With thanks...

I want to thank those of you 16 parents (and guests from Argentina!) who were able to come to the Parent Engagement session this morning. It was really so great to see you and I hope you found the time beneficial. 

I so enjoyed seeing you interact with your sweetie (and "adopted" students) as you engaged in shared reading and writing post-it notes about your thinking. 

For those of you who were unable to come, please avail yourself of these resources: 

1. Outline of our "lesson"

2. Review of a Just Right book

3. Bookmark (prompts to help you interact at home...see pic)

4. Cookie recipe (So sorry that you missed out on these as they really are yummy!) 

5. Pictures from our time together. (I regret that I was unable to photography everyone.)

6. Finally, after parents left, the class wanted me to read the rest of the book, Goal, as some didn't get a chance to finish because they were too busy writing great post-it notes. 

After reading the book, we read the Author's note and I shared how the comments the author made about soccer being a sport that is loved around the world reminded me of an inspiration story I heard once, which you may learn about here. It's truly amazing to consider that where there's a will, there's a way. Follow your dream, even if you have to invent things along the way to realize it. I also love the quote, "Dreams don't work unless you do." 

Also, as for the cookies, to make them even better, here are some suggested modifications:

• I always double the recipe when making them. I feel like if you go to the trouble of making cookies, you should be able to enjoy a fair amount and also have some leftover to share. 

• I use President Butter (French). For the conversion, it comes out to 227 grams of butter that are needed. I also have it thawed, but slightly chilled as it seems to yield a better cookie.

• Cook at 177 C for 10 min. Every oven is different, but try not to over-bake them. They are better if slightly soft. When they start to smell amazing and look a tiny bit golden, they are most likely done. They will also continue to cook for 1-2 min. even after you remove them from the oven, so keep that in mind.

• I also use 1 teaspoon of baking soda, not 1/4 teaspoon. I like the cookies to be a little puffy, so this helps to do that.

• Don't forget to sprinkle with ground salt before putting them into the oven. I sometimes forget that last step!