Parent-Teacher Conferences

Hello, Room 101 families!

We are having Parent-Teacher Conferences this Wednesday, April 18th. As I prepare for this meeting, I can't help but reflect on each of our student's progress and growth. Every child in 101 has matured in their own way. I've grown to learn more and more about your children from our daily conversations and interactions. I can't wait to see you all on Wednesday!

If you still have not signed up for a slot, I will assign one to you at the end of the day. Please go to the Suder website to sign up. We also have parents asking about student attendance on Wednesday. Parent-Teacher Conference is a non-attendance day for students.

Here are some articles that I've found that relates to our conference. Let me know what you think. See you at school!

Read on below:

• I found the questions on this one helpful.
• Parent-Teacher collaboration
• Support your child's learning at home

Dancing to the song, "Tooty Ta" =D

Sophia A. and the Bead Stair

Daniel and the Multiplication Bead Bars

Amelia cut carrots for our soup....

...while Charlie grated some ginger.

Ms. Castillo reviewed the Blend work with Natalie.

Xitlali quantified numbers.

Santi enjoying our new books donated by our families. Thank you again! =)

Nijel concentrated on his punching work.

Maya "planted" some carrots.

As The Third Quarter End...

Hello, everyone!

The children are diligently working hard towards their individual goals. So much activities continuously go on everyday! Some are busy working on math operations, some are building story booklets and others maybe working on their independence or concentration. I have noticed some of our preschoolers are already showing leadership skills and initiative in choosing works that challenges them. I am observing these children move away from the works that are comfortable. They are deciding to try out a variety of new things. This is inspiring the other children to do the same.

Smiles all day! 

Zoe did hand washing before her snack.

Sasha blended sounds to read words.

Isabella graded the Pink Cubes.

Observing Sandy eat live crickets!

Garvit dabbed after completing his work! =)
(The girls are baking a cake.)

Look what repetition can do!

Sophia A. and Xitlali made their community helpers book.

Natalie and Ms. Sonnia worked on the Noun work

Some quiet time in classroom library.

Jena building her name using the light box and her name tag.

A typical 101 day...

Maya and the Moveable Alphabet. (We talked about the picture before she created her sentence.)

Maya wrote her sentence after building it with the Moveable Alphabet.

The finished product!
(The girl is painting a rainbow for her mom.)

This is something new I learned at a workshop- Guided Writing.

This activity links with our Guided Reading groups. 

It focuses on sentence structure (Capitalization, word spacing, punctuation marks, sight words, etc) 

Leslie wrote a story using the sequence cards and the Moveable Alphabet.
(Same skills, different material. It's all connected in a Montessori classroom!) 

Nijel and Santi creating their own booklet.

Roy practiced one to one correspondence and letter-sound connection.

Noah showed Charlie how to journal his reading.

Isabella with the Opposite work.

Sasha and Garvit challenged themselves with the 100 Board

Nijel created a 3D sculpture with the light box and shapes.

Roy enjoyed the calmness in the Peace Corner.

I was also reflecting on our kindergarten students and how far they've accomplished! The ideas and opinions they share during our discussions have become deeper. I am seeing before me this group of children get themselves ready for the new cycle. We have had several conversations about First grade. Some of our friends our excited and some are showing a little bit of apprehension. In the classroom, we try to talk about the transition as it presents itself. Some of the students shared about their excitement, which led to our conversation. Looking back last year, my group of Kindergarteners grew very attached to me. They still come to our room almost everyday to say hi and help out in cleaning. For our Kindergarten families, I hope this article can be helpful to you and your child on the move up to the next grade level. I will also look for more articles and share as I find them.

Ibrahim recorded his equations using the Multiplication Board.

Natalie and Ms. Castillo worked on word endings.

Daniel and the Measurement work.

Sophia R. labeled some nouns in our environment.

Noah counted the 6 Short Chain.

Natalie and the Addition Strip Board.

Daniel and the Subtraction work.

Sophia R. and Audrey worked on the Stamp Game (dynamic addition).

Lastly, I want to share this community building activity we do in the classroom. We call it, "The Bell Game." It promotes hand-eye coordination and of course, team work! We pass the bell around and try not to ring the bell. The children love this activity! I wonder if you can create this game at home, too.

See you at school!



P.S. I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about the things I share with you. Let me know what you think by commenting on the post. =)

"Bring Home the Magic!"

Welcome Back, families!

I am rejuvenated and excited to be back in the classroom! Spring Break and the Montessori Conference in Denver were very good to me. I had the chance to connect with other teachers, learn from them, share my knowledge and purchase new things for our room! After the conference, I was able to spend my Spring Break in Denver with my family (my husband and children drove to Denver from Chicago.) It was quite amazing! I hope you also had an awesome break. I can't wait to hear how you spent it during our Morning and Sunset Meetings.

There is so much to share that I don't know where to start! Haha! First, I'll share the school observations that I was able to attend in Denver. Ms. Essling and I were able to coordinate 2 school observations. The first school we observed was Family Star Montessori. It is a head start program and it was very interesting to see their Infant/Toddler Montessori rooms. They also shared how their community supports parents and their children. I was especially interested in one of the EC classrooms that had a variety of "Snack Works" on the shelf. Aside from the the community snack, snacks were also on the Practical Life Shelf. The children were able to isolate the skills (a Montessori approach) of peeling, cutting and others. 

The next school we observed was Sandoval School. This school is a Denver Public Montessori where our old art teacher, Kelly Bolt, now teaches. We were able to observe the afternoon work time. The school is a dual language school and the children were all speaking in Spanish. We were able to observe kindergarten independent reading and independent work time. The children were so focused on their works! It was very impressive.

At the conference, I went to several workshops. I don't intend to bore you with all the details =) but I want to share with you the topics of the workshops I went to. They are as follows: 

• Teachers' Emotional Intelligence (Being prepared emotionally to be able to support your students effectively)
• Integrating Curriculum in the 3-Year Cycle
• Celebrating Differences Through Cosmic Education (Montessori's Cosmic Task)
• Enriching the Language Area
• Beyond the Peace Table: Supporting Anti-Biased, Anti-Racist Practices

These workshops were brilliant! I value all of the different ideas and discussions that I participated in. I also had the opportunity to engage with the other Suder teachers who went. We were able to discuss what we learned and how best to take it back home to our students.

With that, I want to share my favorite speaker at this conference. Rick Steves is a well published author of travel books. He shared how travel has made him the person he is now and it has given him a new perspective in peace and understanding of the world. I won't be able to mimic the heartfelt presentation he gave, but I was very moved that he made traveling his avenue to humanize society. He challenged us to be thoughtful and transformative travelers. He wants us to "be part chameleon" when we travel. We should morph with the culture, use the world as our "wading pool of exploration", and at the end we get to "bring home the magic." As an educator, this struck me deeply because I am always trying to better myself, improve my craft and know "everything." It is because I want to be the best teacher I can be, but mainly because I want to serve my students and my own children with what I learn. Rick Steves ended his presentation by saying, "When you travel, your truth is challenged." You become fearful of being uncomfortable and not knowing something. But he also said that "the flip side of fear is understanding." Such beautiful insight and a reminder to all of us to always move forward. Keep on trying and going... there is still a lot to learn!

See you at school!

Always,

Mrs. Guerrero