Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good and productive week. We have been having fun and working hard getting ready for Halloween. This week we reviewed what we have learned so far in science class. So the children should know the difference between birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and insects. They should be able to tell you the different characteristics of each. Also, they should know the 3 different ways to identify a mammal. In math class we worked together on a Halloween activity. We had to add double digit numbers in order to reveal a secret Halloween message. Most of the children in the class found this quite difficult, but I think with some hard work they will be able to figure out the sums on their own. This week's wordsearch was a vast improvement and I am proud of my class for applying themselves and really working hard to find the words. We learned a Halloween chant, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the children's lovely singing voices during music class. They really know a lot of the words and they all have their favorite songs from the C.D. Thank you all for playing it for them at home.

Emily worked very hard in math class this week and she was determined and focused throughout the lesson. I was proud of her listening skills and her great effort.

Sometimes Joyce says the funniest things. She is a very clever girl and she often surprises me. During math class she came to me and said "teacher I don't know how to do it" and when I looked at her work she had gotten almost all the answers right.

Paige's confidence while reading seems to be improving. She still finds it difficult sometimes to sound out all the words but I am very impressed with the improvement. She is always willing to participate and she always applies herself during class.

Melissa has her ups and downs. It is sometimes difficult to get Melissa's attention and she is often busy talking with her friends or fidgeting with things in her hands. I truly believe Melissa is capable of great things she just needs to focus a little bit more.

Stephanie is a very smart girl. She can follow instructions when she listens but sometimes it is hard to get her to stay in her seat and stop talking. During lessons I have asked her to sit at the front facing me instead of the other students and I think this method is working.

Erin seems to spend a lot of time fighting with other students and bickering and making faces at other students while she should be listening. When she arrives to class late she often breezes in disrupting the whole class instead of entering quietly and finding a seat. Academically I feel she is progressing, however I would like to see her fighting less with her classmates.

Tony makes me laugh everyday when I see him. I am very happy to see he has developed a routine now at school so he is not constantly forgetting his water bottle, passport, and reading books. It is nice to see him maturing and becoming more independent and responsible for his belongings. Way to go Tony!

Adam has an incredible memory. When we played the science review game today, he had his hand up for every question. I am very proud of his social progress also. At the beginning of the semester he seemed to have frequent outbursts and now he is more in control of his emotional responses.

Terry loves to set a good example for the rest of the class. He always helps his classmates with their work. The other day Terry was helping Adam with his work and Adam said: "teach me how to do it, but don't do it for me" and Terry was a wonderful teacher. I am very proud of his sensibilities, he is a strong and sensitive little boy.

Ethan, as you know, is adorable. He tries to focus in class, but sometimes it takes him twice as long as the rest of the class to finish an activity. I don't think this is because he is slower that the rest of the class, I think it is because he is often thinking about everything else except the task at hand.

Ian did very well this week in math class. He was very excited when I was teaching the lesson and said: "I know how to do this, my mommy taught me!" Ian is always up for a challenge and he rarely asks me to help him during classroom activities. Good work Ian!

I hope I see all of my students beautiful faces at the haunted house next weekend. Have a great weekend.