Their growth mindsets grew. I heard things the past few weeks like, "Well, it wasn't my best score, but that's OK, because I am going to try again and do better this time!" and "My score in reading is already good, but I started these corrections, so do you think I should finish them? Well, nevermind, I think I should finish them." and "I am SO close-I almost have my 40 books. Just TWO more. I think, no, I KNOW I can finish them by next week." These are the habits and mindsets that will serve them so well in middle school and in life....music to my ears.
Their problem solving and perseverance grew. In the beginning of the year I heard a lot of "This is too hard. I don't know what to do next. Can't you just tell us the answer?!" While I do still hear SOME of that, I am also having more conversations that start with "I tried this. Then I found this out, and I got this answer. I am just not sure it's right. Maybe I should try it again." Different variations of this conversation, but the common theme is that they are TRYING different strategies, they are working it through, and they are determined.
Responses to reading and explaining text evidence-this is an area where we all took a minute recently to recognize just how much they have all grown. If you compare a writing piece from the beginning of the year to just last week, the changes are amazing. The kids are putting in direct quotes, trying to make all the right quotation and punctuation marks with those quotes, and they are explaining and connecting their quotes to their main ideas. Their writing flows and so often includes insightful connections. I have been blown away!
Above all of these things, I have been so proud of the kindness, compassion, and camaraderie. This class is always so quick to help each other out. If I am working with another student, there is always someone in the class that will step up and help others until I can make my rounds. They support each other and encourage each other. And whenever a disagreement does come up, it is worked out and they have moved on in a matter of moments. We are able to laugh together and share silly stories. Just last week one of the kids shared a story about kissing worms as a little kid and how gross that was, and he did not have any fear of being embarrassed or made fun of. He just owned it and we all laughed together over how silly it was.
I apologize for this lengthy post, but I just want you all to know how special and amazing this group is and how wonderful each individual kid in our class is. While I have loved every year that I have taught, every once and awhile you get a truly special group that stands out, and this is one of those groups. I am proud to send them off to South knowing that they have fantastic futures ahead of them, but I sure will miss these kids. So please, let them know I would love to hear from them-emails, visits, Edmodo-and know about the awesome things they are doing over the summer and in the years to come.
Enough with all the sappy stuff, here are some fun photos from the Musical and Field Day!
-We will be having our annual 5th Grade Kickball tournament with all 5th Grade classes on Wednesday during the day. Please be sure your child wears close-toed shoes that day!
-Yearbooks will be passed out Wednesday at the end of the day
-Thursday morning we will be watching FernGully as a whole 5th grade
-Thursday the kids will be emptying out their desks. Kids should consider bringing an extra bag to school to carry supplies home.
-Report Cards will be sent home on Friday. They can only go home with the student and cannot be sent home with friends or siblings, so if your child is not at school on Friday you can either pick up the progress report in the office or we can mail it home to you.
-We will be using shaving cream on the desks Friday morning. If for any reason you do not want your child to use the shaving cream, please let me know.
I think that's it! Please let me know if you have any questions. And THANK YOU for a wonderful year together!! (And thanks for humoring me if you read through my whole sappy post!)