Thank you for all of the generous gifts and thoughtful cards given to me on the last few days of the school year. I've read the notes written by the kids in the class gift a few times now, and I'm truly touched by their kind words! The end of the year is always both exciting and strange for me, as I grow to truly care for each and every student in my class. The conclusion of this year was especially poignant for me due to the amount of growth I saw in this crew of students. Despite the craziness at times, and despite the ups and downs, I am so proud and appreciative of our 2018-2019 school year. I can't wait to see all of these guys continue to blossom into the students and people they are capable of being as they continue onto fifth grade and beyond. Please enjoy our (non-copyright-issues, updated) version of the slideshow below, and enjoy your summer!

This post will be mostly pictures...because I have a lot of them! We had our field trips to Brooklyn Boulders and the Museum of Science, as well as our end-of-the-year concert. The kids were really well-behaved on both trips and they were both a blast. In fact, the crew at Brooklyn Boulders were so complimentary that they deemed our very own 4th graders one of the best groups of kids they'd seen! I was really proud, and I look forward to spending time together at Albion Park on Monday. 

Since we were so busy this week, putting names in the Bucket Filler jar got lost in the shuffle. For that reason, I chose students from both rooms who stood out to me this week for one reason or another. From Mrs. O'Keefe's homeroom, Dylan, Owen, and Lyla were given the title. Dylan is always the first to express his gratitude for the fun things we do, and his appreciation makes me so appreciative! Owen and Lyla are two students who are constantly eager to help me in any way they can. They are almost always picking things up off the ground and neatening the room without me asking them to. Ava and Rakia fulfill that role in my homeroom. At the end of almost every day, after they pack up they immediately help me clean up. And I know it's not about getting recognition or about cleaning up their own mess (because more often that not, they weren't the ones to make it!), it's because they are truly thoughtful kids. I love that, and wanted to make sure each of these guys knew how grateful I've been to have them helping me out this year!

  

 

  

  

  

   

 

 

 

 

  

  

  

 

 

This past week was a short one but a fun one, because it was STEAM Week 2019! Ms. Tosches and the STEAM Week committee did an amazing job of organizing several engaging activities over the course of four days. We actually kicked things off on the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend with a whole-school assembly. We got to hear about what it means to be an entrepreneur from some inspiring speakers, and several brave student volunteers shared their thoughts (in front of a giant crowd!) about problems in our world that they would like to work towards and alleviate. On Tuesday, I introduced the kids to our social studies STEAM project. Students are working in groups to research a region of the United States and design an amusement park that represents that region. They then get to build a model of that design using all sorts of recycled materials. I love the creativity and teamwork I saw as they worked on this throughout the week, and I can't wait to see the final products come together! We also did a divergent thinking challenge this week that had students design and build a prototype out of limited materials, and we got to spend time outside for Field Day. But my favorite activity of the week came on Thursday. On Thursday, we got to make kindness rocks. Students painted rocks with sayings that promote kindness, gratitude, and positivity. They turned out really cool, and I had a blast making one myself.

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Basilia and Leanne. Basilia has a tendency to make me feel good. She is really thoughtful, like when she writes sweet little notes to me on her homework assignments and in her writing notebook. Stumbling upon them as I'm correcting and giving feedback always puts a smile on my face. I couldn't be more appreciative of her support, gratitude, and kindness towards me. Leanne made me so so so so so proud this week, and honestly, she's made me proud all year. That girl has grown an unbelievable amount this year, and it goes beyond academics. She is really coming into her own in terms of confidence, participation, and independence, and seeing her blossom has been an absolute joy this school year.