Tomorrow is the big day!

It was great to see many of you today at Open House! I hope that seeing the classroom, teachers, and old and new friends helped your child feel more comfortable about tomorrow.  I have just a few reminders/notes to help as you prepare for the big day!
- Please make sure that as you complete paperwork, you send it to school with your child. I know there are many forms/pieces of paper the first few weeks, but all of the information you provide helps ensure a smooth transition back to school.
- When the morning bell rings each day, our class lines up at the middle doors like in kindergarten.
- Lastly, please don't ever hesistate to contact me with questions or concerns! E-mail is a great way to contact me: sorensone@csdvt.org

I'm looking forward to a great first day of first grade!

Take a tour!

I took some photos today of our classroom as it is right now. It is ready for the first day of school! Now we need students around to make it feel more cheerful! You will notice that many of the bulletin boards are empty or do not have much on them. They will be filled soon with student work--self portraits, our Hopes and Dreams for first grade, charts we create together, and more. We will record our improvements on the blog as we go. I believe strongly that students should have a part in creating their classroom environment. I got us started, and now we'll work as a community to make it even better! I can't wait!

This is the view of our classroom from the front door--there are many more photos in the slideshow below!

Welcome, Miss Heney!

Miss Heney will be student teaching in our classroom!

I am pleased to announce that we have a student teacher from St. Michael's College for the fall semester--Emily Heney. Miss Heney is from Essex, VT and has had lots of experience working with children of all ages. She visited UMS for our Step-Up Day in June, so most students have already had the opportunity to meet her. Emily is working towards a degree in Elementary Education, and student teaching is an important culminating experience. Welcome to UMS, Miss Heney!

Welcome to First Grade!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the end of the summer and getting ready to head back to school! I am excited to see everyone again! I just returned to Vermont after a month-long trip home to visit my family in Michigan, and I am now busy getting the classroom ready. I also took a course earlier in the summer about the Reading Workshop, and I am eager to implement the new things I learned!

This is my second year of classroom blogging. It was very well received last year, and I hope that parents this year find it just as useful. Once school is in session you can visit the blog to see photos and videos of students, information about curriculum and the latest happenings at school, and updates/reminders about events and other important dates. Please feel free to peruse last year's info to get a general idea of how the blog works. The sidebars will help you navigate the blog.

I hope to see everyone next week for the Ice Cream Social!