Ferland's Findings

Happy Friday from Mrs. Ferland - August 26th 

We are closing on our second week of school, and to be honest, it has been as phenomenal as last week. Call me an optimist, but I think we can carry this excellence right through to June!

Good things are happening here, at all levels. I saw a student helping carry a case of water in for a teacher (Thank you, Grady!). I heard about students taking down the summer lunch sign from the soccer field fence so that we can save it to use again next year (Thank you, Silas, and Grady, again!). And, there were students helping carry in boxes of produce that a community member so graciously shared (Thank you, Journey, Isaiah, and Finley!).  Kindergarteners are helping each other off the bus and into the building. Older siblings are looking out for younger siblings (Thank you, Teagan, and Jaiden!). Veteran teachers are looking out for new teachers. New teachers are sharing their tech expertise with veteran teachers. And, perhaps the thing that I am personally most grateful for, everyone is forgiving the mistakes I am making, and mishaps I seem to be responsible for as I learn the ropes. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. 

As I traveled through classrooms this week I saw some pretty cool learning going on. I got to see Reflex Math, a fact-fluency practice program in 2nd grade, which we have as a result of a grant that we received last year, and I can tell you it’s working! 

I got to spend time with a fourth grader working on his Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing reading packet. That made me a little nostalgic and I wish I could join the class for the entire novel because it was one of my favorites as a child. 

7th and 8th grade Social Studies have been preparing for a test and each time I entered that classroom I witnessed a different technique Mrs. Churchill has to review the material. Things like that make me excited for us and what we do here. This shows me that we recognize that not all of our students learn the same way, or get excited about the same things. When teachers work to present material or lessons in a variety of ways it means they are making sure they are doing their best to reach every student here. That matters. 

Last, but not least, today we had our first School Spirit Day where we wore yellow and gold. Starting next week we will do that every Wednesday, but because of school pictures this Wednesday we made a slight adjustment. We had a whopping 192 members of WDES wear blue, yellow, or both today!! What a terrific showing of school spirit! I think the shout-out to the most creative display goes to Brooklyn’s polka dots!

Have a fantastic weekend! And, please know that I am so grateful to be here, where people care about each other and our school.