February 8

Good afternoon!

Our schedule for the day was different than usual, and the students took it all in stride. After a morning meeting, we headed down to music (two days in a row of playing instruments!).

I had students take their snacks out and eat them when we returned. Some students wondered why we were eating snack so early, and we talked about possible reasons. I learned that I have to be careful how I phrase my words as I asked, "Why is it not a good idea to eat and swim?" because students were responding as if they imagined themselves swimming in the pool with food, therefore leaving crumbs and making a mess!

Due to the weather and the first bus being late, our time of being in the pool was delayed by about 15 - 20 minutes, however we still had our full time in the water. Students did a fairly good job of removing their swimsuits, putting on clothes, and then heading to the foyer to put on their boots. We had to be super speedy as the bus had to drop us off and pick up the next group of swimmers. A few things we noticed was that some kids were putting on their snow pants and jackets in the change room when they could do that in the foyer while waiting. Some students didn't like their socks getting wet due to the water on the floor, so my suggestion is to put socks on once they are out of the change room. We talked a lot about being responsible for our own things, including towels and bags. Definitely a learning curve for many.

When we returned it was lunch time so it was a smooth transition. Students have added on another five minutes to their 100 minutes of reading for 100 days of school. Some started on their next set of number chains. We wrote in our journals about our first day of swimming. I was very impressed with the sentences students were writing especially when I saw sight words being used.

By the way, today was the 95th day of school. I have a mischievous student named "Not Me" who has been flipping the numbers and popsicle sticks around to mix us up. I don't have a picture of Not Me and he/she is not on my class list 😊

See you tomorrow!

Ms. Cokar