September News!

September is slipping away quickly! I've had a wonderful time getting to know all my adorable Kindergarteners. It was great to see families show up for the Bayview Parents Night last night too. Thank you to Coen for these gorgeous sunflowers. Indeed, I believe they made the class look better than ever for the first week of school.

Here's some important information for the next two weeks.

Thursday Sept. 20: No School. There is a professional development day for staff in Deep Cove. No doubt I would much rather be with your kiddies than fight traffic to get to and from North Vancouver. Nonetheless, it will be an important day of team building with the new staff I rarely see now that I'm teaching in the basement!

Monday Sept. 24: I will be away. A Teacher On Call will be covering for me. I am very fortunate to be chosen to be part of the studio audience for Dr. Gordon Neufeld's filming of The Power to Parent (and Teach) Part II. This two day workshop is Sunday and Monday. It will focus on developing emergence and resilience in children. I'll give a little synopsis when I give back. Dr. Neufeld has been working with families for decades and is recently in high demand by lower mainland school districts. More information about Dr. Gordon Neufeld is at http://www.gordonneufeld.com/

The morning class will also start last part of recess without me this week. I've been watching them and they are ready. (Plus, I need to start taking my break!) Michelle will stay with them in addition to our supervision aide Maria. Maria will come for a class visit on Friday, so they know her better before Monday.

Tuesday Sept. 25 and Thursday Sept. 27: School ends at 2:00 p.m. for intake meetings. Hence, Division 15 in the afternoon has an early dismissal of 2:00 p.m. Only parents who missed the first week of meetings or request a special meeting will need to make an appointment with me. In other words, most families have already had their meeting and will not have another one.

That's it for now! Here's some pictures of our children exploring and discovering in the classroom.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for more!

Love Mrs. App

The First Full Day!

Congratulations to parents and students! Both classes excelled at their first full day of Kindergarten.

Here's a picture of Michelle our fantastic School and Student Support Worker (SSSW) and proud C. beside the castle he carefully built. I have many more photos of our busy day and am devastated to find out that blogger is still having errors that stops uploads at the moment. At least the first photo made it up before it crashed! Tomorrow is Wednesday so I'll see Division 14 at 9:00 am. Division 15 has a day off until Thursday. Both divisions will now start their classes with Book Time.

See you soon,

Mrs. App

The kids have their first hour of school!

It was a great start for all! I should have a lovely picture to go with this, but blogger seems to have trouble posting photos this evening. Regardless, it was a busy hour for both classes today getting to know the classroom, new friends, and me. Ah, but that's not all. Everyone had a chance to meet Michelle. We are very fortunate to have Michelle hired as our full time support staff member in both classes. She has genuine smile and the children warmed up to her easily and quickly.

Tomorrow is a regular day. Michelle and I will take the morning class out early to avoid having recess with the rest of the school tomorrow. The afternoon class will always have recess to themselves. In the morning, the kids will come and meet me on the carpet when they arrive again. However, BOOK TIME will start soon. This means bins of books will be on their desks. We welcome individual book "reading" or time reading a book with family members for the first ten or fifteen minutes. I'll explain it to the children on Tuesday and then try to start their day that way on Wednesday or Thursday.
I'm sure all the children are in bed as I write this. I, too, must do that now.
See you tomorrow,
Love Mrs. App

The First Week: Family Meetings

September is here and I'm delighted to meet each family that comes through the kindergarten door. Meeting times are posted on the bulletin outside the door if you've forgotten your time.
I'm looking forward to Monday Sept. 10 for the first official day of kindergarten for both classes. Remember classes are only one hour on Monday. Classes will be the regular length on Tuesday and everyday afterwards.

*
Stay tuned for posted week schedules and a calendar of September events.
See you soon!

Love Mrs. App

Getting Ready For September!

It's still August and if you peeked in the windows this month, you saw me setting up the classroom. I never would have guessed one month would barely be enough time to get it ready!





This bookshelf in our class library is looking ready for Kindergarteners.


Just two weeks ago, I was still moving furniture, unpacking, and sorting.
My mom came in for 3 days and generously cleaned behind the curtains, and washed lego for us. Here's what passerbys may have seen.



The room looks MUCH better now.
Stay tuned for updated photos.

Moving In & Setting Up The Classroom

I'm moving in!
Moments after the students left for the summer, I started boxing up all my materials and carrying them down 3 flights of stairs to our Kindergarten classroom. Our past Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Foran, has a tricky job of packing up and leaving the school. She's kindly leaving many things behind for us. At the moment the place is a mess and I've recruited family members to help out!
Here's my dad helping with a heavy item.

After many trips up and down the stairs, we decided to leave the remaining 32 boxes for the school board movers. Oh, well! There's plenty of cleaning and organizing to do before the rest of the boxes come. In these photos you'll see my parents, my sons, and me. We are all helping get the classroom ready for September.







Oh, boy! The class is not a pretty sight! I'll keep working on it all summer.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Love Mrs. App

Kindergarten Orientation - Teacher Talk

Here's most of the "teacher talk" that I gave on June 6 at the Kindergarten Orientation.

Kindergarten Teacher Talk - Mrs. App

About Me
I’m a proud mother of two sons - 3 years old and 7 months old.
I started teaching 11 years ago in Whistler. I loved my K/1 class but not my daily commute, so I moved to Vancouver.
I became a District Resource Teacher. I went to different schools showing teachers and support workers how to adjust their classrooms and lessons to meet special needs.
Then, I came to Bayview and taught k-3 fragile students in my Dad’s old grade 2 class.
Now, I’ve come full circle and am delighted to return to my favourite age group in my favourite school.

Brief Teaching Philosophy
The core of my teaching philosophy is this:
Children need a safe and caring environment where they have an attachment with their teacher and a sense of belonging so they can be comfortable enough to fully participate in learning activities.
Children learn in different ways, so I’ll use a variety of teaching methods and learning activities to meet the various needs of everyone.

Class Activities
I believe children thrive on routine, so you’ll see some regular daily activities such as Book Time, Morning Meeting, Math, Language Arts, Centres, Art, and Roses and Thorns.
I integrate subjects. For example, an art project will also teach or practise math, literacy, and/or socials.
Bayview is an Early Literacy school, and I’m an Early Literacy Teacher. I use Read Alouds, Shared Reading, Echo Reading, Shared Pen, Interactive Writing, Poems, Read Around The Room, Personal Writing, and Word Families.
I welcome volunteers into the classroom. I’ll keep the first few weeks as a special time for the students and me to connect as a class, get to know routines, and develop our own rhythm. Then, I’ll post a schedule for people to sign up to help out in the class.

First 2 Weeks
September 4-7:
These days are for family meetings with me. The school will contact you prior to September to let you know your time. Please bring your completed “Getting to Know Your Kindergartener” pages. This meeting is a chance for more questions and updates. It is also the first step of the integrated start to a full day. I believe this is a very important step in helping your child feel more comfortable for the upcoming year in Kindergarten. Your children look to you for guidance on whom they can trust. When they see us talk/connect they know that I’m someone you trust to take care of them when you leave. This makes the first day easier.

Monday, September 10:
This is the official start of Kindergarten. All students come on this day. Each class comes at their regular time and leaves after 1 HOUR only.

Tuesday, September 11:
The students stay until regular dismissal. (Please talk to me if you want your child to have a more gradual integrated start.)

Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten
Please don’t stress about getting your child ready for Kindergarten by using flash cards and practising various academic skills. It’s not necessary. In fact, it may increase anxiety about going to school.
To me, the most important way to prepare them is to help them be more emotionally comfortable for Kindergarten. Help ease any anxiety they may have (or yours!)
Ideas:
Talk about what you remember about today’s visit.
Drive or walk by the school
Visit the playground
Peek in the windows
Read books about going to Kindergarten
Look at the class blog on the computer
Endear your child to me, the teacher.*
*This means talking about “Mrs. App” together; finding similarities; and pointing out
whatever may be of interest to your child. This ongoing exercise helps your child build a
relationship with me (without me even being there). This will make your child more
comfortable to be in the class and lower separation anxiety.

Have a fabulous summer! I look forward to seeing you all in September.
Check back here periodically for updates.
Mrs. App