Welcome to Fourth Grade!

August 1, 2019 | Posted in: Class Updates

Comments Off on Welcome to Fourth Grade!

Hello! Welcome to the online home of PGS Room 209. During the school year, I will update this web site regularly with information about activities happening in Room 209, bulletins and news items, current events related to what we’re studying in class, online assignments, and much more.

It’s going to be a great year in fourth grade. There are so many new things to learn, and there are some really interesting activities coming up! Remember, I’m hosting a meet & greet on Tuesday, August 27th, between 3:00-3:30pm.

About Me

I asked my kids, Charlie (entering grade 4) and Caroline (entering grade 1) what I should tell you about myself. Here’s their report:

I love to read, but I usually don’t enjoy fantasy genres (even though I do enjoy science fiction)!
I love reading with my kids. We are reading The Year of the Dog right now.
I like visiting historical places, like Philadelphia.
I enjoy listening to lots of different kinds of music, but I especially like Queen, Billy Joel, The Four Seasons, and more!
I like to play basketball with Charlie and Caroline.
We like building Legos together.
I played the trombone for one year when I was in fourth grade, but then I switched to singing for the next decade.
My favorite multiplication fact is 7×6=42. (I don’t know why, but it is!)
I like to build things.
I always prefer having recess duty to lunch duty. Even on the coldest days of winter!
My favorite “extra” part of my job is seeing my former students graduate from Avon High School each spring.
I love to teach math and science! (But I also really enjoy teaching reading too. That’s why I like teaching elementary – so I get to teach all the subjects!)

I live locally with my wife, my son (Charlie), our daughter (Caroline), and our dog (Rimley). In my spare time, I like working on home improvement projects, making things in my woodworking shop (especially using my lathe), finding “good eats” at local farmers’ markets, or just relaxing by cooking, listening to old time radio shows from the 1940s and 50s, reading comic books, or watching the news. I collect old reel to-reel tapes of music, all sorts of vintage technology, antique or unusual telephones, funky ties and tie clips, and all things related to Star Trek. I have been hoping to learn to play the guitar for a few years, but I haven’t gotten the time to focus on practicing. Maybe this is the year! (I do enjoy playing the harmonica, however!) This summer, I spent a lot of time working at a local summer camp, setting up my classroom, and I had a week to travel with my family. (We go to Atlantic City each year, which is where I was born.)

I enjoy tinkering with my computer and coming up with interesting ways in which I can use technology in the classroom. (You can definitely expect to use computers a lot in Room 209! I enjoy using Chromebooks, our class’ SMART Board, and other technologies while teaching.) Of course, I also love cheering on my favorite sports teams: the Boston Red Sox (Don’t worry Yankees fans, I promise not to be mean!), the New Britain Bees, the University of Hartford Hawks basketball teams.

Click “more” to learn more about me and fourth grade!

I graduated from the University of Rhode Island summa cum laude in 2004 and have a degree in Elementary Education and Psychology. I also have a Masters Degree in Educational Technology from Central Connecticut State University‘s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Technology. In addition to my teaching role at Pine Grove School, I support beginning teachers in our building and I work to help teachers integrate technology into their teaching in meaningful and valuable ways.

This will be my 16th year teaching at Pine Grove School. I taught third grade at PGS for five years before moving to fourth grade. While at URI, I taught grades 3, 4, and 5. I have also taught kindergarten, first, and second grade summer school, and I have interned with an elementary school principal in East Hartford. I teach technology and engineering to middle and high school summer campers. I have a background in experimental research in the field of social psychology, so you’ll probably see my interest in research and statistics come through this year during math lessons!

It’s going to be a great year in fourth grade. There are so many new things to learn, and there are some really interesting activities coming up!

We’ll learn about…

the science behind some of your favorite playground activities
how you can draw your way to solving math word problems
ways you can craft a story that is well-developed and captivating for your reader
how you can learn to enjoy poetry, not just understand it
some of our country’s most fascinating landmarks, big and small

…and so much more. Hold on tight – it’s going to be an amazing 180 days!

Welcome to fourth grade!

Best,