Dear Parents, friends, and students,

As a brand new Kindergarten teacher, I am tickled beyond pink and into fuchsia about how students soak things up as they learn. I use to think that starting at third grade was THE perfect and most effective pivotal point to ingrain some major foundational principles; boy was I wrong!! I am seeing growth after only 6 days of school and it is an amazing thing to see. My five year old students have already learned to raise their hands before asking a question. Okay, so they raise their hand and start to talk right away, but at least they raise their hand...and for that little bit of progress, I am elated. I can see them two years from now (as I will loop with them until second grade)...doing all the things that they will learn in Kindergarten, and doing them well.

I have to share this one thing: one of the students said, "Dr. Collins, I'm raising my hand!". So, we are now working on raising the hand WHILE WAITING FOR THE TEACHER TO ACKNOWLEDGE US. LOL.

Smiling every day in Kindergarten,

Dr. Collins