Hello and Happy Holidays!

From Mr. Carnes:
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Good Afternoon,

As your children are in chorus right now, I want to reach out to all of you to say "hello" and to let you know how the past few days have been a whirlwind of change and excitement.  Yesterday, about ten minutes before school was to start, Ms. Daley informed me that I may be teaching 5th grade very soon.  About an hour later, Mrs, Kimball was headed out to the hospital and I was told that she would likely not be returning.  Fortunately, I have had the pleasure of spending a significant amount of time both meeting with Mrs. Kimball and observing the class in action. This has helped me to learn the established routines.  The transition has been pretty smooth, so far, and your students have been most helpful with this process.  

Prior to her departure, Mrs. Kimball was nearing completion of or had just completed units in Science, Math, and Writing.  Competing the Science unit, in particular has been awesome!  Students had previously built water filters using a variety of materials.  My first solo lesson involved filtering  mystery water using sand, gravel, cheese cloth, and coffee filters.   After about 45 minutes of experimenting, dismantling, and rebuilding, the room was a little messy (a gross understatement)!  When it came time to clean up, all students jumped in and were most helpful, worked as a team, and accomplished our common goal of returning the classroom to a far cleaner state.

I am most excited about returning to the classroom as a 5th grade teacher.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.  You have a compassionate, fun, and enthusiastic group of children.  I look forward to working with them and with you.

Best to you and happy holidays,
Jim Carnes