Bow Ties Are Cool!

I have been lucky to have a wonderful, talented, funny group of kids in my class this year. One thing we really had fun with was talking about and watching the British TV show Doctor Who. Thank you to Thomas's mom for making these great bow tie cupcakes! Now all we need are some fezzes to be as cool as The Doctor!

Thank you parents for your help and support through the year, and thank you to my students for making this such a super, fun, amazing year!

-Miss Frank

Get Well Wishes

Last week I had surgery on my knee for torn cartilage. I want to thank the class for all the get well emails and pictures and for doing a good job for Ms. Arnott. I have had no pain, but I have to be on crutches for five weeks instead of the one or so originally thought. Luckily I know I have a great group of students who will help me out! Wednesday I go to the doctor again and will know more then.

Surgery seems to be a thing this month in our classroom. Welcome back to one student who missed last week for a procedure, and good luck to another who had to go in today! I am thinking good thoughts for both of you!

Thanks again for the notes, but how did you get them to print in color! :)

-Miss Frank

More Books!

Miss Frank went shopping today and couldn't resist getting more book for our classroom library. Speaking of books, book-orders are due tomorrow! Please pay with with cash or a check made out to Scholastic Book Clubs. You can also order online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs with the Class Activation Code: JFC6L. When ordering online you can use a credit card, and since all of the ordered books arrive together, you pay no shipping charge!

Teacher Raffle

The Charlevoix Elementary School PTO recently held a teacher raffle fundraiser. Miss Frank took her winner and a friend to Subway for lunch! Here the girls show off their healthy eating habits with sliced apples! Thank you to Mrs. Sape and the PTO volunteers for organizing the event!

Flat Stanley Goes to Grand Rapids

This week students colored a Stanley from the book Flat Stanley. In the book, Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board and was able to do many special things due to his flatness. One of the things was it made it easier for him to travel. Students can mail their Stanleys to friends far away or take him on Spring Break. If they put together a letter and some pictures of Stanley's adventures, students can win a prize from the prize box.

One student gave Miss Frank his Flat Stanley, and she took him to a technology conference in Grand Rapids. They learned about iPads and other great computer resources and even visited the museum.

Hat Day!

Today Charlevoix Elementary School had our Awesome Behavior Choices Hat Day! Students wore some great hats to school and Miss Frank brought in her Doctor Who fez.

Thank You Flywheelers!

We had a great time today at the Flywheelers Harvest Celebration. What an amazing event! Thank you to our chaperones and to all the great volunteers at the Flywheelers campground. Here is a picture of Miss Frank (far right) waiting to toss some wheat on a threshing machine! The class will tell you more about our day in the comments.

Sleep Tight!

School starts tomorrow! Remember the day will begin a lot brighter if you get to bed early tonight. The teachers and staff had meetings today, so I had a practice run last night. Enjoy this last day of summer and I will see you bright and early tomorrow!

Thank you to the Russell family for this awesome reading tub! We will put it to good use!

A Letter to Parents

Dear Parents,

I am so excited to have my own class again and to have your child in my class. I enjoyed teaching computers and knowing all the students in the building, but I am looking forward to having the same group everyday and getting to know them really well.

I think it will be a lot more fun having a regular classroom. As a computer teacher I had to run a pretty tight ship. One reason was the computer lab equipment cost over $50,000 and there are no funds to replace broken computers. Another was the limited amount of time with each class. In the hour each week students had computers we had to practice keyboarding, cover the Michigan Technology Standards, learn Spanish vocabulary (which I was asked to start last year), and hopefully squeeze in some time for exploration (which I believe is one of the best ways to learn). Although a classroom schedule can get busy, there is room for fun, too.

I am excited to teach fourth grade because that was my favorite year growing up. It was the first grade that I got "A's" in. It was the year I fell in love with reading chapter books. I have other great memories of that year, and the year was great because of my teacher. I look forward to making this a great year for your child the same way she made fourth grade great for me.

When I taught third grade for two years downstate I really bonded with my classes. I enjoyed going to their sporting events and performances. I returned for their eighth grade graduations from the school and exchanged Christmas cards with some of the families for many years. For the last 13 years I have been a "Special" teacher to the students of Charlevoix Elementary School. This year I look forward to having a group of kids special to me.

Thank you for letting me be your child’s fourth grade teacher,

Miss Dana Frank

Room B-4

This year Miss Frank's Fourth Grade will be in room B-4. I love the name! Here you see our room after cleaning, but "before" I tackle it. I have lots of work to do, but I am very excited to get it ready!

About Miss Frank

For the last 13 years I have been the computer teacher and building technology coordinator for Charlevoix Elementary School. Each week every class would come to me for an hour to learn about computers and to use computers to learn other things. I also helped troubleshoot the building's technology problems, maintained the district web pages, and led professional development to help teachers use technology in their classrooms. I am excited to try many of the techniques in my own classroom this year!

Before coming to CES, I taught third grade for two years at St. Patrick Parnell just outside of Ada, Michigan. I earned my master's degree and elementary teaching certificate from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, where I student taught in a fourth grade classroom. I earned my bachelor's degree in economics from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I am a graduate of Petoskey High School and my family has lived in the area since 1976.

My biggest interest is skiing and I have been a ski instructor at Nub's Nob since 1987. I just adore my Scottie dog, Gregor, and we try to take a walk every day. I am on the Charlevoix Council for the Arts, and through it, active in helping with the Charlevoix Waterfront Art Fair. I love reading and get some of the best recommendations from my students. For me, the highlight of every week is Sunday dinner with my parents, brothers, aunt, uncle, and cousins.

Although I am sad not to be teaching computers anymore, I am very excited to have my own class again and to be teaching fourth grade!