Mrs. McGovern's Classroom Connection

It is my sincere pleasure to welcome your child to my third grade classroom! I know the kids are very excited to begin another year at St. Linus. I hope it will be an enjoyable learning experience for all of us.
I would like to take this opportunity to answer some of the questions you may be wondering about as the children begin their year. First of all, our schedule is very full. I will teach reading and math in the morning whenever possible. Our "special" classes are scheduled as follows:
Monday AM................Computers
Tuesday AM...............Gym
Wednesday AM.......... Gym
Thursday AM..............Library & Music (late lunch start)
Friday AM..................Art
This year Mrs. Moran, my partner teacher, will be teaching Social Studies for both third grade classes, and I will teach Science for the two classes. The remainder of our subjects will be taught in our homeroom classrooms. We may be working together at times, and we will try to work at a similar pace.
Birthday treats may be sent with your child on his/her birthday (or on Friday if the birthday is over a weekend). Children with summer birthdays can celebrate either the first week of school or the last (which ever is closer to the actual birthday). Finger-food treats are appreciated.
I realize the day is long, and that the children may become restless. We will take washroom breaks as a group at least twice a day,. Encourage your child to wash his/her hands and make use of these breaks, but to ask permission for any emergency use of the washroom. While I do not schedule a definite "snack time" during the day, I often will treat the class to crackers, pretzels, or some other sugarless snack during their worktime. Donations are always appreciated and may be sent any time you have an opportunity to pick them up at a good price. The number of students in our room is currently at 19. Recess will take place right after lunch, weather permitting. Please dress your child according to the weather conditions as we usually do go outside for about 20 minutes.
I do like to celebrate several holidays with class parties... Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. Of course, we will try to plan two field trips this year as well. Please volunteer to help if you can...you are always welcome!
You will be able to keep updated on all of our activities and important information by checking this blog. Grades and averages can be reviewed anytime online using the Engrade program. More information and students' passwords will follow soon.
Thank you for this opportunity to work with your child. I look forward to working together with you to insure a really great year! I'll keep you posted!

Our first week was really an awesome one! I love getting to know the kids and watching their cute personalities pop out as we all become friends. Everyone was so well behaved. I was impressed at how well they are able to follow directions...that's a very good sign that we will have a good year!
This week we really get down to business! We will begin the first chapters (or units, as they are sometimes called) in each subject. We will also switch classes for Social Studies and Science starting this week. You may see the dreaded onset of HOMEWORK emerge! (Really, it's not so bad. I try not to give more than 40 minutes of reinforcement work a day.)
I want to see the children develop more RESPONSIBILITY this year, therefore they will copy their assignments from my Homework Chart each day themselves. I will not post assignments on this blog because I feel that it just defeats my purpose. I will try to monitor their homework tablets, and I hope that you will check their work against their tablets each day. You may initial the page if you would like to do so. If we have any difficulty with incomplete work, we can both get on board and initial each day. I do prefer that the children learn to do this themselves though. So that they will become sucessful at being responsible, I am constantly working on ORGANIZATION skills with my class. While I certainly don't expect the kids to be perfect, I do strive for a certain amount of caring for and organizing their materials. My third goal in third grade is to help the children grow in INDEPENDENCE. They sometimes are so fearful of making a mistake that they are unwilling to do things for themselves, when they are actually very capable. I want them to know that it's okay to make mistakes because we learn from them. Yes, there is a huge difference between making a mistake and not understanding something. Please encourage your child to always ask for my assistance when they do not understand. I will then be able to clarify and guide them into continuing on their own. I am always available for extra help when needed....before or after school if necessary.
I'm sure my goals for the year are very much the same as yours! Together we can help your child accomplish great things. I look forward to meeting you this Thursday, Sept. 4th, at the Parent Orientation Night. See you then..........