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Dear 5th Grade Families,

I hope your camper arrived to you happy and not too tired, and that they shared with you some of their fun experiences from our amazing trip to the Angelo Coast Range Reserve. Our stay at the Reserve was indeed quite magical, and I think every single child left the place a bit changed.  I can speak for myself in saying that I experienced your children in an entirely new way as well, and during our last moment on the reserve my eyes were wet with wonder and amazement at how incredible your children are.  When I got back home, completely exhausted and worn through, I sat down with Jennifer and shared with her some of the highlights from our stay at the Reserve. We shared an emotional and profound realization about how powerful this kind of activity can be for a child.

For many parents the "letting go" was the difficult part; the loss of control was quite a hurdle for some. Who would drive my child? What would my child eat?  Who would comfort her when she could not sleep?  Who would nurse him when he was hurting, or give her medicine when she needed it?  Who would make sure he was warm enough, or cool enough when it was hot?  Would my child's experience match my own expectations for the trip?  The "letting go" challenge was very real and palpable, as was evidenced by the flurry of email questions/FYI's I amassed as the departure date approached, and the large number of special notes I (and some parent chaperones) received detailing special concerns or directions for specialized care.  Letting go WAS INDEED difficult, and as we departed on Tuesday, and throughout the week, that thought was ever-present in my mind and heart.  It was no surprise then, that the Botany Trip page on our class website was hit 345 times on Tuesday, with parents checking in over and over again to relieve their anxieties that we had indeed made it.  As the week progressed, the number of people checking the site dropped dramatically, and I hoped that this was evidence that the feeling of "loss" was replaced even a small bit by a feeling of excitement and joy for the adventure your child was on, and a proud nod towards the huge step your child was taking.  For that was truly what was happening.  Huge steps were everywhere.  Your letting go allowed your child to grow, and grow they did.  You gave them a gift.  And it was truly a gift for me as well, to play a small role in it all.

Of all the wonderments the Reserve had to offer the children, the best was the gift of silence; silence from the busy schedule and chatter of modern life; silence from oversight of their parents; silence from all the patterns and routines of day-to-day existence that serve to screen out so much of what comes our way.  As real silence materialized--and it took a while for some--the children began to see the world around them quite differently, and also hear their own unique voice inside--maybe for the very first time. And during our last sharing circle, when asked to speak aloud a challenge they had faced while being on this trip, the things the children spoke about were astonishingly deep and profound.  I realize this perhaps sounds woo woo and maybe even cliche' to some, but it's entirely true.  Something very important happened in that silence.  These children had taken a HUGE step towards growing up.  Huge.  It was a wonderful way to begin the new school year.

I will be posting on our web site the first batch of pictures that I amassed from the trip, and as I receive more from other Chaperones I will continue to add them to our collection.  Lizards were everywhere, as were deer (astonishingly close to us).  I will also make an effort in the coming weeks to upload all the photos to the Shutterfly page so that they are accessible to you in that venue as well, in case that is the best way to get copies.

I would like to deeply thank the adults who helped to make this trip such an amazing success as well.  Between squeezing their cars and trailers down the very, very skinny skinny access road, driving large numbers of bouncing, excited children in their car and not developing a split personality disorder, shopping for huge amounts of food, cooking, cooking, cooking, caring for every child in such a loving, ever-present, even tempered and hands-off manner, helping children with late-night bathroom trips and extra blankets around sleeping bags and such, namely doing what needed to be done at every turn, and always, always keeping a sense of humor, you did it all.  Thank you Michele, Brent, Lisa, Tiffany, Leigh and Greg!  I honestly feel kind of indebted to you.

Thank you also, Annie for helping hugely with the shopping, food planning and preparation, and thanks as well to all you bakers out there who sent in far more cookies than I thought was possible.  We ate like kings, and I was surprised that I did not wake up on Saturday morning with chocolate chip eyes and snicker doodle arms and legs.

Extra Luggage?  Missing Luggage?
If your child came home with a bag full of mysterious and unfamiliar items, please bring the item to school tomorrow and put it in the bin sitting under the window.  Items that went missing include (so far): a sleeping bag (Mora), and stuff-sack (Quentin), and a small black Magnalight flashlight (yours truly).  Extra unclaimed items are currently sitting in the very same bin, or in the event that there was a name on it, on your child's desk, and so can be retrieved in the morning.

This Week:
Thus ends our first Main Lesson block, Botany, and begins Michele's time at the helm of the Starship 5thgradeprise. Though the completed main lesson books for the block and all other work was due on Monday, before we left to the Reserve, many children unfortunately did not meet that deadline and will now be pressed by Michele tomorrow to complete their work ASAP.  That way I can begin reviewing it for the end-of-block report that I hope to send out to you all.  Because this will be the first report of this kind, it will take me a bit of work to arrange the formatting and such, but my hope is to send along something to you by the end of the week so that you know how your child did as well as what they could be working on in the coming weeks and months.

Math
I would like to mention one more thing before I zip off.  With only two or three exceptions, every single child in the class could use a review of their multiplication facts.  I gave an end-of-block math test to see where everybody was at in regards to remembering 4th Grade Material that we had reviewed, and nearly everybody stumbled around the issue of multiplication facts.  It affected their ability to work at large digit multiplication, long division, factoring, and all things related to common denominators and the simplification of fractions. Forgetting the multiplication facts is not an unusual phenomena, and though there will be a very small bit of review of it in class, this is something that will for the most part need to be done primarily at home in some way.  Whether it is by flashcard, vocal quizzing, online drilling, or some other painless method, any review your child can get will almost certainly be helpful. I encourage you to make space in your child's evening for this kind of thing so that they can hit the ground running when we go deeper into fractions and decimal frctions in the coming weeks.


With that said, I now will pass you onto Michele who will take things from here.  Have a wonderful Autumn.  I know I will see you soon.

Love,
Justin

And now… Michele...
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Dear 5th grade parents,

I truly agree with the sentiments that Justin so eloquently presented at the start of this email. The field trip afforded me the time to interact with the students and to learn their names (not an easy feat with the particular selection of names in this class!) and their unique personalities. What a wonderful group of students!

Our next main lesson block is Ancient Civilizations. All other subject classes will continue as usual (a note for those who come on Monday for math - take a break this Monday I will be giving an assessment, but your help will be welcomed starting on Tuesday.). Violins still need to be practiced and brought back to school daily, and signed homework sheets will continue.

I look forward to taking the helm of the Starship and steering them to our first stop...Ancient India!

Love,

Michele

 
Dear Fifth Grade Families,

It has been so busy these past three weeks that I have hardly had any time to sit down and reflect upon our progress.  The start of a new school year always brings with it so many, many changes, and also challenges-- even with the same children in the classroom-- and it is a daunting task to meet all the changing needs of children, and parents, and colleagues in the hours of a single school day. Often I will say to myself, "I need to talk to/sit down with ________, or call/email _________, because …," or "I need to catch _________ after school and mention…," only to discover that I was unable to get to it. For me it is by far one of the most challenging aspects of working in this job.  Yet finally, this morning, in spite of my failure to do it "all", as I took the time to review the past weeks, I couldn't help but feel gratified by the images that popped up for me:
  • Absolute exuberance over the new subject classes of Woodwork, Handwork, Movement and Games
  • Motivated recorder players re-familiarizing themselves with their formerly dormant instrument
  • Musicians playing the duet part to Perpetual Motion on the violin after only one week of work on it
  • Pencils scratching with surprising comfort with basic mathematics.  (The summer had not erased it completely!)
  • A sea of children's hands in the air with questions and thoughts about the plant world
  • Beautiful drawings and fun writing in the main lesson books
  • Illuminating and often entertaining Personal Narratives written about summer happenings
Our Fifth Grade train has rocketed out of the station and is chugging quickly down the tracks, and though there are still so many things to do and improve upon, the children are doing beautifully. I hope you too have had the opportunity to witness wonderful things happening within your own child at home as well.  If I can ever find the time to talk to you, I'd love to hear about it!  Ha!  

Angelo Coast Trip: Tuesday-Friday
I hope your packing for our upcoming trip is going smoothly.  We will be loading up on Tuesday morning at the normal arrival time- 8:20am.  Please remember to drive to the back area of the school where our trucks and cars are parked, and not the front of the school.

If you need another copy of the packing list, feel free to download one from the class website by clicking on the Botany Trip link.  This will also be the place where I'll be posting an evening update during our stay on the reserve- depending upon the dependability of cell access, of course.

As you pack with your child, please remember:
Label EVERYTHING
Pack everything in one or two large bags if at all possible (also labeled).
Please no plastic garbage bags.
Remember it will be cool in the night and early mornings, so pack for warmth, including the sleeping bag.  Err on the side of being too warm if there is a choice!
If you have any questions please let me know.

We hope to return on Friday, between 4:30 or 5:00pm.
    
That's all for now.  See you on Tuesday.

Justin
 
9/3/12
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,

The First week of school went quite well and I am ready and looking forward to the upcoming long days happening this week.  Thank you very much for coming to our parent meeting on Thursday.  I hope Michele and I were able answer any questions you had about the busy year ahead of us, and I also hope that you left feeling excited about the experiences ahead for your child.  I know I am.  Please read on for news and information regarding the upcoming weeks…

Google Docs Help Page
I have re-activated our Google Docs Class Help Page in order to expedite our volunteer help sign-ups. This site will be the place to sign up for volunteer opportunities throughout the school year.  Needs currently posted include:
    • Math help
    • Angelo Coast Range Reserve
    • EVF

I goofed on the Math Help sign-up sheet that was passed around during our meeting on Thursday and forgot to include Tuesday, so please note that it is now on the google docs page…

The Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17mlIDc0iyksHQNxqtJvB3rcf9O7hvJz4P_kvdlC0IvQ/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1

Angelo Coast Trip, September 18-21
As I said enough times during our meeting last week to make Bridget want to put me in a head lock, I am quite excited about our upcoming Botany field trip to the Angelo Coast Range Reserve. Here is a link to the ACRR website, in case you want to read more about the place: http://angelo.berkeley.edu/.  I would appreciate it very much if you would, please, I beg you, NOT go onto the computer with your child and show them pictures of the reserve, or Google earth it, or anything like that.  There is enormous (!!!) value in letting the children imagine the place on their own from the stories I tell them, without the aid of technical support, and I hope you will give them the opportunity to actually do that.  As I mentioned on Thursday evening, the purpose of the trip is two-fold: to get the children out into nature and experience the natural world in an authentic and beautiful manner, separate from the trappings of modern life, and to face and overcome the challenges associated with being away from home and staying in a rustic environment.  I have no doubt that every child will come away from this experience feeling that they have experienced something special.  (Sorry Bridget.  I had to say it again.)

At this point (as expected) we have more parent volunteers than we need, as well as supplies.  Happily, it also looks like we will have enough Vans and Trucks.  I am in the process of working through the chaperon/driver puzzle and hope to have it all clarified by Tuesday evening. Here are our remaining needs as they stand right now.
  1. Is your child going? If your child is not coming along in this trip I would like to know as soon as possible.  Knowing the exact size of our group will help tremendously.
  2. Cookie bakers.  Can you bake some cookies (observing the usual peanut policy)?
  3. Chef.  Are you interested in pre-cooking (and freezing) a meal, ahead of our departure? 

Going home with the children this week is a packet of paperwork associated with our journey.  Two of the items must be returned as soon as possible:
    • Rough Trip Itinerary, FYI
    • Parent Permission Form, required by our school
    • ACRR Waiver of Responsibility Form, required by the reserve.
    • Another supply list, in case you lost the first one

All four of these forms are attached to the end version of this update, and also downloadable from our class website (by clicking onto the Botany Trip link).  Note: I hope to use our class website to post updates from the reserve during our visit, depending upon our access to a cell phone signal.  

Games Class Reminder from Mr. Henke
Games classes are Tuesday and Fridays for the children this year.  Mr. Henke has asked me to mention to class parents that the children should wear appropriate shoes on Games days.

Homework Page:
I am still providing the children with a page upon which to write down their homework assignments.  I am also continuing to ask them to have a parent sign the sheet on Thursday so that I know that the parents have checked in with their children about their work.  My objective is to keep you in the loop.

EVF Update: WE NEED HELP
EVF is October 13th this year and we are most likely in charge of the very popular Knight's Quest. This booth does require some pre-planning and organization. Jess will connect with whomever headed up the booth last year, but will need someone from our class to step up to the role of coordinator. Please let her know if you are interested!

SCHOOL SCRIP-- (WAY easier than running a fundraiser like Extravaganza!)
Support SBS with Scrip. Cards are now available at the Rainbow Shop during open hours, as well as in the office. Whole Foods, Peets, Target, Arco and more! Every card you buy is a donation to our school, without you spending any additional money. This is money you are already spending- make it count! Scrip is also available to order. Orders due on Mondays at 9am.

Updated Class Contact List
Attached at the bottom of the email version of this  update is an edited draft of the class contact list.  I passed the old version around at the class meeting to be corrected, and I think I was able to update everything that was noted.  If you were not at the meeting and unable to edit your info, or noticed a mistake I made, let me know and I will update the list further.  Look for it at the bottom of this page.


I think that's it.  See you this week, I am sure.

Justin