Websites You'll Enjoy! (For Munster--Third Class 2011-2012)

Hi everyone! And a Happy New Year to you all. I hope you all had a peaceful, joyful Christmas.

There's six days to go before school begins again. Right now the weather is bad! But you have loads of things you could do. Here's some fun learning websites for you to choose from.

Lots and Lots of Great News this week...

Here's this week's news. Hope I'm not missing too much!

Firstly, thanks to those parents who've been able to come in this week to discuss their child's English and Maths results. You're making a hugely positive influence on your child's learning. As you all know, YOU are the most important teachers in your children's lives, and I know that this class is blessed with such supportive, caring, and encouraging parents.

Secondly, we were all delighted to hear that a school in Tallaght picked two of our class's

English and Maths Results

In a couple of weeks I'll be sending out the end-of-year reports to you. But I can tell you now if you want how your child did in detail in Maths and in English (Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension).

It's best if I discuss your child's results with

News for Parents, Links for Kids

I promised the class today to post these two links for them to use.

1. First, www.kinderart.com/textiles/fingerknitting.shtml is the video we watched again and again to learn how to finger-knit. It's a lot of fun. And it gives you a real sense of achievement. A lot of the class brought home some wool to use. Go for it!
2. www.mathletics.ie/ is the amazing maths site, where you can get loads of points and can compete against kids all round the world LIVE! In just two days our class got up to 6th place in the whole of Ireland!! Well done, everyone! (And a special well done to Lee, Jordan, Abbie L, and Megan, who this morning were 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the top students in all of Ireland!!)

What else? Well, in English today we compared two great songs, Danny Boy and Johnny Cash's I Hung My Head and the kids really were brilliant in picturing what was going on in both songs. They realised both were about death and about life after death. They loved both and sang both really well.

THE PLAY... We're getting better and better with our rehearsals for the play. I hope you're going to be able to come. We're singing and dancing to two songs--Disney's I Wanna Be Like You and Glee's 'Don't Stop Believing'. And the acting is more realistic every time we do it.

NEWS FLASH ABOUT THE PLAY... I've just heard from the head organiser Ms Wynn that our class is scheduled to go on stage on the THURSDAY night, 23rd June (subject to official confirmation). Letters will go out on Monday.

TALBOT'S TOP TYPER COMPETITION... I hope to find time to have a competition between the classes. The top two from each class will go up against each other. I believe our class will do great... they have been brilliant at improving their ten-finger typing at www.typingweb.com If they want to win, that's a good site to go practice--it's a skill that will help them all their lives.

BASKETBALL BLITZ on Wednesday. Sr Catherine is asking us all to collect what we can for the children she knows living in a really, really poor area of South Africa. It's most important to give from the heart--that's real giving and helps make us better people. It's a good opportunity for the class to not just think of others, but put their Christian belief into action. €2 per sponsor. The money will go to things like getting water, windows, and toilets into the school there. I've just googled and found http://www.salesiansisters.net/ss/index.cfm/latest-news/the-city-of-hope-luskak-zambia/ where you can read about the humbling experience of one Irish volunteer, Michelle Brennan, in 2009.

Enjoy the weekend!

June is Just a Bit Mad!

Time is running out. Soon the kids will be out and about enjoying their summer holidays.

Before that, here's a summary of what we hope to get done in the few days left to us...

All the Kids Have Strengths... These Ones Have Terrific Athletic Strength

In the Sports Day yesterday every kid was amazing. And well done to all the amazing parents and families who came and supported too; wasn't it a fun, relaxed day.

A special well done to the kids who raced so well that they won medals. They had to battle against all the kids in all the third classes. Here's the list of our class medal winners...

What A Sports Day!

Wow! Congratulations to everyone in the class... what a class... I've never known any class to be so together in cheering each other on. When the boys were running the girls were cheering ALL the boys, and when the girls were running the boys were cheering ALL the girls. Great class spirit.

Of course, there were winners, but in this there really were no losers. Because of the class spirit it was like that the kids who did win were winning for everyone.

I'll post the list of those who did get medals, hopefully in the next few days.

I'll also post a schedule for the month of June... it's busy! There's so much great stuff going to be going on that I hope we'll have time for some teaching and learning :)

Take part and pray in Catholic Schools Week, day by day

Remember, this week coming is Catholic Schools Week. Every year we celebrate the great Don John Bosco, the patron saint of the Salesians, on the 31st of January. Sr Catherine has great songs we'll be singing, and we'll be learning how he gave his life to help poor young boys and girls.

His great advice to young people was simple: "Pray when it's time to pray. Study when it's time to study. Play when it's time to play. Show kindness to everyone you meet. But do it all for the love of Jesus."

Here's the schedule for the week:

How to easily and quickly help your child type better

I'm amazed how proud the kids are at their '10-finger' typing. They've already got quite good at the basics, which we practise each week. To help them get better, here's the best website I've found: typingweb.com It has a brilliant 'Beginners Course.' We've just begun using it in the computer room and the kids love it. They get instant feedback on how good they are (accuracy and speed).

Now, it would be GREAT if they

"Snow" by our 3rd Class, 7th Dec 2010

Snow falls from the sky.
Snow whizzes among the trees.
Snow covers the ground.
Snow steals the heat from your feet.
Snow melts all around.
Snow does nothing!

Websites The Kids Will Enjoy (and Learn From) During The Snow

Like me you've got the text that the school is closed again tomorrow (Thursday). Who knows about Friday. And so I want to give you a few education-type websites your child (and brothers/sisters/friends/you!) may well enjoy. I'll give you more during the year but here's a few for starters that I strongly recommend...

Congratulations To These Students of The Week

It has been really hard to be 'Student of the Week' so far--all the kids are great, and they've all been doing great. Still, the following kids have shone a tiny bit brighter than others on a particular week. It's not because of the quality of their work, it's the quality of their effort, along with good behaviour and honesty.

A big well done to...

Behaviour, Effort, and Honesty--The Three Things I Expect From Your Child

Yes, like I tell the kids on day one, and like I told you at the great meeting on Friday 3rd Sept, I expect three things from them: Good behaviour, effort, and honesty. I expect those things, and I reward those things.

1. Each day I keep a record of how each kid did that day (where each child ended on the good or bad side of the board), and then each week I choose a 'Student of the Week' based on that record. That child goes down to Mr Ruddy's office with a Certificate I give them. He/She makes his day by sharing their good news with him. It's a big thing, so if your child gets it, please give it great recognition in your own way. It means your child is thriving and giving extra big effort.
2. Another reward is that I do a draw for anyone who went the week without being on the bad side of the board... the prize is the child gets to pick any book from 'Mr Stuart's Library' (i.e. one of many books I have bought for the class). I find that the kids all love reading so it's a popular prize.

Of course, if the kids don't give good behaviour or effort, or if they lie, then that's a problem. I'll be truly disappointed. And sometimes, with extreme cases, they'll be going home with a Yellow or even a Red Card for you to sign, along with lines to write, or a reflection sheet to fill in. So far--amazingly--this class has had only one child go home with a Yellow Card. If they go home with one, it's a big deal. Please show your child that you too are disappointed. It means your child has not being doing well and needs to change in some way--behaviour, effort, honesty.

Jobs In The Class

Fair play to the following kids. All have shown me that they are responsible people. They are all able to do big jobs for the class. By giving them jobs, I'm giving them opportunities to show how well they do with some responsibility. So far, they've all been great at their jobs. I wish you could see how great they are at their jobs. I'll give out more jobs (e.g. librarians), but for now here's the list...

Homework And This Class

I'm really happy with the homework the class is doing. Everybody is doing their homework, and if they haven't got something they've got a note from Ma/Da/guardian to say why. Thank you!

What's more, the quality of much of the homework is shockingly good.

As I said at the meeting with you on September 3rd, I give up to 30 minutes work. Nearly every day that will include maths, reading, spellings, and writing. It will usually also include

The €200 Back To School Allowance...

I hope, if you qualify, you have already got the €200 back-to-school-allowance from the HSE. If you're unsure if you qualify, take a look at

I'm new at blogs--so let me know what you want! (Also: Class Photo)

So, it's now Sunday Sept 19th and I'm going to 'launch' this in a couple of days to you, the families of the kids in my class. First I need to post more content.

Let me tell you that writing a blog is new to me, so please let me know what you'd like to see me post. For starters I'm sharing tw

Let's talk!

Hi. Three days down and I'm beginning to suspect that this class is going to be a great one. Every single child in so far has already shown me that they are ready to do their job, which they know is "to learn." And I am ready to do my job, which they know is "to help us learn."

One way I can help them learn is by working closely with you, their parents/guardians. That's why I'm setting up this blog, hoping it can help most/all of you communicate with me. The more you and I communicate, the better we will be at meeting your child's unique learning needs.

Let's keep 'talking' all year:

1. via email to me (talbotmrstuart@gmail.com)
2. via meeting me (before or after school most days for quick chats, or at a time we can arrange in advance for longer meetings)
3. via notes from you to me sent in to school with your child (maybe in their journal or on other paper)
4. via notes from me to you (maybe in their journal, maybe on 'good cards', maybe on 'bad' cards [yellow & red cards])
5. at the parent-teacher meeting, which is usually early November
6. Occasionally I may call you, sometimes to pass on good news, sometimes to highlight a problem that we need to help your child with