Check your scholar's backpack

I am happy to be back today after being suddenly hit by a very bad case of the stomach flu on Thursday night.  The germs are one of the perks of teaching 1st grade, I guess!  Fortunately I am healthy again, because this week will be a busy one.
There are two additional items in your child's backpack today:  spelling practice folders and a PTA flyer for family game night.  Unfortunately I did not have this flyer in time for Friday Folders so I wanted to bring it to your attention.  Family game night will be this Friday and it's a good chance to have fun with your child and meet some of the other great families at our school.
The spelling practice folders contain this week's spelling list, today's practice test, and a sample of a week's worth of completed spelling homework that we did in class.  There is also a short letter from me.  Your child will be adding spelling practice to their regular homework, but please note that it should not take longer than ten minutes each day.  Each day we will go over that night's spelling assignment so that the scholars know what to do.  They will complete the work and return it on Friday along with their regular homework.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

On another note, today was not a great day for our class behaviorwise.  I know that sometimes having a substitute even for just one day can lead to students "forgetting" the rules or testing limits again. Today we had a lot more negative marks on Class Dojo than usual.  My expectation is that our classroom will be a safe, happy place to learn, and when students are not creating a safe, happy place with 100% effort towards learning they need a reminder.  I hope that tomorrow will be a better day for our class and we can return to our usual good behavior.