be put out only for another one to immediately pop up to take its place- unkind words, unkind hands, tattling, silliness, very loud outside voices, constant interrupting, difficulty sharing, running inside our classroom and in the halls- in short, not being respectful nor responsible or safe. All things that sometimes pop up closer to April when we are getting tired of each other but not often this early. In an effort to pull Team Awesome together and make them feel like a team again we began to play the You/ Me game this week. They earn points for demonstrating expected behaviours as a group in our classroom and I earn points when they don't. Of course the object of the game is for them to win- when they collect the most points its a win for me as well- but they have to earn it. We will brainstorm and vote on an extra activity they would enjoy when (if?) they win. There are still a few kinks to work out but I am hoping it pulls the children together so they regain their kind feelings and respect towards everyone in our space and enjoy sharing our learning again.

• Tuesdays are our library day so please send back books for exchange.
• Hot lunch orders for February are due to the office by Monday, Jan 27. 
• Kindergarten registration for BEST for the 2020 school year opens on Jan 27th. This registration is not first come, first served. Check the BEST website for more information.
• Vision screening with the health nurse has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 29.
• PAC pizza day orders are due to the office by Friday, Jan. 31 with pizza delivery on Thursday, Feb. 6.
• BEST PAC is organizing a Family Movie Night fundraiser for Friday, Jan. 31. 
• February Family Projects came home this week and are due Friday, Jan. 31 or whenever they are done. Have fun!
• ​The last week of January is Literacy Week at BEST and around our community. The Unplug & Play forms have been sent home and a schedule of events for BEST has been posted. We will be reading reading reading in a variety of fun ways!
• BEST is planning a book swap for literacy week. If your child has a book or two at home that they no longer read and would like to donate it for the book swap, send it next week and they can choose a new book to take home.
• The Valentine Cookie Gram sale deadline for orders has been extended to Feb. 6.
  
• Time is running out to get a yearbook for this year. They can be ordered at the office with end of June delivery.
• Don't forget to download any of the pictures or videos you love that I share with you via Google Photos onto your own devices so you will always have them.
• The January sight words are: be, big, can, it, little, me, on, us, with, we. Please feel free to practice them at home. We will practice them regularly in class.
• BEST monthly newsletter can be found here.

Go forth and Be careful on the Ice! 

​If there is still snow for Fresh Air Friday this week, and not slop or too much ice, we would like to go sledding. We might be able to borrow a few sleds and share them between ourselves and Mrs. Farber's class but If your child has a tobaggan that they are able to carry themselves they are welcome to bring it. Please be aware that they will have to be willing to share it and there is always the possibility of damage. Please put your child's name on the sled and then store it in our classroom until we leave after lunch. If the snow has melted or it is too icy we will forego the sledding and just go down to the river to do some winter exploring. Please dress your child for an afternoon spent outside in the weather- extra mittens are a good idea as they are often soggy after recess and lunchtime play.