A Couple Notes

Bathroom Situation:
-The new bathrooms have the automatic flushing system installed on each toilet. A step forward in the prevention of spreading germs. A step back for some our young students using the bathroom on their own. We had a talk earlier in the week about why the sensors are there, how the sensors are set off, and that nothing will happen to them if the toilet flushes and they are still sitting there. If you could go over some of these points at home with your child, I think it will go a long way in helping some of the boys and girls get over the fear they currently have.

Rethman Report:
-I tried many different approaches and spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how I could upload this document on the blog, but had no success. While I try to contact someone to help me with this, I will be sending the Rethman Report home in your child's folder for a little while. I hope to have this resolved soon!

Erasers:
-I mentioned this in the Rethman Report, and I will go ahead make another request right now. We are in need of some of the pink, rectangular erasers for the students. The children have been using the erasers on the pencils, but the erasers keep snapping off. I have picked some up for the classroom to start, but if you could help us out with this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Skill Rings:
-Today (Sept. 17) was the day your child's skill rings were supposed to be turned in. I received most of them, but if you are still working on them, try to send them with your child by Monday.

Classroom Phone:
-My classroom phone was hooked up earlier this week and is now fully operational. The extension is 2514. So if you have any concerns you can now reach me by phone. I have also updated my profile, so you can find the phone information there.

The First Week

The first week of school has been very productive! The students are beginning to understand the classroom routines, the location of different rooms around the building, the lunch procedure, recess procedure, and the bus routines. The one part of the day that the students need a little more help with is when they come to the classroom in the morning. Some children are having a difficult time determining what is their snack and what is their lunch. I have had a few students eat part of their lunch during snack time by accident. Before sending your child to school in the morning try to check to see if they know what they are having for snack that day.

The Kindergartners have also been working on learning all the new names of their classmates. While at recess we have had several Kindergartners go up to kids who were playing by themselves and ask them to play. Below are a few pictures that were taken out at recess earlier this week.

Here are some other pictures taken throughout the week during our "free choice" time.

I also wanted to send a thank you to those parents who were able to come in the past couple of weeks to help out with lunch. Your help allowed the new and chaotic lunch procedure to flow a little easier for the Kindergartners.

Also take a look soon under the "Newsletter" tab as the first edition of The Rethman Report will soon be posted.

Welcome

If you're reading this blog, your child is likely a student in my Kindergarten classroom. I would like to take just a moment to introduce myself. My name is Wes Rethman and I am beginning my sixth year of teaching. I thoroughly enjoy teaching at Stranahan Elementary and the Sylvania School District. I grew up in Fort Loramie, Ohio (directly 2 hours south of Toledo) and attended Bowling Green State University where I received my degree in Early Childhood Education. I am an avid sports fan and I enjoy playing all sorts of sports! My wife, Casey, and I are the proud parents of twin daughters, Mya Alyse and Stella Grace. My wife is a 2nd grade teacher in the Lake school system. My girls turned 1 on June 2nd and keep us very busy. They are so much fun and are changing daily. We also have a very energetic 3 year old Yorkie named Milo Rooney. Your children will probably hear a lot about my family throughout the year and so now you will know who they are talking about if they share some of my stories!

This year, in an attempt to be more environmentally friendly and technologically savvy, I have created a classroom blog! My goal is to provide the parents with as many resources, insights, and tools to help accompany their child's education. I also want to post pictures and videos of different activities in the classroom so you can get an idea of what your child is learning about. This is my first attempt with a blog, so if there is something that you would like to see on the site, please let me know and I will do my best at getting it on here. I am writing this post on the night before the first day of school (Sep. 2nd) and I would just like to mention that I really enjoyed being able to sit down to get to know a little about you and your child at open house & at our conference. I am quite excited to begin this school year tomorrow and I look forward to working alongside you as the year progresses.