Thank you so much for coming to our second student showcase Saturday morning. I hope you enjoyed our special performance and your child's portfolio presentation. I am so proud of the children's work! Another highlight of the week is that we had a new student! Welcome to Seaside, Danalee! I apologize that I was not able to teach for three days earlier this week. I have received so many warm and caring words from you while I was sick. Thank you so much! Quite a few children have been sick this week too. Take care.
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Last month two of our friends, Finn and Raina celebrated their birthday together. This week we did it again! Jacob's and Judah's birthdays are so close (February 20 and 21 respectively) so we celebrated their birthdays on Friday. Someone very special to us also celebrated her birthday on Friday. That's Ms. Sanders! Can you believe it? We made a book of special birthday cards and those two birthday boys delivered it to her. Ms. Sanders was so happy and excited to receive our surprise birthday present! Happy Birthday, Jacob, Judah and Ms. Sanders!
Thank you so much for coming to our class Valentine's Party. We had a blast! Much thanks to our room parents, Mrs. Wight and Mrs. McMahon for organizing and preparing for the party. We made origami hearts during our handwork period on Tuesday. Happy Valentine's Day! Although the children were excited about Valentine's Day, they did not forget to concentrate on their academics. We started fraction lessons for math. As a culminating project of our unit study of fairy tales, the first graders decided to write their own fairy tales. The children have been working very hard and I am amazed how much their writing stamina has improved! As you can see from this video, they have become independent writers. They are so focused and enjoy writing! To be honest, I had difficulty making them stop writing at the end of the lesson this week. We can't wait to share our fairy tales at the student showcase on Saturday, February 28. Happy Valentine's Day and have a nice holiday weekend!
I enjoyed every minute while attending the Public Waldorf Education Conference in California. The most powerful experience was visiting the first grade class at Golden Valley Waldorf School. It was absolutely inspiring to observe how the teacher and children interact. It was so peaceful and calm. The first grade teacher, Mr. Lacoste used many non-verbal cues, which I will definitely implement into my instruction. I also enjoyed observing how he integrated a math lesson into language arts (comprehension, speaking & listening). Observing the class also made me realize that I should add more songs and movement activities into my instruction (not just for circle time but throughout the day). Mr. Lacoste admitted that he was not very good at singing or music activities but I instantly noticed that he does an excellent job. The children were so lively! I have been reluctant to conduct activities, in which I am not good at; however, I learned that taking a risk is essential at times. My personal favorite was attending the chalkboard drawing workshop. I learned many drawing techniques such as making pictures look three-dimensional and how to blend colors effectively. I had been aware of the importance of chalkboard drawing for the aesthetic Waldorf environment but was not sure if I had been doing correctly and effectively. I have gained much confidence through this workshop. I learned that you do not have to be artists to produce beautiful drawings. I truly enjoyed working with a group of amazing teacher, which was inspiring and motivating. I can't wait to share what I learned with my colleagues and parents. I also enjoyed the keynote speaker, Bente Goldstein's lectures. She believes that educators' task is to determine how to give the right amount of meaningful work at the appropriate age and for the right temperament in order to make children grounded in the healthiest way for the present and future. She also emphasized the importance of "habit life." In other words, the habits/roles practiced in childhood are vital when educating children. Her inspiring words made me realize what a critical but gratifying profession I have. I was so glad that I was able to have a chat with Bente. While I was waiting for my breakout session to start, Bente came into the room and sat down next to me. I told her how much my colleagues and I had been enjoying her lectures and introduced myself. As soon as she heard my first name (which is Japanese), she said, "Are you from Japan?" I learned that Bente has a connection with Japan. She conducts farm-based educational programs in Wisconsin. She had exchange programs with a Japanese farm and hosted Japanese children. We talked about cultural/educational differences between the U.S. and Japan. What a precious chat I had with Bente! (by the way, she is so SWEET!) Attending the morning eurythmy workshop was literally an eye-opener to me. If possible, I would like to learn more about eurythmy in the future. I enjoy movements but eurythmy has been abstract and ambiguous to me. Attending the morning eurythmy relieved some pressure off of me. The eurythmist, Cynthia Hoven offered practical movements that I can easily apply to my daily activities. I hope that we will have access to her resources for our professional development and consider implementing eurythmy into our curriculum. I am so glad that we were able to have some fun. It was so relaxing to take a walk around the beautiful campus and nearby park with Miss. Carroll, Mrs. Hopkins and Ms. Papke. Another funny part of the conference was that one of my dorm residents was Japanese, who attends the teacher preparation program at Rudolph Steiner College. I enjoyed chatting with him in Japanese. I couldn't believe my ears when he told me where his father was from, which was near my hometown! What a small world!
I would like to thank all those who made this training trip possible again. This is the most inspiring, productive conference I have ever attended. THANK YOU! We celebrated the 100th day of school on Monday. We enjoyed 100 related activities all day long, including making a necklace with 100 beads. The children successfully counted 100 beads with tally marks. This week we had two birthday celebrations. We wished Lili a happy birthday on Thursday (February 5) and had an early birthday celebration for Emily on Friday (her birthday is February 8). We continued our geometry lessons through tangrams and wooden blocks. Friday was bread baking day. Our huck-a-buck bread turned out so delicious! Thank you, Mrs. Buehler, for your assistance and providing the ingredients! |
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