#2

This past month I've noticed that I tend to being my posts with a comment about the weather.  Once I noticed, I tried to avoid doing it... but I've decided to embrace my farming heritage and talk about the weather when I feel like it.  Feel free to skip this part if you don't enjoy hearing about the weather.


This morning was so beautiful!  When I got up, I could barely see out my window it was so foggy.  By the time I left for school, the sun was burning off some of the fog.  The horizon was all swirly and mysterious and glowing.  I really wanted to take a picture of it... but I was driving and figured it was safer to have both hands on the wheel.  School has too many buildings and trees surrounding it, and I didn't have a very good angle to take a picture once stationary.  Then I had a brilliant idea.  Why doesn't someone invent a camera that can be installed in the front/side of the car that lets the driver take pictures at the touch of a button?  I suppose there are enough reasons not to do it, but right now I can't think of any; the pros outweigh the cons.  I could take pictures of sunsets and foggy mornings and fancy clouds... the list goes on and on.  And I wouldn't have to take my hands off the wheel!


This morning, one of the other teachers caught me in the office and informed me that the rest of the school is working on posters for the 150th anniversary.  The poster/signs are supposed to tell "What Immanuel means to me" (the students).  And they're supposed to be finished before school is out for the year.  Well, Thursday is out since we will be cleaning and going to chapel.  That left today and tomorrow.  I figured it was better to get it finished today than to be scrambling to get it done tomorrow.  We brainstormed during English and made a group poster.  At the top, I wrote "I am blessed to go to Immanuel because..." and each of the students wrote a little blurb about why they are blessed to go to our school.  Many of them are because they can learn about God or talk about Him here.  I think we'll hang it on our door so people looking in our room can read it on the way in.


The rest of the day went pretty much as planned.  There was a mad scramble to get the last piñata finished in time.  We spent a little extra time reading aloud, partly so they could finish the piñata (all four of them worked on it at the same time) and partly because I want to finish this book before the end of the year!  It's going to be close! 


During Daily 5, I met with everyone to make some last minute reading goals.  I made a deal with one student that if he finishes his book before Thursday, he'll get an A in reading for the quarter.  He has about fifty or so pages left to read.  (He was doing a great job before midterms reading and meeting his goals, but lately he's been slacking off.  So hopefully this is enough to motivate him to keep reading!) 


We got our ITBS scores back already.  The class all improved from last year, some more than others.  I showed them their scores today and walked them through the data.  They were pretty pumped to see how they did.


After another lesson on the Civil War, we went outside to break the piñatas!  I brought out bandannas and held the string while Ms. J took pictures and spun the students around.  It was pretty crazy doing only two piñatas... imagine what it will be like next year with six piñatas!


Our ceiling is looking bare.  We have one balloon left and two chains left.  The balloon activity for tomorrow: have science outside.  We're doing a lesson on pitch, so I'll bring out Ivy's trombone and play some notes to demonstrate pitch.  Then they can graph the estimated amplitude/frequency of the waves.  Hopefully it won't rain!  The other teachers want to do an all-school kickball game tomorrow afternoon and practice singing and have Popsicles.  So much to squeeze into the last full day of school!  It will all work out.