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Hello there! I hope that you are enjoying some extra time with your little diamonds today! I am about to head to my afternoon workshop and meeting. It is so fun for teachers to just have time to learn too!

Homework tonight is a front and back review sheet of Place Value and Value. Now that I am starting to figure out who is at what level in math, starting next week homework will be leveled as well. Some kids are ready for an extra push and some need more practice on the basics. So, your child's homework may not look like their friends. That being said, homework should also NOT require a lot of help from mom and dad. If you are finding that you are having to teach or re-teach in order for your child to complete their homework, please let me know and I will adjust their leveled work. I don't want it to be a new teaching session at home. They should absolutely be able to complete it with little to no help at home by doing what we do in the class lesson. I will count on you to keep me posted on that one. The other part of homework today is 2 sessions of xtramath.org. Kids came home with their pin numbers today. The site is on the blog off to the right under Ms. Erickson's favorite sites. They need my email address to log in. They wrote it in their planners, but it is ericksont@billingsschools.org. When they complete each session it will send their report to me through email. This is how I track who did it or not and how they did. Everyone should be working on multiplication basic facts. Need help? Give me a call or shoot me an email.

Today the kiddos had some trouble in art class. For what you may ask? Well, I will say that I am glad it is not just my classroom. They lost three of their five points today in art. One for talking at inappropriate times, one for not listening when the teacher was talking, and one for destroying property of the teacher. Needless to say, when i picked them up I was a little embarrassed. So, when we got back to class we had a big heart to heart talk at CC Meeting. It was actually perfect because Rusty's lesson was taking responsibility for one's choices, thoughts, and actions. We created a class poster of all the things that THEY could control themselves without any outside influences. See the picture above. They got the point! :0) Then, I asked them to take a blank piece of paper and write down the one thing that is hindering their character the most. It could be anything! We then went around and shared so that the kids would be accountable for what they wrote down. Finally, we listened to the song Goodbye, by Mandisa. It is an amazing song about saying goodbye to the one that used to be and hello to the one we want to be. Mandisa is a Christian singer, and there was a mention of Jesus in her song as part of her goodbye process. We once again talked about this topic in school, and students were offered a chance to leave if felt uncomfortable. None did. After the song, I had the kids crumple up their goodbye "topic" and as they left group they slam dunked them into the garbage. Doing so, symbolized that they were letting go of that behavior and saying goodbye to it forever. The video above shows this process. Is it working on your end? I couldn't get it to play. Would you let me know in the planner. If not, I will find a different way to stream it to you! We talked how bad habits take time to get out of our system, but that each time we slip up we can start over in THAT moment! Ask your child what they wrote on their paper. If they can tell you write GOODBYE in the planner for $10 tomorrow. All students were fined $100 for each point they lost in art (tough lesson!). It is a group point system, so therefore it is a group consequence. All agreed that they were guilty for at least one of the three.

Some kids have gone broke in class. This is not impossible, but it is pretty difficult to do. I give out money like it is going out of style in here. So, if a child is broke, they have made some pretty negative choices over and over again. So, this is where my debt policy comes in. If a child is broke, they may either sit out at recess and wait till they earn enough to pay off their debts, or they may run laps and earn $10 a lap. I was happy when the ones that this applied to today chose the second option, and I think they actually thought about why they were running. Both students today earned $100 and were able to pay off some of their debts. Again, it is their choice how they pay it back but they may not have fun privileges until it is. Apply to real life??? I'm thinking you betcha!

Tomorrow midterms go home. My grade book will be up to date as of tonight. Remember, there is still plenty of time to improve all grades. Please sign and return those on Monday.

Here are some upcoming dates for October at Arrowhead Elementary:
September 30-Taryn's Birthday
October 3rd-PTA meeting at 8:30 am
October 3rd-Superintendent Terry Bouck talk with Arrowhead Parents about future of BPS 6:00 PM
October 8-Coffee with the principal-8:30 am
October 8-22nd-BELIEVE fundraiser
October 9-Bike/Walk to school day
October 14-Hearing screening
October 16-Early out at noon
October 17-18-No school
October 25-Halloween Family Fun Night 6:00-8:00
October 25-Wear a hat to school for a $1 donation for Kaitlyn's Voice
October 25-End of Quarter
October 28-Nov. 8-Book Fair
October 30-Riley's Birthday
October 31-Orange and Black Spirit Attack! Wear as much orange and black as possible (school appropriate of course).
October 31-Ms. Erickson's Birthday (Explains a lot I know! :0))

Well, that about does it for the day! Have a wonderful evening!

Ms. Erickson