Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Books on the Brain

I don't know what is with me... the past two nights I've dreamt about finding really cool books that I wanted for my classroom library at a thrift store (and then I paid practically nothing for them).  Then I woke up and was super bummed not to have new books for my classroom.  Today I got an email from the website I buy a lot of my books from.  They're having a 40% off sale.  Is that a sign or what?


Today was a much better day than yesterday, although we had a bit of a rocky start.  At school, I had a ton of things to do.  So many things I couldn't keep them all straight.  My throat was kind of achy and I felt a headache at the back of my brain/neck.  Then a parent came in to let me know she was taking one of my students to a dentist appointment and he wouldn't be back for a few hours.  And then she asked about the science fair projects.  Her son thought the whole thing was due today (even though I explained at least three times yesterday that they only needed a topic today).  So he spent a few hours after school crying about how he didn't have enough time to get it all done and it was so much work... I definitely need to start this project earlier in the year.  I know I said that last year.  This year kind of snuck up on me.  But I wrote a note!  Hopefully I'll see it and remember to make a note to start right after Christmas break.


After the parent left, I took some medicine, said a prayer, and did a few of the little things off my to-do list.  Everything ended up getting done that needed to be done.  The 5th graders and I talked about the scientific method.  We came up with a class experiment to do so we can apply the scientific method.  We're testing which kind of popcorn is the best based on taste, looks, seeds popped, and cost.  Tomorrow I'm going to meet with each individual student to go over their hypothesis, plan, and purpose.  Hopefully that will get them off and running on this thing.


One kid wants to build an engine to power a light bulb.  That doesn't fit well with the scientific method, but he could enter it in the engineering part of the science fair.  I'm not as familiar with that process.  He still wanted to do it, even though I warned him it would probably be more work and might be more confusing.  So now I have him pestering me about his project as I'm trying to get the other 5th graders situated with theirs.  We'll get it all figured out.


Other updates:  A mom had the great idea to serve muffins at our Lenten supper.  They'd be easier to do than a coffee cake, plus they're both a bread and a dessert.  So our updated menu is: egg bake, muffins, and fruit cocktail.  What do you suppose the beverages should be?  Coffee, water... lemonade?  I suppose we should have milk or some kind of juice since we're going with the breakfast theme.  Another thing to ask the parents.


Our day ended with recess in the gym.  Everyone is so antsy to get outside and it's just too cold!  We played a few games of Lightning and then a full-court basketball game: boys vs. girls.  There was a little argument about whether I should play or not.  3 to 1 wanted me to play.  The littlest girl in class got pushed around a lot.  She's so teeny if anyone bumps her, she's knocked to the ground.  She was freaking out because she thought her finger was jammed.  It wasn't swelling up, so I don't think it was injured too much.  One of the boys was messing around while we were figuring the injuries out and he lobbed the ball from half court and banked it!  He fell to the ground laughing because he was so surprised and happy.  It was the craziest shot I'd seen in a long time. 


And with that lovely story, I'll end for today.  I have a few more things to finish up and then I'm heading home to make hardtack for history on Thursday.  I probably should've thought ahead more and made it a few months back so it would be good and hard... oh well.  There's always next year.

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