On Monday, we took the time to look back through our "green journals" and reflect on all of our writing and storytelling thus far in Kindergarten. Reflection is such a useful tool in teaching and life in general - but is also one of the most overlooked and least excercised. It is so easy to ignore and not follow through. In the classroom (and life in general) we are always rushing to move on, to the next big thing coming, that we so easily forget that reflecting could be even more important than those.  Once we force ourselves to metitate for a moment on the past and "unpack the material" if you will," the lesson becomes instantly clear and the reward of the action is tenfold. So, we did this on Monday - and indeed we chose a single piece that we will save for our portfolio. We also shared our selections with our class and you can see for youself the smiles and enjoyment that were the end result. 

on Wednesday afternoon, we were priviledged to have a well-known and seasoned author. Kenneth Thomasama braved the snow and wind to drive from his home in Kelly, Wyoming to visit all of our elementary students and speak to us about writing. He was a fantastic storyteller and told the background behind his famous novel Naya Nuki.   He kept our attention for an hour! That must be a record for Kindergarten! He shared with us his involvement in the making of the Sacajawea golden dollar coin. He met First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and with his wife, joined her at the White House to accept an award for his reserach which helped in making this coin become a reality.

This shortened week, with so many projects taking on exciting stages, Valentine's parties, and our visiting graduate student Mary Beth here with engaging and hands-on activties during afternoons - left little time for our traditional handwriting practice and journal entries. Check back next week!

At the beginning of this week, we finally experienced the final step of our letter writing process. We walked to the Victor post office and hand-delivered our letters! It was with great satisfaction that we each dropped the letter in the large blue metal container that would take our envelopes on a journey to the person to whom they were intended. It was a snowy day, but we braved the elements, and while we were there, the postmaster allowed us to come behind the desk and have a glance at what it entails just to get a letter to the place where it is going to be mailed. In order to have the letters go to the correct place and without mistake, the post office is required to be a very organized and tidy place!