From the desk of:
 | Ms. Christine R. Begle BA Language Arts Homeroom Teacher: Third Grade Email: cbegle@stvalentineschool.com | Updated: 8-26-2022 |
I received my Language Arts degree and Elementary Certification from Madonna University where I also minored in Early Childhood Education. As part of my education, I had 200 hours in the classroom before I even got to my student teaching, where I had placements in both Kindergarten and Second Grade. Besides my 17+ years in education, I also have an associate's degree in graphic design, which comes in handy while developing my own curriculum materials.
Having worked with every grade level from Preschool to Grade 5, what I like best about 3rd graders is that they are really beginning to develop their reading and writing skills (my favorite subjects)! They're starting to grasp the basics and move on to finding their voice and I love to help them explore that! My absolute favorite part of education is passing on a love of learning, and that "aha!" moment, when a student makes a connection on his or her own (otherwise known as a "lightbulb" moment), when they just get something that they didn't before.
One of my goals for this year is to really teach the third graders about responsibility. We will work on (1) organizing our materials (with name labels galore) and keeping our desks tidy; (2) writing down assignments, time management, and how to study; and (3) using lists and rubrics to make sure that we have completed our work fully. You can help by making sure that clothing like sweaters or boots come to school with a label. If you don't want to use a permanent label, can you pin a cloth label inside, or make it identifiable with a unique fashion pin? Teach your children to always put their homework back in their backpack at the end of the night when they're finished, and put their backpack in a specific place, like at the kitchen table, or by the front door. Is their laptop charged and ready to go in their backpack?
Some fun things that I would like to work on this year, working into other lessons or as we have time, are American Sign Language and Storytelling. I am the vice-president of the Detroit Story League, a group for people who like to tell or listen to stories, or learn about telling stories. To get daily short lessons in sign language, I currently use an app called Pocket Sign which has two hands framing the letters ASL, and I am also investigating a couple others.
Please check the class Dojo daily for information about the classroom, lessons, tests, and other important information. In addition, if you need to contact me, the class Dojo is the best way to start, or you can call the office and leave a message for me to call you back, but I am usually able to respond more quickly with the Dojo.
I would like to thank St. Valentine School and Parish for being so welcoming; I love being a part of this family!
P.S. Speaking of family, my niece attends St, Valentine in the 4th grade, and her mother is my identical twin. The way that you can tell us apart is that she rarely wears her glasses, whereas I never wear contacts, and I have longer hair.