The Ririe Report

It was a real pleasure to meet with so many of you. Meeting with wonderful parents like yourselves reaffirms my conviction to do my best to make this year a great year for my students.

Every morning, right after announcements, (sorry, I only get to do this with my homeroom class) the class gathers around me and we talk. Sometimes the kids like to tell me about events in their lives, or sometimes I just pose a questions and they all share their thoughts. Gradually, though, it evolved into what we are doing now, and I think it's wonderful, so I wanted to share it with you. By the way, your kids helped me name all of these.

Myself Monday - I ask them to share something they like about themselves. I wanted to start the week having them say positive things about themselves. Some students start out by just saying something like, "I like my eyes," or "I like my hair," but as they get more comfortable, some of them start to talk about character traits they admire in themselves.

Troubled Tuesday - The students share concerns they have about the class, school, family, world. I believe listening to someone else's concerns helps foster empathy and concern for others. We have had some lovely, moving moments.

Wake-Up Wednesday

We salsa danced last week, or we go outside to walk around the track for a few minutes.

Thank Thursday

We talk about someone or somethings for which we are grateful. A grateful heart is a good thing.

Friendly Friday

Students pay a compliment to someone in the class. I've told them that it's okay to compliment someone from the opposite sex ("It doesn't mean you're getting married"). It's lovely to hear the kids pay a meaningful compliment to someone else.

I'm so excited about our upcoming social studies project. The students have started learning about the thirteen colonies and will be examining the impact geography had on a colony's economic growth.

Students will choose a colony and then make a "pillow" which will be covered with information - pictorial and written - about that colony. We will be doing the research and work in class, but students are certainly encouraged to do research at home, as well.

I will give each student the requirements for the projects and will also post them on Google Classroom.

I am so proud of the four students who accepted the invitation to write a poem for our Veterans Day program. Bella, Alessandro, Avery, and Laila did a beautiful job and I was really moved by their patriotic words.

I am also really proud of Bryan for being willing to participate in the upcoming Spelling Bee. He was my only student who took up the challenge. I know a spelling bee can be intimidating but like I told them, DON'T EVER LET FEAR OF FAILURE KEEP YOU FROM DOING SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP YOU GROW.