What a scorcher! Today was so hot, we played in the gym because it was too hot to go outside. We were going to play relay race games at the end of the day, but with the heat we had to postpone them again.
This morning was very frustrating. My computer screen wouldn't turn on. So I called the IT guys and left a message. One called me back fairly quickly and tried to walk me through some steps. He had me running around my desk, back and forth, plugging and unplugging cables. Unfortunately, nothing worked. Finally he somehow got me to hook up my laptop to enough cords so it would project on the projector, and that's what I used all day. Really annoying, but at least I had a computer to use.
The fifth graders are so much slower than the sixth graders of last year! It takes them forever to do anything I ask them. And they talk a lot more. I'm going to have to plan extra time for our beginning and end of the day transitions.
They also really, really like Joe. One girl keeps saving the lettuce from her lunch to give him extra lettuce to eat. This same girl saved a chunk of apple for him (he can only have one chunk a month). Surprisingly, he ate it this time! (and he's very cute when he eats). Last year, we tried feeding him an apple and he didn't eat it at all, though he was still pretty wild back then. He's tamed down a lot since then.
Another surprise today... two of the third grade girls brought me a piece of birthday cake! Usually I don't care for frosting, but this stuff actually tasted pretty good. Ms. J (our para) also got a piece. She played basketball with the fifth graders at recess (I was twirling the jump rope for the 1st and 2nd and 5th grade girls to jump in). They were pretty impressed with her skills, and she said she wasn't even trying hard! They convinced her to bring tennis shoes and shorts and a shirt one day so they could really play against her. That will be a fun game to watch!
My brother's birthday is next week, so I'm heading home to help celebrate. Hopefully the weather will cool off some before his football game tonight. I suppose I should probably stop to get him a present before I head for home...
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Farting Bookshelf
You may have heard of the "belching bog" but have you heard of the farting bookshelf?
I asked the 5th graders to pick out some books they wanted to read, and they all happily began perusing the shelves... and then the giggling started. Immediately suspicious, I sauntered closer and saw one student dragging the book back and forth across the shelf, and yes, it was making a sound that sounded very much like a fart. They completely lost it. And kept moving the book until it stopped making the sound. (Thankfully, it didn't last too much longer).
Other than that incident, our classroom was pretty calm today. We got a ton of stuff done and actually learned some things today! Since Wednesday is Joe the tortoise's bath day, I taught the 5th graders how to give him a bath in his ice cream pail. They all gathered around to watch him go to the bathroom (the signal that he's done). But the lure of the gym was too much for the boys, so they went out to recess with the 3rd and 4th graders. The girls kept watching. And they were the lucky ones to dump out his bathwater!
We let him go for a walk at the end of the day. He almost got stuck under the bookshelves twice. Man, that tortoise is such a distraction for these kids! But he'll lose his novelty after a while.
It's amazing the difference between 5th and 6th graders. I keep comparing these kids to the ones I had last year, and I keep coming back to the idea that they got that way from their previous teacher. Hopefully this year I can teach these kids to be more independent and to think through their problems (and of course to love reading).
I asked the 5th graders to pick out some books they wanted to read, and they all happily began perusing the shelves... and then the giggling started. Immediately suspicious, I sauntered closer and saw one student dragging the book back and forth across the shelf, and yes, it was making a sound that sounded very much like a fart. They completely lost it. And kept moving the book until it stopped making the sound. (Thankfully, it didn't last too much longer).
Other than that incident, our classroom was pretty calm today. We got a ton of stuff done and actually learned some things today! Since Wednesday is Joe the tortoise's bath day, I taught the 5th graders how to give him a bath in his ice cream pail. They all gathered around to watch him go to the bathroom (the signal that he's done). But the lure of the gym was too much for the boys, so they went out to recess with the 3rd and 4th graders. The girls kept watching. And they were the lucky ones to dump out his bathwater!
We let him go for a walk at the end of the day. He almost got stuck under the bookshelves twice. Man, that tortoise is such a distraction for these kids! But he'll lose his novelty after a while.
It's amazing the difference between 5th and 6th graders. I keep comparing these kids to the ones I had last year, and I keep coming back to the idea that they got that way from their previous teacher. Hopefully this year I can teach these kids to be more independent and to think through their problems (and of course to love reading).
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
2nd first day of school
Well, I figured with the start of the school year, I should probably start up the ol' blog again...
We had planned to play relay games to close out our day, but with 95 degree heat, we figured we'd save them for Thursday when it's supposed to be cooler. Instead, we sat in Mr. E's room and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, or most of it anyway. We took a break for popsicles and then had an unexpected break when the power went out. I think too many fans were plugged in. A few minutes later we were back to watching the movie... but Mr. E couldn't find the remote for his DVD player, so we had to skip through the whole movie to the scene we were on.
Yesterday, one of the parents from our school donated an air conditioner and installed it in the 1st and 2nd grade room. Then he called around and within minutes, three more slightly used air conditioners were dropped off! He installed them that day, so now every classroom in our school has a window AC unit. What a blessing! Especially with the heat wave both this week and next week.
So far, my class this year has been great. It's so interesting so compare the dynamics of these students with the one of last year's class. I think it helps that they're changing classrooms too. I didn't have to deal with, "Our old teacher let us do..."
The para in our room has been great too. We get along very well and she gets along even better with the student she's here to help. She's even got her own desk (and she brought school supplies to go with it!).
I do have one good story from the day...
Right before chapel, we took a walk around our room to see the different things we'll be doing this year. I explained how the Interesting Word Wall works. When they're reading their books and come across a word they don't know, they're supposed to write down the words and we'll talk about them as a class. We write the words on a big poster to keep track of the new words we're learning.
Well, Pastor's topic of opening chapel was, "new beginnings." He had the students read aloud a bunch of verses he had picked from the Bible talking about new things. One of my fifth graders read Galatians 6:15, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation." As soon as he finished reading, he leaned over to me and whispered, "Miss Heintz, I think I found a word for our word wall! Can we talk about it when we get back?" Well what are you supposed to say to such an eager learner?
So once we got back, we all gathered in the reading corner and talked about the meaning of circumcision. Oh the things you learn in 5th grade!
We had planned to play relay games to close out our day, but with 95 degree heat, we figured we'd save them for Thursday when it's supposed to be cooler. Instead, we sat in Mr. E's room and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, or most of it anyway. We took a break for popsicles and then had an unexpected break when the power went out. I think too many fans were plugged in. A few minutes later we were back to watching the movie... but Mr. E couldn't find the remote for his DVD player, so we had to skip through the whole movie to the scene we were on.
Yesterday, one of the parents from our school donated an air conditioner and installed it in the 1st and 2nd grade room. Then he called around and within minutes, three more slightly used air conditioners were dropped off! He installed them that day, so now every classroom in our school has a window AC unit. What a blessing! Especially with the heat wave both this week and next week.
So far, my class this year has been great. It's so interesting so compare the dynamics of these students with the one of last year's class. I think it helps that they're changing classrooms too. I didn't have to deal with, "Our old teacher let us do..."
The para in our room has been great too. We get along very well and she gets along even better with the student she's here to help. She's even got her own desk (and she brought school supplies to go with it!).
I do have one good story from the day...
Right before chapel, we took a walk around our room to see the different things we'll be doing this year. I explained how the Interesting Word Wall works. When they're reading their books and come across a word they don't know, they're supposed to write down the words and we'll talk about them as a class. We write the words on a big poster to keep track of the new words we're learning.
Well, Pastor's topic of opening chapel was, "new beginnings." He had the students read aloud a bunch of verses he had picked from the Bible talking about new things. One of my fifth graders read Galatians 6:15, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation." As soon as he finished reading, he leaned over to me and whispered, "Miss Heintz, I think I found a word for our word wall! Can we talk about it when we get back?" Well what are you supposed to say to such an eager learner?
So once we got back, we all gathered in the reading corner and talked about the meaning of circumcision. Oh the things you learn in 5th grade!
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