Results from our Fruits and Vegetables Challenge... our class average for the month was 3.8 servings per day. We won!!! Woohoo!
In total, 214 students ate 814 servings of fruits and vegetables. Although we had a slow start, we finished strong. The last three days of the challenge we had perfect scores (each student can have a max. of 5 servings counted per lunch). My kids tried to give the 3rd and 4th graders red herrings by saying our class average was super low and they were beating us by a ton. The last day of the challenge, Mr. D wrote a note on our board that said "National Hunger Day, No lunch" to try to trick us. It did get a few kids... for about 30 seconds.
Today the school nurse made our class smoothies for snack. Strawberry and mixed berry were the choices.
My computer has been giving me issues... the fan seems to be going out. And I couldn't get one of the programs to open; it froze and I had to log off/restart my computer to get the screen unstuck. This afternoon I tried to print my midterm grades from the online gradebook I use and the site kept crashing! Thankfully the IT guys answered and they downloaded Google Chrome, so I was able to print the grades. Ugh, I might need to start bringing my laptop everyday just in case my computer crashes... I don't think I could go a whole school day without my computer!
Monday, February 29, 2016
Friday, February 26, 2016
Treat the Teacher
I must've missed the memo, cause today seemed like "Treat the Teacher" Day. One 6th grader gave me a Kit Kat and a Reese's this morning and another 6th grader brought me a donut! Not that I'm complaining at all!
All week has been fairly calm, except for today. They were all over the place! And everyone must've eaten weird things yesterday... the boys were quite, shall we say, pungent? aromatic? Maybe the girls were too, but the boys were the ones making fusses.
This afternoon we had our first joint bell practice with the 5th grade tone chimes and 6-7th grade hand bells. Miss N. was there to direct the 5th graders. And I directed my usual group of 6-7th graders. I was a little embarrassed at the behavior of my group. The 5th graders stood quietly waiting to play while my class talked loudly with each other, pushing and arguing and playing their bells when they weren't supposed to, talking in the middle of the song, complaining that their neighbors weren't playing their bells in the right places. Ugh. Not fun. But we sounded good! Aside from the management, it went really well! I wish we had more room to set up the tables; my kids are squished around the tables and sometimes bump bells because they're not paying attention and get too close.
The championship hockey game was today. It was a tough match... the final score was 1-0. The other team's captain was pretty upset about the loss (he was even in tears). We served the kids ice cream sandwiches afterwards. Not a bad end to a Friday! Next week we're scheduling the Teacher vs. 7th grade floor hockey game... dun dun dun!!!
All week has been fairly calm, except for today. They were all over the place! And everyone must've eaten weird things yesterday... the boys were quite, shall we say, pungent? aromatic? Maybe the girls were too, but the boys were the ones making fusses.
This afternoon we had our first joint bell practice with the 5th grade tone chimes and 6-7th grade hand bells. Miss N. was there to direct the 5th graders. And I directed my usual group of 6-7th graders. I was a little embarrassed at the behavior of my group. The 5th graders stood quietly waiting to play while my class talked loudly with each other, pushing and arguing and playing their bells when they weren't supposed to, talking in the middle of the song, complaining that their neighbors weren't playing their bells in the right places. Ugh. Not fun. But we sounded good! Aside from the management, it went really well! I wish we had more room to set up the tables; my kids are squished around the tables and sometimes bump bells because they're not paying attention and get too close.
The championship hockey game was today. It was a tough match... the final score was 1-0. The other team's captain was pretty upset about the loss (he was even in tears). We served the kids ice cream sandwiches afterwards. Not a bad end to a Friday! Next week we're scheduling the Teacher vs. 7th grade floor hockey game... dun dun dun!!!
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Sneaky Creatures
Oh today's science class was good!
I had my kiddos put their creatures on their desks before lunch with a post-it note detailing where they wanted to hide them. I would do the hiding so no one would get an extra peek. In total, we had 23 creatures to find.
Some kids had fantastic ideas where to hide them. Others, not so much. A few wanted to be surprised and let me pick where to put them. Lots of popsicle sticks were used... some were under the impression that they had to use a popsicle stick in the design. It wasn't a requirement though. Many of those creatures ended up in the stick jars. One got put on the black music stand to blend in. A white stick got stuck to the edge of a white shelf. A black, bug-like creature ended up tucked in the 3-hole punch that sits out. A brown bug-like creature ended up tucked into the brown paper "root" in the reading corner. One that was painted yellow ended up sitting in the yellow chain of our church year chain hung from the ceiling. The sneakiest creature was a tiny blue paper clip with a chunk of wood stuck inside... that one ended up hooked on the blue corner of an art project hanging on the wall.
They had so much fun looking for the creatures! And the reveal was even better. A lot of kids were like, "OHHH! I can't believe I didn't see that one!"
...We finished our read-aloud book today. We probably should've waited and split the pages in half... we read for an hour and a half... They were attentive the whole time! And they worked on their spelling, handwriting, and Student Treasures projects (or organized their crates), so they were productive too. I probably would've waited, but the Bookmobile comes on Thursdays, and this book was checked out from the Bookmobile and I've had it a long time. So we finished it. And still had time to get three Daily 5 rounds in. Now I need to decide what to read next... there's a book I have in mind, but I don't own a copy, and won't get to the library before tomorrow. Mrs. B has an Amazon prime account, which ships items in two days, so she is going to order it for me. But what to read in the meantime? Maybe some more traditional folk tales...
I had my kiddos put their creatures on their desks before lunch with a post-it note detailing where they wanted to hide them. I would do the hiding so no one would get an extra peek. In total, we had 23 creatures to find.
Some kids had fantastic ideas where to hide them. Others, not so much. A few wanted to be surprised and let me pick where to put them. Lots of popsicle sticks were used... some were under the impression that they had to use a popsicle stick in the design. It wasn't a requirement though. Many of those creatures ended up in the stick jars. One got put on the black music stand to blend in. A white stick got stuck to the edge of a white shelf. A black, bug-like creature ended up tucked in the 3-hole punch that sits out. A brown bug-like creature ended up tucked into the brown paper "root" in the reading corner. One that was painted yellow ended up sitting in the yellow chain of our church year chain hung from the ceiling. The sneakiest creature was a tiny blue paper clip with a chunk of wood stuck inside... that one ended up hooked on the blue corner of an art project hanging on the wall.
They had so much fun looking for the creatures! And the reveal was even better. A lot of kids were like, "OHHH! I can't believe I didn't see that one!"
...We finished our read-aloud book today. We probably should've waited and split the pages in half... we read for an hour and a half... They were attentive the whole time! And they worked on their spelling, handwriting, and Student Treasures projects (or organized their crates), so they were productive too. I probably would've waited, but the Bookmobile comes on Thursdays, and this book was checked out from the Bookmobile and I've had it a long time. So we finished it. And still had time to get three Daily 5 rounds in. Now I need to decide what to read next... there's a book I have in mind, but I don't own a copy, and won't get to the library before tomorrow. Mrs. B has an Amazon prime account, which ships items in two days, so she is going to order it for me. But what to read in the meantime? Maybe some more traditional folk tales...
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Crafty Creatures
Today's big project was making "Crafty Creatures" or tiny little creatures out of scraps/random art supplies and googly eyes. In science we're learning about ecology and predators/prey/camouflage, so I'm going to hide them in the classroom in specific locations and my kiddos are going to be the predators and try to find them. Some kids were coming up with very creative ways to make their creatures blend in. One kid made his look like pencil shavings so it will blend in by the pencil sharpener. Another made one out of a popsicle stick and colored the end so it would look like the sticks in our stick jar (for drawing names). A few made theirs black so they'd blend in with the lab table or the sound system. One boy made his out of toothpicks and popsicle sticks to blend in with the mailboxes. I can't wait to see how many will be found!
The bummer of the day was lunch. I was so excited for grilled cheese this morning! It's served with chili, but the grilled cheese is my favorite. And the cook ran out. She was letting the younger kids take two full sandwiches (or four halves), and she was short on bread, so only about half my class got grilled cheese. One of the 4th grade girls dumped her tray while my class was going through. She had a grilled cheese sandwich she was going to dump... one of the 6th graders yelled, "WAIT! DON'T DO THAT!" and he ran over and grabbed the sandwich before it could reach the trash. Hmm, not exactly sanitary, but I can't say that I blame him! So, I didn't get any grilled cheese and neither did the 7th graders. But there were a lot of fruits and vegetables, so I didn't go away hungry.
Speaking of fruits and vegetables... my class has been kicking butt on the fruits and vegetables challenge against the 3rd and 4th graders. After such a close average last week, my class is determined to beat them. They asked if I'd put a marble in the jar if everyone ate 5 servings of fruits/veggies today. Why not? So EVERYONE took five and our class total was 75. That should bump our average up! Only two days left of the challenge!
The bummer of the day was lunch. I was so excited for grilled cheese this morning! It's served with chili, but the grilled cheese is my favorite. And the cook ran out. She was letting the younger kids take two full sandwiches (or four halves), and she was short on bread, so only about half my class got grilled cheese. One of the 4th grade girls dumped her tray while my class was going through. She had a grilled cheese sandwich she was going to dump... one of the 6th graders yelled, "WAIT! DON'T DO THAT!" and he ran over and grabbed the sandwich before it could reach the trash. Hmm, not exactly sanitary, but I can't say that I blame him! So, I didn't get any grilled cheese and neither did the 7th graders. But there were a lot of fruits and vegetables, so I didn't go away hungry.
Speaking of fruits and vegetables... my class has been kicking butt on the fruits and vegetables challenge against the 3rd and 4th graders. After such a close average last week, my class is determined to beat them. They asked if I'd put a marble in the jar if everyone ate 5 servings of fruits/veggies today. Why not? So EVERYONE took five and our class total was 75. That should bump our average up! Only two days left of the challenge!
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Droopy
Today was a droopy day, for me at least. The weather is foggy and dull. I have a stuffy nose and didn't sleep well last night. Add that all up and you get a droopy Miss H.
So let's focus on the positive.
The hockey games at noon recess today were amazing! The teams played so hard; they were fun to watch.
Most of my class is finished with the paper quilling projects we've been working on. They took small pieces of cardboard as bases and rolled up colorful paper around pencils/toothpicks to make the tubes. Some did random patterns, others tried to make a design or picture: first letter of a name, rainbow, just the corner, a cross, a sports team's logo...
We're nearing the end of Space Case by Stuart Gibbs. From here on out, the chapters end in cliff-hangers, so I suppose I should just plan to not get a lot of Daily 5 done tomorrow. I promised them we could read longer tomorrow if most of the class got their Student Treasure book pages finished on the computer today. We made a lot of headway on the project, but aren't as far along as I'd like. It's due on Friday, so we need to get moving!
Our classroom got super warm today! Up to 74 degrees! It's normally set at 68, but when the weather outside is warm, our room heats up. All the kids complained about the heat, and even I was sweating, so we opened some windows. The poor boys who were sitting in line with the draft got cold and put their sweatshirts back on. But by the time we packed up to go home after recess, everyone was sweaty again. I saw two boys crouched by the open window. It looked like they were looking at something outside, but they were really just commandeering the breeze.
So let's focus on the positive.
The hockey games at noon recess today were amazing! The teams played so hard; they were fun to watch.
Most of my class is finished with the paper quilling projects we've been working on. They took small pieces of cardboard as bases and rolled up colorful paper around pencils/toothpicks to make the tubes. Some did random patterns, others tried to make a design or picture: first letter of a name, rainbow, just the corner, a cross, a sports team's logo...
We're nearing the end of Space Case by Stuart Gibbs. From here on out, the chapters end in cliff-hangers, so I suppose I should just plan to not get a lot of Daily 5 done tomorrow. I promised them we could read longer tomorrow if most of the class got their Student Treasure book pages finished on the computer today. We made a lot of headway on the project, but aren't as far along as I'd like. It's due on Friday, so we need to get moving!
Our classroom got super warm today! Up to 74 degrees! It's normally set at 68, but when the weather outside is warm, our room heats up. All the kids complained about the heat, and even I was sweating, so we opened some windows. The poor boys who were sitting in line with the draft got cold and put their sweatshirts back on. But by the time we packed up to go home after recess, everyone was sweaty again. I saw two boys crouched by the open window. It looked like they were looking at something outside, but they were really just commandeering the breeze.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Keeper of the Kleenex
This morning the whole school went over to church to sing at the funeral of a grandpa of one of my 6th graders. The family had asked us to sing "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." We went over super early so we'd get in place before the family had to enter.
The kids did okay on the way over there and as we got situated up in the balcony. But waiting fifteen minutes was a bad idea. One of the 3rd graders started crying, and her fellow third grade classmates followed. That got the kindergartners started.
I was standing near a box of Kleenex, so I passed the box around. And again. And again. And then we ran out. It was almost time to start the service, but I scooted downstairs to find another box. I felt so bad, scrounging for a box of Kleenex while the family waited in line to go in. Thankfully the janitor found one super fast and I was able to sneak back upstairs. We got more Kleenex passed out and were able to sing and depart without any trouble.
Church was packed. The grandpa was a big horse person. He was on the Montana Board of Quarter Horses plus his house (the place on the edge of Courtland with all the horse pastures) was one of the stopping places for the Native Americans who do the ride between South Dakota and Mankato commemorating the hanging of the 38 (right before Christmas... the Dakota Uprising). So lots of visitors came.
Singing at the funeral cast a somber tone to the whole day. I noticed it especially during the floor hockey tournament. We had parents send permission for their children to go over. About half my class forgot their forms at home. So before school started, there was a mad rush to call parents and have them give verbal permission. One boy didn't want to go, but his parents wanted him to. (His grandpa passed away somewhat recently.) Since his parents wanted him to, I made him come along. He handled it really well. One of the other 6th graders was making not-nice comments about the girls crying, saying stuff like "faker" and "she doesn't even know him!" The two of us had a chat about that before lunch.
Speaking of chats, Mr. E had a chat with the boys in my class about teasing the girls about crushes and who likes who. They've been going nonstop, sometimes bringing the girls to the point of tears (although the girls sometimes tease them right back). I'll tell them over and over to knock it off, but it only stops them for a minute or two. Somehow I think a talk with the principal will stop all their comments... at least, I hope so!
The kids did okay on the way over there and as we got situated up in the balcony. But waiting fifteen minutes was a bad idea. One of the 3rd graders started crying, and her fellow third grade classmates followed. That got the kindergartners started.
I was standing near a box of Kleenex, so I passed the box around. And again. And again. And then we ran out. It was almost time to start the service, but I scooted downstairs to find another box. I felt so bad, scrounging for a box of Kleenex while the family waited in line to go in. Thankfully the janitor found one super fast and I was able to sneak back upstairs. We got more Kleenex passed out and were able to sing and depart without any trouble.
Church was packed. The grandpa was a big horse person. He was on the Montana Board of Quarter Horses plus his house (the place on the edge of Courtland with all the horse pastures) was one of the stopping places for the Native Americans who do the ride between South Dakota and Mankato commemorating the hanging of the 38 (right before Christmas... the Dakota Uprising). So lots of visitors came.
Singing at the funeral cast a somber tone to the whole day. I noticed it especially during the floor hockey tournament. We had parents send permission for their children to go over. About half my class forgot their forms at home. So before school started, there was a mad rush to call parents and have them give verbal permission. One boy didn't want to go, but his parents wanted him to. (His grandpa passed away somewhat recently.) Since his parents wanted him to, I made him come along. He handled it really well. One of the other 6th graders was making not-nice comments about the girls crying, saying stuff like "faker" and "she doesn't even know him!" The two of us had a chat about that before lunch.
Speaking of chats, Mr. E had a chat with the boys in my class about teasing the girls about crushes and who likes who. They've been going nonstop, sometimes bringing the girls to the point of tears (although the girls sometimes tease them right back). I'll tell them over and over to knock it off, but it only stops them for a minute or two. Somehow I think a talk with the principal will stop all their comments... at least, I hope so!
Friday, February 19, 2016
Wow! It's so bright!
We've had two ceiling lights out for the past... I don't know... two weeks? three weeks?
It took me a while to notice the second one, and when I did, my kids kind of yelled at me. "You're just noticing that now?! We've been telling you about them every day for like two weeks!" Yeah, I highly doubt that. Every day? I definitely would've remembered something like that. "No Miss H, we really told you. We did." Huh, okay, I'll nod like I'm agreeing with you.
Anyway, the lights couldn't get fixed because the ballast was bad (I think that's what it's called) and we didn't have any to replace the bad ones. A guy finally came out today and replaced the parts that were bad. And now my room is bright again! The two fixed lights shine a different color than the old ones... I'm sure my kids will notice. We'll see how many exclamations I get on Monday morning...
It took me a while to notice the second one, and when I did, my kids kind of yelled at me. "You're just noticing that now?! We've been telling you about them every day for like two weeks!" Yeah, I highly doubt that. Every day? I definitely would've remembered something like that. "No Miss H, we really told you. We did." Huh, okay, I'll nod like I'm agreeing with you.
Anyway, the lights couldn't get fixed because the ballast was bad (I think that's what it's called) and we didn't have any to replace the bad ones. A guy finally came out today and replaced the parts that were bad. And now my room is bright again! The two fixed lights shine a different color than the old ones... I'm sure my kids will notice. We'll see how many exclamations I get on Monday morning...
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Zeussical at Mount Olympus
Much better day today than yesterday... the student in question came in with 36 sentences completed and a scrawled apology note.
Our day was kind of short because of the play at Nicollet. It was all about the gods attending Mt. Olympus Elementary school. One day a mortal shows up (he was from Mankato, MN instead of Athens, Greece). Their teacher, Miss Athena is mistaken for someone Poseidon is mad at, and he puts her in chains for a sea monster to eat. Her godly students have one day to figure out how to rescue her. Meanwhile, the mortal, Bob, is feeling bummed because he's not a god and doesn't have any spectacular talents. They all search for answers on how to save their teacher, but can't do it. Then they find a magical cube that if solved, would cause Poseidon to forgive/forget whatever he was mad about. But it's a Rubik's cube. And none of the Greek gods can solve it. Bob doesn't see what the big deal is because he solves them all the time! So he solves the cube, finds his talent (super puzzle solver), and Miss Athena is saved. Woohoo!
Usually these plays have some sort of moral to the story. This year there were two, but they weren't emphasized as much throughout the play. I'm not sure if the students figured out what the morals were... don't be prideful, and in order to find your talents/be good at something, you need to practice and work hard at it.
I was very impressed with this year's performance. There was way more choreography, the singers' voices were amazing, and they showcased a huge variety of skills. One song was a rap, another an acapella number, another full of harmony, and others were simple solos. The costumes were good too. And there was a lot of audience participation where the characters would ask audience members for answers/suggestions. One time Hera needed to make a list of cupcake flavors and asked the audience to help. Miss Athena asked the audience for examples of what they like that makes them happy... pools, candy, and Mom were the big ones.
The play is written by the MSU students who act in it. At the beginning of the year the cast is chosen after a round of fierce auditions and the cast comes up with the theme/moral, writes the script/songs, designs the set, and pulls together costumes. I think it's for a class, or at least they earn credit. Kind of a bummer, but we had to leave before the question/answer session so we could get back to school for the buses.
Our day was kind of short because of the play at Nicollet. It was all about the gods attending Mt. Olympus Elementary school. One day a mortal shows up (he was from Mankato, MN instead of Athens, Greece). Their teacher, Miss Athena is mistaken for someone Poseidon is mad at, and he puts her in chains for a sea monster to eat. Her godly students have one day to figure out how to rescue her. Meanwhile, the mortal, Bob, is feeling bummed because he's not a god and doesn't have any spectacular talents. They all search for answers on how to save their teacher, but can't do it. Then they find a magical cube that if solved, would cause Poseidon to forgive/forget whatever he was mad about. But it's a Rubik's cube. And none of the Greek gods can solve it. Bob doesn't see what the big deal is because he solves them all the time! So he solves the cube, finds his talent (super puzzle solver), and Miss Athena is saved. Woohoo!
Usually these plays have some sort of moral to the story. This year there were two, but they weren't emphasized as much throughout the play. I'm not sure if the students figured out what the morals were... don't be prideful, and in order to find your talents/be good at something, you need to practice and work hard at it.
I was very impressed with this year's performance. There was way more choreography, the singers' voices were amazing, and they showcased a huge variety of skills. One song was a rap, another an acapella number, another full of harmony, and others were simple solos. The costumes were good too. And there was a lot of audience participation where the characters would ask audience members for answers/suggestions. One time Hera needed to make a list of cupcake flavors and asked the audience to help. Miss Athena asked the audience for examples of what they like that makes them happy... pools, candy, and Mom were the big ones.
The play is written by the MSU students who act in it. At the beginning of the year the cast is chosen after a round of fierce auditions and the cast comes up with the theme/moral, writes the script/songs, designs the set, and pulls together costumes. I think it's for a class, or at least they earn credit. Kind of a bummer, but we had to leave before the question/answer session so we could get back to school for the buses.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
100
Yuck. That about sums up how after school went today. Oh, the school day was fine. It was just from 3:00 until now.
The kid from yesterday was going to stay after school and write sentences as a consequence... he still got to play hockey/have recess/active time and he wouldn't miss any class. Yeah, good on paper, not so successful in reality.
Mr. E and I decided he should write the 4th commandment and meaning... I thought maybe 15 times, he thought 50-100 times. But the kid was also disrespectful today. So we compromised and did 25 for yesterday and 25 for today, 50 total. He was going to stay until 4:15 and if he wasn't finished, he'd come again another day.
Mr. E requires sentences to be in cursive, and this kid only learned cursive last year, so I wrote it out for him on a piece of paper. As I was writing, he kept repeating, "I don't think so" and walked away. When I wasn't looking, he crumpled them up and threw them in the trash, sat in his desk and ate beef jerky. No remorse. I told him he'd get more sentences added. He shrugged and said something along the lines of "who cares?" Eventually I got him over to the white table and he uncrumpled the paper he'd thrown away, recrumpled it, and threw it away again. So I gave him the choice to write or sit there doing nothing.
His mom didn't respond to my emails. I suppose I could've called her, but at that point, it seemed like calling would only make things worse. And besides, this whole thing was caused by his lack of respect for school authority, so wouldn't calling in mom or dad to make him mind further undermine my authority? Ugh. Big mess. With his attitude/behavior after school he gradually worked his way up from 50 sentences to 100.
Eventually his mom called (she must've seen my emails) and asked to talk to him. After talking to her, he finally started writing. Soon his dad came in to sit and supervise him. But by that point, he only had about twenty minutes of time left to stay at school. His mom is upset he has to write 100 sentences and she's upset at how long they are and that they have to be in cursive.
His mom calculated how long it would take him to write 100 sentences in cursive: 10 minutes per sentence times 100 equals 1000 minutes, or 16 1/2 hours. I didn't mean for him to end up writing 100! He was being stubborn and I had to be stubborn to show him I meant business! Not sure if it worked or not, but his life is going to be pretty miserable until he gets those sentences written. His mom and I did find a compromise to hopefully make things go faster: he writes the first 25 in cursive and the rest in print.
UGH! I hate dealing with things like this; there's no good way to handle it. And now I feel like a crummy person. Good thing there's church tonight...
The kid from yesterday was going to stay after school and write sentences as a consequence... he still got to play hockey/have recess/active time and he wouldn't miss any class. Yeah, good on paper, not so successful in reality.
Mr. E and I decided he should write the 4th commandment and meaning... I thought maybe 15 times, he thought 50-100 times. But the kid was also disrespectful today. So we compromised and did 25 for yesterday and 25 for today, 50 total. He was going to stay until 4:15 and if he wasn't finished, he'd come again another day.
Mr. E requires sentences to be in cursive, and this kid only learned cursive last year, so I wrote it out for him on a piece of paper. As I was writing, he kept repeating, "I don't think so" and walked away. When I wasn't looking, he crumpled them up and threw them in the trash, sat in his desk and ate beef jerky. No remorse. I told him he'd get more sentences added. He shrugged and said something along the lines of "who cares?" Eventually I got him over to the white table and he uncrumpled the paper he'd thrown away, recrumpled it, and threw it away again. So I gave him the choice to write or sit there doing nothing.
His mom didn't respond to my emails. I suppose I could've called her, but at that point, it seemed like calling would only make things worse. And besides, this whole thing was caused by his lack of respect for school authority, so wouldn't calling in mom or dad to make him mind further undermine my authority? Ugh. Big mess. With his attitude/behavior after school he gradually worked his way up from 50 sentences to 100.
Eventually his mom called (she must've seen my emails) and asked to talk to him. After talking to her, he finally started writing. Soon his dad came in to sit and supervise him. But by that point, he only had about twenty minutes of time left to stay at school. His mom is upset he has to write 100 sentences and she's upset at how long they are and that they have to be in cursive.
His mom calculated how long it would take him to write 100 sentences in cursive: 10 minutes per sentence times 100 equals 1000 minutes, or 16 1/2 hours. I didn't mean for him to end up writing 100! He was being stubborn and I had to be stubborn to show him I meant business! Not sure if it worked or not, but his life is going to be pretty miserable until he gets those sentences written. His mom and I did find a compromise to hopefully make things go faster: he writes the first 25 in cursive and the rest in print.
UGH! I hate dealing with things like this; there's no good way to handle it. And now I feel like a crummy person. Good thing there's church tonight...
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Whirlwind
This day was crazy.
Everyone was super tired after a long weekend of basketball and no school Monday. Plus they were all super chatty which means they had trouble focusing as well.
My classroom was in one piece after the tournament with minimal things to put back in place. All our snowflakes are still hanging from the ceiling too!
It took a while for the day to get started... I think I was the cause... distracted checking off my list of returned permission forms/collecting money for the field trip we're doing Thursday (seeing a play put on by MSU students at Nicollet), handing out fixes, writing notes on the board, church attendance, lunch count, etc. One of the 6th graders had a birthday Sunday, and he brought Dairy Queen ice cream cake as a treat for the class. So we had to set that out to thaw 20 minutes ahead of time. The boy who brought it wanted to cut it, so I started our read-aloud chapter and he hacked away at it... and the pieces didn't come out even. So his classmates complained. But there was enough for everyone, plus the teachers, so I count that a success. Still, not my favorite type of birthday treat for school.
The floor hockey tournament started today. Mexican haystacks were for lunch, and they always take FOREVER to serve, so my class had barely gotten our food by the time the tournament was supposed to start. We started late and cut into math/7th grade social studies time. This cut into our bell time and then into 5th/6th science time and then into afternoon recess time. So the whole afternoon was a little off-kilter. When we finally got around to having science, I found a note sheet in the teacher book I forgot to print off for the class, and then I couldn't find it on my flash drive. So I took time to make a new one. And while I was looking for it, I found a note about a website I wanted to show my students... look here! It was about a giant insect they rediscovered after 80 years of it being "extinct." There's a movie at the end of the page showing the insect hatching, and since we're learning ecology, I let the class watch it. Which led to a discussion of how insects reproduce, which led to another discussion about how whales/sharks reproduce, which lead to the topic how spiders reproduce... yes, it was a very interesting half an hour. I didn't know all the answers, so I promised I'd find the answers and report back tomorrow.
The day ended on a sour note... one of the 6th graders was supposed to ride the bus home. Normally he gets picked up, but his mom emailed me twice today to remind him to ride the bus. As we were packing up to go home, he saw someone who sometimes gives him a ride home waiting outside and asked if he could ride home with them. No...
Well, he wasn't too happy with that answer and fussed for a bit. Eventually he packed up his stuff and calmly/politely asked if he could quick grab something out of the coatroom. Impressed by his politeness, I let him. And he never came back. We waited and waited, everyone else all dressed up in their winter gear waiting to pray and go home. We sent someone to check the bathrooms and other classrooms... didn't find him. Everyone was quick to accuse him of going home with those people but I didn't want to believe that. Since we couldn't find him, we prayed and dismissed. It turns out, yes, he did sneak home with those people.
After everyone was gone I was still crazy busy and didn't have a chance to email his mom. When I finally did get the chance to check my email, I saw she beat me to it, asking if something had happened at school. She was on the phone when her son came in, and he asked her if she was talking to me on the phone. Hmm, suspicious question for her son to be asking, hence the email. So. That's what I've been dealing with all afternoon. Not the best way to end the day.
Now it's time to go home. I have a bunch of laundry to do and a pile of papers to correct. The 7th graders are working at Pizza Ranch in New Ulm tonight as a class fundraiser. They kept asking if I was going to go... to be honest I've had so much pizza lately I'm kind of "pizza-ed out." And it would be nice to hole up at home for an evening. We'll see what happens I guess.
Everyone was super tired after a long weekend of basketball and no school Monday. Plus they were all super chatty which means they had trouble focusing as well.
My classroom was in one piece after the tournament with minimal things to put back in place. All our snowflakes are still hanging from the ceiling too!
It took a while for the day to get started... I think I was the cause... distracted checking off my list of returned permission forms/collecting money for the field trip we're doing Thursday (seeing a play put on by MSU students at Nicollet), handing out fixes, writing notes on the board, church attendance, lunch count, etc. One of the 6th graders had a birthday Sunday, and he brought Dairy Queen ice cream cake as a treat for the class. So we had to set that out to thaw 20 minutes ahead of time. The boy who brought it wanted to cut it, so I started our read-aloud chapter and he hacked away at it... and the pieces didn't come out even. So his classmates complained. But there was enough for everyone, plus the teachers, so I count that a success. Still, not my favorite type of birthday treat for school.
The floor hockey tournament started today. Mexican haystacks were for lunch, and they always take FOREVER to serve, so my class had barely gotten our food by the time the tournament was supposed to start. We started late and cut into math/7th grade social studies time. This cut into our bell time and then into 5th/6th science time and then into afternoon recess time. So the whole afternoon was a little off-kilter. When we finally got around to having science, I found a note sheet in the teacher book I forgot to print off for the class, and then I couldn't find it on my flash drive. So I took time to make a new one. And while I was looking for it, I found a note about a website I wanted to show my students... look here! It was about a giant insect they rediscovered after 80 years of it being "extinct." There's a movie at the end of the page showing the insect hatching, and since we're learning ecology, I let the class watch it. Which led to a discussion of how insects reproduce, which led to another discussion about how whales/sharks reproduce, which lead to the topic how spiders reproduce... yes, it was a very interesting half an hour. I didn't know all the answers, so I promised I'd find the answers and report back tomorrow.
The day ended on a sour note... one of the 6th graders was supposed to ride the bus home. Normally he gets picked up, but his mom emailed me twice today to remind him to ride the bus. As we were packing up to go home, he saw someone who sometimes gives him a ride home waiting outside and asked if he could ride home with them. No...
Well, he wasn't too happy with that answer and fussed for a bit. Eventually he packed up his stuff and calmly/politely asked if he could quick grab something out of the coatroom. Impressed by his politeness, I let him. And he never came back. We waited and waited, everyone else all dressed up in their winter gear waiting to pray and go home. We sent someone to check the bathrooms and other classrooms... didn't find him. Everyone was quick to accuse him of going home with those people but I didn't want to believe that. Since we couldn't find him, we prayed and dismissed. It turns out, yes, he did sneak home with those people.
After everyone was gone I was still crazy busy and didn't have a chance to email his mom. When I finally did get the chance to check my email, I saw she beat me to it, asking if something had happened at school. She was on the phone when her son came in, and he asked her if she was talking to me on the phone. Hmm, suspicious question for her son to be asking, hence the email. So. That's what I've been dealing with all afternoon. Not the best way to end the day.
Now it's time to go home. I have a bunch of laundry to do and a pile of papers to correct. The 7th graders are working at Pizza Ranch in New Ulm tonight as a class fundraiser. They kept asking if I was going to go... to be honest I've had so much pizza lately I'm kind of "pizza-ed out." And it would be nice to hole up at home for an evening. We'll see what happens I guess.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Tournament and Valentine's Day
Lots of big things happening today! Since Valentine's Day is Sunday, we celebrated in school today. A few students didn't bring treats/Valentines or forgot theirs. It's kind of strange how people have gone away from the card tradition I remember from my grade school years. Most kids who bring treats simply bring candy. I didn't feel like giving them more sugar, so my valentines to them said, "You make my heart POP!" and had a balloon attached.
We had a bit of a whirlwind day. With set-up for the tournament needing to happen before the first game at 3:00, school dismissed at 11:30 today. Our morning was fairly normal, albeit jam-packed: religion, read aloud (making snowflakes to hang from the ceiling and cleaning the room for the tournament... clean whiteboards, dust computer desks, wipe off the lab table), spelling tests, reading buddies, Valentine's Party, school pep fest, then pray and go home! But, most of my kids stuck around to help set up with their parents.
Everyone did indeed say their memory work so we could have the party. Some kids were so caught up in the spirit of cleaning, they didn't want to stop for the party! One kid even asked if he could vacuum instead of playing games! He didn't end up vacuuming, but the thought was there at first.
We decided to move our desks to the corners and then pass out treats... not the best idea because now how did they know where to put the candy/cards for specific people? Solution: I gave them a post-it to write their names on and they picked a spot in the room for their "stash". Then it was game time. Instead of having planned games, I let them play games from the game cupboard they're not usually allowed to play during Word Work or Work on Writing. Catchphrase, chess (on a Star Wars chess board...one of them had brought it from home), and poker were the games of the day.
So, now parents are bustling about, getting things ready. Signs are hung, posters decorate the hallways, food is cooking in the kitchen... all that's needed are the teams!
We had a bit of a whirlwind day. With set-up for the tournament needing to happen before the first game at 3:00, school dismissed at 11:30 today. Our morning was fairly normal, albeit jam-packed: religion, read aloud (making snowflakes to hang from the ceiling and cleaning the room for the tournament... clean whiteboards, dust computer desks, wipe off the lab table), spelling tests, reading buddies, Valentine's Party, school pep fest, then pray and go home! But, most of my kids stuck around to help set up with their parents.
Everyone did indeed say their memory work so we could have the party. Some kids were so caught up in the spirit of cleaning, they didn't want to stop for the party! One kid even asked if he could vacuum instead of playing games! He didn't end up vacuuming, but the thought was there at first.
We decided to move our desks to the corners and then pass out treats... not the best idea because now how did they know where to put the candy/cards for specific people? Solution: I gave them a post-it to write their names on and they picked a spot in the room for their "stash". Then it was game time. Instead of having planned games, I let them play games from the game cupboard they're not usually allowed to play during Word Work or Work on Writing. Catchphrase, chess (on a Star Wars chess board...one of them had brought it from home), and poker were the games of the day.
So, now parents are bustling about, getting things ready. Signs are hung, posters decorate the hallways, food is cooking in the kitchen... all that's needed are the teams!
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Gingerbread
The 7th graders had their Medieval Life presentations due today. Most were kind of scrambling to get them done, despite the fact they've been working on them for two weeks. One girl found a recipe for Medieval gingerbread. It was breadcrumbs, honey, ground ginger, ground cloves, and pepper. Word of this gingerbread reached me much sooner than this student actually did... apparently, she let kids on the bus try it and they spit it out because they thought it tasted gross. So the rest of the 7th graders tried to bargain with me, "Miss H, if we eat this gingerbread stuff, will we get extra credit?" No. "But a kid practically threw up on the bus!" Still no. "Can we at least get our water bottles?" Sure. It actually wasn't that bad, just spicy. And you have to eat it in very small bites. Most of the 7th graders ended up thinking it wasn't too bad.
We got a new song in bells today... it's five pages. They would've freaked out more, but I've been telling them about this song for a while. Today's practice was spent highlighting their notes and going over what the special symbols mean. We're doing thumb damping, bell swinging, jingling, table thumping... not the technical terms by any means! By the time everything was straightened out, practice was over! So we'll try the song next Tuesday.
We got a new song in bells today... it's five pages. They would've freaked out more, but I've been telling them about this song for a while. Today's practice was spent highlighting their notes and going over what the special symbols mean. We're doing thumb damping, bell swinging, jingling, table thumping... not the technical terms by any means! By the time everything was straightened out, practice was over! So we'll try the song next Tuesday.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Food Fear Factor
Frequently, when my kiddos don't know a spelling word's meaning, they'll look it up on the iPad via Dictionary.com. The site features a word of the day and today's word is "fubsy," or short/stout. My kiddos loved this word. A bunch of them wanted to use it in their spelling packet for the week... I told them if they use the word in their weekly story, they'd maybe get extra credit... hopefully I remember I said that!
Today's dress up day was Neon Day, kind of at odds with Ash Wednesday. After chapel, Pastor had ash available to mark people who wanted marks. I wasn't going to do it, but all the other teachers did, so I gave in to peer pressure and had him mark my forehead. My mark lasted all day! Most others' marks wore off or were brushed away. An interesting thing I learned this year is that Pastor saved palms from Palm Sunday and burned them to get the ashes for Ash Wednesday. Isn't it neat that it comes full circle?
We did finish watching National Treasure this morning. And we again had some great teachable moments! Now they want to watch the second movie. I know the Bookmobile has it... they want to watch it for their next marble prize. We currently are about halfway to our next prize, so they're pretty fired up.
It helped that they earned 13 marbles this afternoon. The school nurse did a Food Fear Factor challenge with my students today. She brought in 18 different, strange, out of the ordinary foods, some hot some cold for us to try. They were all different colors of the rainbow: red peppers, beets, tamarind, squash, beans, star fruit, blood orange, Brussels sprouts, cabbage (in Borscht), sweet potatoes, raw coconut... I can't remember what the others were. Some students were surprised by how tasty they were! Others were grossed out and only tried a few. To encourage more participation, I gave the incentive that for each 16 foods tried, the class would earn one marble. Since there were 18 things, we had the potential to earn over 14 marbles (one kid was sick). 13 marbles= not a bad result!
Today's dress up day was Neon Day, kind of at odds with Ash Wednesday. After chapel, Pastor had ash available to mark people who wanted marks. I wasn't going to do it, but all the other teachers did, so I gave in to peer pressure and had him mark my forehead. My mark lasted all day! Most others' marks wore off or were brushed away. An interesting thing I learned this year is that Pastor saved palms from Palm Sunday and burned them to get the ashes for Ash Wednesday. Isn't it neat that it comes full circle?
We did finish watching National Treasure this morning. And we again had some great teachable moments! Now they want to watch the second movie. I know the Bookmobile has it... they want to watch it for their next marble prize. We currently are about halfway to our next prize, so they're pretty fired up.
It helped that they earned 13 marbles this afternoon. The school nurse did a Food Fear Factor challenge with my students today. She brought in 18 different, strange, out of the ordinary foods, some hot some cold for us to try. They were all different colors of the rainbow: red peppers, beets, tamarind, squash, beans, star fruit, blood orange, Brussels sprouts, cabbage (in Borscht), sweet potatoes, raw coconut... I can't remember what the others were. Some students were surprised by how tasty they were! Others were grossed out and only tried a few. To encourage more participation, I gave the incentive that for each 16 foods tried, the class would earn one marble. Since there were 18 things, we had the potential to earn over 14 marbles (one kid was sick). 13 marbles= not a bad result!
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Back again
We had another snow day yesterday. The kiddos were SUPER chatty today; they just could not focus. Let's hope the weather stays calm and somewhat normal for a while so we can get back into routine.
Today was the first day of watching our class marble prize, National Treasure. I forgot how amazing that movie is! Chock full of teachable moments. And history. Love it. A surprisingly high number of my students haven't seen it yet. But there are those who have, although they are trying not to spoil it for the rest of the class. We still have over an hour of the movie to go, so we'll try to finish it up tomorrow.
I found a really cool quote on facebook today that I think I want to hang somewhere in my classroom... if I can find space... it goes, "Ships don't sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don't let what happens around you get inside you and weigh you down."
Remember the shoe incident from last week? The consequence started today... Mr. E is having the student wash the white panel that runs around the bottom of the gym wall. It's dirty and scuffed and has weird splotches in random places. And he'll keep scrubbing until the whole thing is clean. I was impressed that the student didn't pitch a fit at first; he got his supplies and went to work. But at afternoon recess I made the mistake of watching him for a while and he started being dramatic, rubbing his wrist, complaining that it was going to get broken. Oops. It is going to take a while. A lot of the marks seem permanent, or maybe this student just doesn't have the correct tools to get it clean. He's using one of those Magic Eraser sponge thingys. It's getting it much cleaner, but it's not getting the job completely done. He barely got two feet accomplished... there's a lot of gym left.
Today was the first day of watching our class marble prize, National Treasure. I forgot how amazing that movie is! Chock full of teachable moments. And history. Love it. A surprisingly high number of my students haven't seen it yet. But there are those who have, although they are trying not to spoil it for the rest of the class. We still have over an hour of the movie to go, so we'll try to finish it up tomorrow.
I found a really cool quote on facebook today that I think I want to hang somewhere in my classroom... if I can find space... it goes, "Ships don't sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don't let what happens around you get inside you and weigh you down."
Remember the shoe incident from last week? The consequence started today... Mr. E is having the student wash the white panel that runs around the bottom of the gym wall. It's dirty and scuffed and has weird splotches in random places. And he'll keep scrubbing until the whole thing is clean. I was impressed that the student didn't pitch a fit at first; he got his supplies and went to work. But at afternoon recess I made the mistake of watching him for a while and he started being dramatic, rubbing his wrist, complaining that it was going to get broken. Oops. It is going to take a while. A lot of the marks seem permanent, or maybe this student just doesn't have the correct tools to get it clean. He's using one of those Magic Eraser sponge thingys. It's getting it much cleaner, but it's not getting the job completely done. He barely got two feet accomplished... there's a lot of gym left.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Shoes
Oh did we have drama today.
Yesterday, one of the 6th graders complained to me that he was missing a shoe. Since it was the end of the day, I brushed it off, sure it was only misplaced and would turn up later. Today I found out a different 6th grader took it and threw it in the trash! Just because. No particular reason.
The 7th graders empty every classroom's garbage cans every day into the dumpster in the parking lot, so once we figured out where the shoe was, some of the 6th graders volunteered to dumpster dive. They found it without too much trouble (or getting messy even). The 6th grader who took it spent a large chunk of the afternoon in the office and will be on recess probation for a week... probably cleaning the gym and taking out actual trash. This same kid already had to stay in from recess writing sentences because he was disrespectful to the substitute on Monday. He complained that the verses he had to write were too long (Ephesians 4:29-31) but I just told him, "it fits the crime." He finished them today right as afternoon recess got over.
Yesterday, one of the 6th graders complained to me that he was missing a shoe. Since it was the end of the day, I brushed it off, sure it was only misplaced and would turn up later. Today I found out a different 6th grader took it and threw it in the trash! Just because. No particular reason.
The 7th graders empty every classroom's garbage cans every day into the dumpster in the parking lot, so once we figured out where the shoe was, some of the 6th graders volunteered to dumpster dive. They found it without too much trouble (or getting messy even). The 6th grader who took it spent a large chunk of the afternoon in the office and will be on recess probation for a week... probably cleaning the gym and taking out actual trash. This same kid already had to stay in from recess writing sentences because he was disrespectful to the substitute on Monday. He complained that the verses he had to write were too long (Ephesians 4:29-31) but I just told him, "it fits the crime." He finished them today right as afternoon recess got over.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Catch-up
Recap of the week so far...
Sunday- woke up with a sore throat that got slightly better, then worse, then better, then worse
Monday- woke up with a REALLY sore throat and called in sick. Went to the doctor and the doctor said... I probably had one of the 80% of strep cases caused by a virus and I'd have to tough it out... did a little grocery shopping and got home just in time for the nurse to call me saying the swab test was positive for bacterial strep, so I'd have to go back to New Ulm to pick up my medicine.
Tuesday- was going to stay home sick again, but school got called off the night before!
Wednesday- started with a two hours late that got extended to all day cancelled! Woohoo! Another day to read and recuperate! I ended up cleaning my apartment too...
Thursday- normal school day
It seemed like my kids were glad I was back in school... my lesson plans are a mess what with reorganizing things for my sub (Mrs. B was thankfully able to sub on short notice. She knows how the classroom works so I could give her lesson plans over the phone and didn't have to come in to school at all.) and with our two snow days. Next week is the week before our home basketball tournament, so we have dress up days and it's going to be kind of a crazy week anyway. That's my last task of the evening, making lesson plans for next week.
Partway through the morning it began to snow light, fluffy flakes. My kids, on the 2-day-snow-day high, immediately got excited, "They're gonna call school off!!! Woohoo!" Trying not to roll my eyes, I tried to calm them down, but they were having none of it. "No Miss H, it's getting bad out there. They're gonna call it off." One kid tried to bet me $100, then switched to a stick of gum. "I bet you a stick of gum we get out of school early today." ...I took the bet. He came in from noon recess (over at 12:30), and handed me a stick of gum. Another win for the teacher!
Sunday- woke up with a sore throat that got slightly better, then worse, then better, then worse
Monday- woke up with a REALLY sore throat and called in sick. Went to the doctor and the doctor said... I probably had one of the 80% of strep cases caused by a virus and I'd have to tough it out... did a little grocery shopping and got home just in time for the nurse to call me saying the swab test was positive for bacterial strep, so I'd have to go back to New Ulm to pick up my medicine.
Tuesday- was going to stay home sick again, but school got called off the night before!
Wednesday- started with a two hours late that got extended to all day cancelled! Woohoo! Another day to read and recuperate! I ended up cleaning my apartment too...
Thursday- normal school day
It seemed like my kids were glad I was back in school... my lesson plans are a mess what with reorganizing things for my sub (Mrs. B was thankfully able to sub on short notice. She knows how the classroom works so I could give her lesson plans over the phone and didn't have to come in to school at all.) and with our two snow days. Next week is the week before our home basketball tournament, so we have dress up days and it's going to be kind of a crazy week anyway. That's my last task of the evening, making lesson plans for next week.
Partway through the morning it began to snow light, fluffy flakes. My kids, on the 2-day-snow-day high, immediately got excited, "They're gonna call school off!!! Woohoo!" Trying not to roll my eyes, I tried to calm them down, but they were having none of it. "No Miss H, it's getting bad out there. They're gonna call it off." One kid tried to bet me $100, then switched to a stick of gum. "I bet you a stick of gum we get out of school early today." ...I took the bet. He came in from noon recess (over at 12:30), and handed me a stick of gum. Another win for the teacher!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)