Wish List

recycle

Here is a short list of items I am wishing to use in the classroom. You may have some of these things laying around your house and now you have a place for them to be reused and recycled while you reduce some clutter! Any donation would be most appreciated. I will post this list on our Shutterfly under the “Volunteer” tab. You can sign up there or just send them in.
tennis balls
colorful magnetic letters
Mr. Potato Head parts
embroidery hoops
non-slip drawer mats with large holes
metal juice can lids
assorted nuts and bolts
shoelaces
Lego base plates

Jog-A-Thon!

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It’s time for our annual Jog-a-Thon! This is a fundraiser where students participate in earning money to pay for special programs at school. Please help your child gather pledges from family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors for this event. (Hint: Pledging a flat rate amount is much easier to keep track of, rather than pledging by lap.Write checks to “Carroll Elementary PTA) We will be jogging this Wednesday from 12:00 noon – 12:15 PM. Please make sure your student wears shoes and clothing suitable for jogging that day. The Carroll PTA welcomes all parents who would like to help supervise this event. Please return Pledge Envelopes this week.

Shutterfly Links

Check out the tabs above marked Photoblog and Volunteers. Both tabs will take you to a link to our class Shutterfly site. I have updated my Shutterfly account to cover activities and volunteer needs for the first trimester, including dates on the Shutterfly calendar. I know I had spoken at Orientation of using a different website for various needs, but I decided to keep it all in one place. I hope you find it simple and efficient to use. Please let me know how it goes for you.

Meet Poppa Jerry and Gramma Anne

It was a special treat to enjoy the company of Poppa Jerry and Gramma Anne in our classroom last week. Guess what? They are my very own parents! They were visiting from Michigan (barely north of Toldedo, Ohio) and I invited them to spend a few afternoons with us. They sang and danced with us, read stories, played with playdough, and helped us cut and count. It was delightful for everyone to have such child experts help us start the year off. Poppa Jerry and Gramma Anne raised five children and now have 25 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. That’s pretty impressive, don’t you agree?IMG_7126

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Classroom Happenings

This week we met our Buddy Class. They are Mrs. Washington’s Third Graders and they are eager to help us become confident learners. For our first experience together, they helped us learn how to log on and log off in the computer lab. It was very interesting to see how quickly the TK students caught on to the procedure. I’m sure we will need a bit more practice, but there are several students ready to teach their classmates who need another tutorial. Everybody knows something, so everybody can be a teacher! IMG_7232

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Important Dates

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Here is a list of regular events:
Mondays – Library 11:05 – 11:20 AM
Tuesdays – Computer Lab 11:05 – 11:35 AM
Wednesdays – Communication Folder is due
Thursdays – Library books are due
Fridays – Communication Folder sent home

Here is a list of upcoming special events:
Wednesday 8/19 is Picture Day. Details are in the Communication Folder.
Friday 8/21- Z-Best Coupon Book Sale ends. Turn in orders and unsold books.
Monday 9/7 – Labor Day/No School
Friday 9/11 – Track Change Day. TK class hours are 7:45 – 11:16 AM.

Our First Week

Dear TK Families,
I hope your student came home excited to share many experiences from our first week of school. We are getting to know each other and learning all 24 new names. We are practicing the classroom rules and routines for listening and sharing. We have been exploring the different areas of the room and how to use the materials properly. The students are enthusiastic about every activity, which is a big reason to love teaching this group eager beavers!

We will be focusing a great deal of effort on drawing, writing, and cutting for small muscle development. It would be very helpful to provide many similar opportunities at home. If you don’t have one already, now would be a good time to set up a box of crayons, markers, scissors, stickers, glue sticks and paper for at-home practice. Using playdough frequently is another effective way to build those muscles. I’ll post an easy recipe shortly.

We have also toured part of the campus and some of the important people. So far, we have met Mrs. Noya and Mrs. Wilson (AM Kdgn teachers); Mr. Hauder (principal); Mrs. Robinson (vice principal), Mrs. Grayberg (librarian); Mrs. Cha (computer teacher); Miss Toni (custodian); Miss Mai, Miss Debbie and Miss Vickie (office staff).

I will be sending a test email today to see if I have entered everyone’s address correctly. If you do not see an email from me, please send one so I can fix my contact list.

Enjoy your weekend!
Mrs. P 😀

Welcome to a New School Year!

Hello New Friends,
Welcome to my blog page. I am so glad you are here to join me in my new adventure teaching Transitional Kindergarten. There are many important items to cover at the start of each school year, but let me begin with the most important ones: I love teaching and I am immensely happy that you are here. We are going to have a fun year learning together.

This blog is the center of my communication about classroom happenings. Please subscribe so you will be automatically notified of new posts. Just click on the “Subscribe” button in the left hand column.

I have many things to do to be ready for school this week, so I had better get busy. See you soon!

Joyfully,
Mrs. Petuya 😀