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I had a student during Library notice that I had a poster of the Presidents of the United States.  He pointed to Gerald Ford and said that he was President when the Vietnam War was happening.  His family moved from  Vietnam to New Zealand but was sad for relatives that were still living there because the war was lost.

It was so nice to hear a great historical story about his family and his voice was soothing with a New Zealand lilt.

He inspired me to find out more about my family and share our family history with my own kids ;-)

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Students have started referring to each other as friends. :) Students are falling asleep in class. We are happy and exhausted.

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One of my students told me that his dream is when he turns 18 to enlist in the army and be a soldier "on the ground" to help and protect others.

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Student sharing what she built with the blocks. She built her family and where her dad's workplace.

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We are referring to each other as family, and working on learning about each other and celebrating our differences and similarities.

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Last Friday -
Student: "It's been three days of school!  Do we have to have homework today because it's been three days?"
Me: "You don't have to worry about homework!  We work so hard and do so much learning at school that the only homework you have is to read with your family."
Student: "Wait - so you mean we're just here to have fun!?"

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During one of the SEL mornings, a 4th grader was having a hard time sharing his feelings and eventually he had shared that his dad no longer lives with the family. I was able to relate to this but at that moment I just wanted to give him a hug but...

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Overall, they are doing great in learning how to be a small community within our classroom. They are beginning to communicate and encourage one another, cooperate, assistant, and enjoy one another. We do have one student that because of a language barrier is having trouble feeling connected and the students have noticed and want to work hard to change that.

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As I was getting acquainted with a 1st grader, I asked what other language she spoke besides English.  She explained that she spoke the language of Morocco.  She said they had many princesses and kings and queens in Morocco.  She let me know that they had no presidents only kings.  She was very proud and enjoyed telling me her story.  

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As I was getting acquainted with a 1st grader, I asked what other language she spoke besides English.  She explained that she spoke the language of Morocco.  She said they had many princesses and kings and queens in Morocco.  She let me know that they had no presidents only kings.  She was very proud and enjoyed telling me her story.  

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So many students are excited to be back in school. They are remembering what "school" feels like. Hearing them say they, "I remember this from Kindergarten", their last uninterrupted year really is eye opening. 

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So many students are excited to be back in school. They are remembering what "school" feels like. Hearing them say they, "I remember this from Kindergarten", their last uninterrupted year really is eye opening. 

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Students are learning how to work together and be bucket fillers, not bucket dippers! They are cheering each other on to celebrate students' successes. Some students even started saying "You are the best teacher!" <3

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My now 3rd graders were in 1st grade the last time I saw them in person ... Today, they were so excited to be making music together and using our drums! ... Some students shared with me some of the instruments they have at home/what instruments their parents play :) ... I heard them say "That was so much fun!" as we put away our notation sheets/instruments. It made me so happy :)

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We we were able to have students share about themselves, Ms. Alicia did a great lesson where students were able to choose something to share with the class.

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A student of mine shared that in her previous schools she always found it very hard to make friends because she is very shy and is an introvert. She shared with me that in the last two weeks she has made so many friends here at Ardmore and really appreciated the emphasis on building a community even during a pandemic and social distance requirements.

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A student sharing about Morocco and her home language

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One of my students was laughing as he told me his kindergarten brother does not want to go to school in the morning, but by afternoon he does not want to leave school.

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One of my students was laughing as he told me his kindergarten brother does not want to go to school in the morning, but by afternoon he does not want to leave school.

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A student from Honduras was able to show me his school and home in his "pueblo" by using google maps. He said his grandma still lives in the home. I want to learn more about him, his grandma, and his hometown.  

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A student from Honduras was able to show me his school and home in his "pueblo" by using google maps. He said his grandma still lives in the home. I want to learn more about him, his grandma, and his hometown.  

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Students shared parts of their story that make them special and unique. It was beautiful to hear and read what they shared.
Some students shared about their religions, others about family, their interests, etc.

Some students are definitely transitioning back to school, but overall feeling positive vibes from my POV ;) -Alicia

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Ms. Alicia worked with our students to think about what makes them special or unique. Students drew pictures of their favorite foods, their country's flag, their family, etc. and they were all collected on one big poster! It was encouraging hearing them share what they feel make them special

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Several of my students have shown growth in their learning compared with last year, and they are very proud of themselves for learning more! Below are some quotes from the students:

- Thank you for the math class last year! It really helped me on the STAR test.
- I am so happy that I'm reading more! I worked on Imagine Learning at home.
- I feel that I'm reading better now.
- This (test) is still hard, but a little bit easier than last year.

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Student was so excited she was able to log into her laptop independently.

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Today we were sharing about foods we dislike and how we discovered that dislike. The stories were funny and engaging. Every student listened to every other student and showed their interest.