Wednesday, September 5, 2012

A Fabulous First Day!

The boys and girls from Rotation A are enthusiastic, friendly and outgoing.  Mrs. Giacomo & I were eager to meet and get to know our A Day class and were impressed by their kindness and willingness to make new friends.  I was happy to see my returning students, but wondered what our class would be like with the addition of new students and a new mix of personalities?  Let me assure you, we couldn't be happier!  A few of the kids seemed to be a little anxious and there was an occasional "deer in the headlights" look that crossed a face or two, but they worked very well together and by afternoon, everyone was more relaxed and seemed to be enjoying their day.

The students began their morning by writing a paragraph about something in which they love to study.  Next week, we will try to finish these to share and display our interests and passions.


The students were introduced to TOPS Math and learned how we structure this individualized, problem solving program.













Several students even found time for a crazy puzzle.  --There are 250 possible combinations to these puzzles, but there are only 2 correct ways to solve them.   While most of the students explored one or more of the 248 incorrect possibilities, three students impressively discovered a correct combination! Kudos to them!














During our lab time, the boys and girls learned to log in to our computers with their new user name and password.  They also practiced accessing our class blog.

In the afternoon, the students had a chance to get better acquainted with a classmate they did not know. To do this, they took turns interviewing their partner and recording a few facts about him/her.




 

Each student introduced his or her new friend and told us a little bit about them. Some introductions were silly, some were very creative and a few were even animated (Great character voices Caleb!  I wish I had an audio file to share.)  Every single student seemed genuinely interested in their new SAGE friend.  They did a wonderful job on their introductions!  


I took meticulous notes as each child was introduced so I could share some facts about our friends.  Alas, they are on my desk and I am here at home...

However, the wonderful thing about a blog (or web log) is that it is interactive, so boys and girls, I need you to help me out!  With your mom or dad's help, please add a comment to our blog post and share one or two facts you learned about your new friend.  (Parents, this can be done without creating a Google account.)  Remember, we only use first names, so mention your friend by his or her first name and sign your comment with just your first name.

If you have trouble figuring out how to leave a comment, don't worry, you can do it in our class next week and we can help you.

We hope you enjoyed your first week of SAGE.  Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you next A day.




12 comments:

  1. Kelly likes art, and her favorite candy is Jolly Ranchers and Skittles.
    -Luke

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Luke,

    Great job on posting your comment! I will have an extra star for you this week. Remind me to add it to your card. I am looking forward to seeing Kelly's art work this year. She seems very nice. I am sure she will be a great classmate and good friend to have in class.

    Did you have a good weekend? Did you do anything special? I loved the weather.

    I worked on a special, secret school project most of the weekend. It is almost finished. I think I will have the last of it done tonight so my husband can help me get it to school Monday evening after he gets home from work. Does it sound mysterious? It is way cool, if I do say so myself!

    Have a great D & E day and I will see you on Wednesday!
    Mrs. Koch

    ReplyDelete
  3. My new friend was Mrs. Giacomo. I learned that Mrs. Giacomo likes Almond Joy candy bars. She is also very good at cooking. Her favorite topic to learn about is Science. She teaches at 3 schools.

    I am looking forward to class on Wednesday.

    -Abby

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  4. Abby,

    That was a wonderful, "quality comment!" I'm sorry you had trouble getting the blog to post your comment. We can look at it this week and practice together. I appreciate that you took the time to write so many facts that you remembered about your partner, Mrs. Giacomo. You did a great job.

    Mrs. Koch

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  5. My friend is Cian. I remember that he is from Oakwood Manor and likes Reeces peanut butter cups. He is good at video games.

    From, Caleb

    P.S. Today is my 8th birthday.

    P.P.S. Cian is awesome. I wanted to say this in a deep, monster voice.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Caleb,

    It is too bad the commenting does not allow you to use crazy, funky fonts. Your "monster voice" would have really shown up if you could add color and a big, heavy font!

    You made me giggle and I heard your monster voice in my head. Bravo!

    Mrs. Koch

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  7. Yes, I did have a good weekend. I walked to Perkins to have breakfast with my mommy and brother.
    -Luke

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Luke,

    I am impressed! I love it that you are coming to the blog to post comments. Bravo to you. It sounds like you did have a fun weekend. The weather was so beautiful. I bet you really enjoyed your walk.

    See you tomorrow!

    Mrs. Koch

    ReplyDelete
  9. My new friend is Emily. Her favorite candy is chocolate. Her favorite author is Dr. Seuss. She is really good at reading. She is a good friend.

    -Nathan

    P.S. I am looking forward to tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Nathan,

    Nice job on your first comment! I am so impressed that so many of you have commented this week. I know I asked you all to jump in and give it a try, but WOW, I really thought most of the new students would hold off and wait until we have practiced more in class. Bravo to you! (Yes, I know I broke the "Quality Commenting Rules" by using two exclamation marks, but you deserved it.)

    I am very much looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow too. I even have a new surprise waiting for you all.... Do I have your curiosity up?

    See you in the morning,
    Mrs. Koch

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear A Day Students,
    Wow! You all did a great job on posting comments on our class blog. I just loved reading the funny things you wrote. Keep blogging so we can share our ideas and thoughts with each other.
    You are such a fun, smart group of students. Mrs. Koch and I are very lucky to share a day with you!
    Have a great A day today!
    Mrs. Giacomo

    ReplyDelete
  12. My new friend is Camila. Her favorite candy is tootsie rolls. She is really good at crazy puzzles.


    Karmen

    ReplyDelete