Basketball home games today after school, both A and B squad. Things must've gotten a little rough because two kids came into my room looking for bandaids. One girl was using a Honey Baked Ham as an ice pack because she couldn't find any other ice packs. Turns out, she'd been looking in the wrong freezer!
All day my kids were strangely subdued (probably tired) and at the same time tense. There were lots of quarrels during recess and physical altercations. Besides those few scratches though, there hasn't been any blood!
In other news, I remembered both the NaNo story and a blanket! Woo! The 5th grader was super excited to see it on her desk this morning.
Also, we finally found entertainment for NLSW! Well, we haven't booked anything yet, but we found some other options. Before today, none of the entertainment options were terribly thrilling. I had found information about The Chalk Guy, who seemed like a great option (he draws a picture with chalk while he talks about his struggles with ADD/ADHD), but his publicist said it costs $4500 to book him for a gig. Just a liiiittle out of our price range. We could try to book with another organization in the area to split the cost, but that would still be way beyond our budget. Another chalk guy is from Iowa who seems more reasonable, but his message was shorter and seemed more like a chapel service kind of thing. The backup plan was going to be Doug Larson, a local singer who has entertained at our school in the past. I have a feeling the 5-8th graders wouldn't be too thrilled with the singing. So we were kind of stumped.
Miss S googled local entertainment options in MN and found two good options all of us on the committee are actually excited about. One of them is Jeffo the Blind Magician (lives in St. Paul). He's a motivational speaker (and does magic) and says he doesn't want to turn anyone away because of cost. The starting price on his website is $179, definitely in our price range! Plus he does a lot of presentations for kids, so we know he'll be good. The other guy is a clean, Christian comedian, also from St. Paul, who calls himself Juice. He's just starting out, but he's performed at the State Fair and other low key venues. I watched some of his videos and I'm not sure if he's funny or not. Could be my mood, or I'm not the right audience... I should probably show some to my kiddos and see what they think.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Monday, January 30, 2017
Chilly
I think I need to bring a blanket to school to keep behind my desk... I'm cold. During the day I'm usually fine; I don't sit down for long periods of time and my students generate a lot of body heat! But after they're gone and I do my planning, the room can get a bit chilly. Of course, I could turn the heat up, but sometimes even when it's above 70 in here I still get cold sitting at my desk. Yep, I think a blanket is the way to go. I have many to choose from at home; I just need to remember to bring one!
Speaking of remembering, I keep forgetting to bring one of the 5th grader's NaNos back to school. She had printed it for me to read before break, but I forgot it in my apartment and never read it. Now we've started editing them. I was supposed to bring it because somehow her original word document got deleted and transferring the words from the NaNo website to Microsoft Word messed up her story a little; she wants to see what words she had before Christmas break. I wrote myself a note today, so hopefully I'll remember!
The school nurse stopped in today to talk about February's Fruit and Vegetable Challenge. This year it will be 3rd vs. 5th and 4th vs. 6th. My class is sure they will dominate the 3rd and 4th graders. I'm slightly skeptical (the 5th graders don't seem to eat many fruits and veggies), but maybe they'll pull it off! We're basing the scores on an average for the week/month. I have the charts, rules, and February menu taped up to the side door where everyone can see it.
We were supposed to do BINGO prizes today, but I never got around to it. Most of my kiddos haven't filled out their BINGO sheets or their Reading Notebooks. I think only one girl is ready. I cleaned off the lab table today and set the prizes out so I don't forget to make time for that tomorrow.
The 7th and 8th graders convinced me to push their Asia map test off until Thursday. It was supposed to be tomorrow. It didn't take all that much convincing; we still have one more Asia powerpoint to go through. It was also a good incentive for them to behave in class today! Everyone was so attentive!
This weekend I ended up going to the basketball games Friday night. Both the boys and girls won! I'm glad I went; it was fun to watch them play. Then I surprised my family in Fulda showing up for supper. Saturday morning I headed to Truman. My farmer and his dad both raced in the Ice Kahana in Fairmont in the vintage snowmobile class... the Kahana is kind of like a twisty race course. You can drive through it as many times as you like (you have to pay for each time you do it) and you try to have the fastest score. There weren't that many people in the vintage classes. Most of the snowmobiles were newer. A ton of little kids were racing on their mini snowmobiles! They reminded me of beetles for some reason, though I think the machines are called 'kitties'. There's a four-wheeler class too; they race with studded wheels and they go super fast. It was pretty windy, but I stayed mostly warm in my heavy boots and coverall (and heat packs!). By midafternoon we were done racing... two first places! On Sunday afternoon, my farmer and I went rollerskating in Estherville. I'm only a little sore today, but I have a feeling I'll be even worse tomorrow... Still, it was very fun!
Speaking of remembering, I keep forgetting to bring one of the 5th grader's NaNos back to school. She had printed it for me to read before break, but I forgot it in my apartment and never read it. Now we've started editing them. I was supposed to bring it because somehow her original word document got deleted and transferring the words from the NaNo website to Microsoft Word messed up her story a little; she wants to see what words she had before Christmas break. I wrote myself a note today, so hopefully I'll remember!
The school nurse stopped in today to talk about February's Fruit and Vegetable Challenge. This year it will be 3rd vs. 5th and 4th vs. 6th. My class is sure they will dominate the 3rd and 4th graders. I'm slightly skeptical (the 5th graders don't seem to eat many fruits and veggies), but maybe they'll pull it off! We're basing the scores on an average for the week/month. I have the charts, rules, and February menu taped up to the side door where everyone can see it.
We were supposed to do BINGO prizes today, but I never got around to it. Most of my kiddos haven't filled out their BINGO sheets or their Reading Notebooks. I think only one girl is ready. I cleaned off the lab table today and set the prizes out so I don't forget to make time for that tomorrow.
The 7th and 8th graders convinced me to push their Asia map test off until Thursday. It was supposed to be tomorrow. It didn't take all that much convincing; we still have one more Asia powerpoint to go through. It was also a good incentive for them to behave in class today! Everyone was so attentive!
This weekend I ended up going to the basketball games Friday night. Both the boys and girls won! I'm glad I went; it was fun to watch them play. Then I surprised my family in Fulda showing up for supper. Saturday morning I headed to Truman. My farmer and his dad both raced in the Ice Kahana in Fairmont in the vintage snowmobile class... the Kahana is kind of like a twisty race course. You can drive through it as many times as you like (you have to pay for each time you do it) and you try to have the fastest score. There weren't that many people in the vintage classes. Most of the snowmobiles were newer. A ton of little kids were racing on their mini snowmobiles! They reminded me of beetles for some reason, though I think the machines are called 'kitties'. There's a four-wheeler class too; they race with studded wheels and they go super fast. It was pretty windy, but I stayed mostly warm in my heavy boots and coverall (and heat packs!). By midafternoon we were done racing... two first places! On Sunday afternoon, my farmer and I went rollerskating in Estherville. I'm only a little sore today, but I have a feeling I'll be even worse tomorrow... Still, it was very fun!
Friday, January 27, 2017
Chinese
The 5-8th graders had an early out at 1:30 today because of the Lakefield Tournament. That means I get an early out too! Just a few minutes ago, I was headed to the office to copy the science fair information packet when a paper delivery guy stopped me to sign for the paper he was dropping off. First he asked me if I was Chinese. When I said no, he said, "Oh, you look a little Chinese." Then he wanted to know if I was a student. Nope, I'm a teacher. He was very shocked and then asked what age I was... 26, almost 27. Wow! That blew him out of the water. Anyway, I signed what he needed and we chatted a bit more. He was very nice.
The 7th and 8th graders had two guests today... New Ulm didn't have school, so a student's older brother and sister both came to school with the 7/8th graders for the day. Both were former students of mine so it was kind of neat to have them around again. One of them watered my plants and the other helped correct spelling books.
We were supposed to have a guest speaker from Korea today, but there was some miscommunication. The student emailed me last week about coming this Friday, but I didn't email her back because I was waiting to hear if we'd need to leave early for the tournament. Then when I found out about the tournament, I never emailed her to say an official yes. Oops. She was still waiting to hear from me and wasn't ready to present today and didn't have a ride out here. Man! I would've emailed her sooner this week, but with the snow day I didn't have internet. I should learn to always err on the side of caution. It's turning out okay after all though; the two other Korean students who hadn't gotten back to me at first now suddenly emailed me today asking if they could still come and speak. So next week Friday two of them are coming and the third I am working on scheduling sometime for the 5th and 6th graders. Whew!
Well, I'm going to get out of here... If I hustle, I can make it to some basketball down in Lakefield. Or maybe I'll just head to Truman and see what my farmer is up to. He is supposed to have a snowmobile race tomorrow in Fairmont, but I haven't heard much about that, so we'll see if that's still on the agenda!
The 7th and 8th graders had two guests today... New Ulm didn't have school, so a student's older brother and sister both came to school with the 7/8th graders for the day. Both were former students of mine so it was kind of neat to have them around again. One of them watered my plants and the other helped correct spelling books.
We were supposed to have a guest speaker from Korea today, but there was some miscommunication. The student emailed me last week about coming this Friday, but I didn't email her back because I was waiting to hear if we'd need to leave early for the tournament. Then when I found out about the tournament, I never emailed her to say an official yes. Oops. She was still waiting to hear from me and wasn't ready to present today and didn't have a ride out here. Man! I would've emailed her sooner this week, but with the snow day I didn't have internet. I should learn to always err on the side of caution. It's turning out okay after all though; the two other Korean students who hadn't gotten back to me at first now suddenly emailed me today asking if they could still come and speak. So next week Friday two of them are coming and the third I am working on scheduling sometime for the 5th and 6th graders. Whew!
Well, I'm going to get out of here... If I hustle, I can make it to some basketball down in Lakefield. Or maybe I'll just head to Truman and see what my farmer is up to. He is supposed to have a snowmobile race tomorrow in Fairmont, but I haven't heard much about that, so we'll see if that's still on the agenda!
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Missing Pen
One of the 8th graders lost a pen in my class. He couldn't find it when it was time for him to go back to class; he was almost frantic about it. He did go to class, but he was back a few minutes later hunting for it. After a few minutes of fruitless searching he said dramatically, "I can't leave without it. If I have to pay to call in the dogs, I will." A 6th grade boy raised his hand and announced, "I am here!" Then he got on all fours and started sniffing the floor. Every once in a while he'd hold something up and say in a weird voice (trying to sound like a goofy dog?), "I found this." Some of his classmates started copying him. They crawled all over the classroom, "Joe, did you take it?" "Oh, I think I smell it!" holds up a crayon "nope, not quite!" The 8th grader did go back to class, and although the 6th grade dogs searched, their noses could not find that pen.
After school we learned how to use the new copier. Every three years or so the company switches it out for a new one, so I guess this is year three! This one is basically the same as our old one, but faster and newer. The copier guy showed us some handy time-saving features on this one! He also shared with us that it costs about one cent to make a black/white copy and eight cents to make a color copy. Good to know! We pay for the service by the copy I think, and maybe we have to pay a yearly fee or something, I'm not sure.
We also planned our National Lutheran Schools Week celebration after school today. It only took about a half an hour since we're repeating some of the same activities as last year (Winter Olympics, Young Writers and Artists Conference). We thought of some cool dress-up days though! The days are as follows: Time Travel Day (can go future or past), Sports Team Day (we wanted something not too crazy since half the school will be at the YWAC that day), Sunday Best (dressing up for chapel/visitors in the morning), Vs. Day (each class picks a side... cats vs. dogs, heroes vs. villains, Marvel vs. DC), Global Pride Day (dress in colors that match their Winter Olympic Team country, just in time for the afternoon Olympic games!).
The only major thing left to do is find entertainment for our Wednesday visitor's day. We start with chapel, serve families lunch, then have some form of entertainment. In the past the Science Museum has done a session, the Zoo has visited, the BLC Drumline performed, a clown did a show, an illusionist did a magic show... Our foremost option as of now is a chalk drawing guy. I remember someone came to chapel and did a chalk drawing when I was in grade school and I always thought it was really cool. He's gone to other school around here too, but I can't remember his name. A quick Google search brought up a name, Randy Davis, so I'll try him I guess.
It's hard to believe tomorrow is Friday already! We had a snow day yesterday, so we've only been in school two days this week! It was nice to have the day off to try to recuperate... my cold is still hanging on, although today it's been a bit better. I guess lying around reading books all day helped!
After school we learned how to use the new copier. Every three years or so the company switches it out for a new one, so I guess this is year three! This one is basically the same as our old one, but faster and newer. The copier guy showed us some handy time-saving features on this one! He also shared with us that it costs about one cent to make a black/white copy and eight cents to make a color copy. Good to know! We pay for the service by the copy I think, and maybe we have to pay a yearly fee or something, I'm not sure.
We also planned our National Lutheran Schools Week celebration after school today. It only took about a half an hour since we're repeating some of the same activities as last year (Winter Olympics, Young Writers and Artists Conference). We thought of some cool dress-up days though! The days are as follows: Time Travel Day (can go future or past), Sports Team Day (we wanted something not too crazy since half the school will be at the YWAC that day), Sunday Best (dressing up for chapel/visitors in the morning), Vs. Day (each class picks a side... cats vs. dogs, heroes vs. villains, Marvel vs. DC), Global Pride Day (dress in colors that match their Winter Olympic Team country, just in time for the afternoon Olympic games!).
The only major thing left to do is find entertainment for our Wednesday visitor's day. We start with chapel, serve families lunch, then have some form of entertainment. In the past the Science Museum has done a session, the Zoo has visited, the BLC Drumline performed, a clown did a show, an illusionist did a magic show... Our foremost option as of now is a chalk drawing guy. I remember someone came to chapel and did a chalk drawing when I was in grade school and I always thought it was really cool. He's gone to other school around here too, but I can't remember his name. A quick Google search brought up a name, Randy Davis, so I'll try him I guess.
It's hard to believe tomorrow is Friday already! We had a snow day yesterday, so we've only been in school two days this week! It was nice to have the day off to try to recuperate... my cold is still hanging on, although today it's been a bit better. I guess lying around reading books all day helped!
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Slower than Molasses
My computer was being slow today. Of course it worked normally at the non-critical parts of the day. Right after lunch, I needed to pull up the powerpoint for 7/8th geography, but my computer wouldn't do it! It took at least 5-10 minutes to get it up and running. And it took forever for the links to load. It was very frustrating. Thankfully, I had them bring extra homework to work on just in case, so they all had something to do.
All the kiddos were crazy today; you can tell there's a storm coming. My class was violent towards each other. One kid couldn't keep his hands or comments to himself. He was throwing the girls basketballs all over the gym, almost hitting them in the head a few times. He said enough comments to a female classmate that she slammed his desk shut on his arm, resulting in him bursting into tears. (I was in the gym at this point watching recess; they were in the classroom). He got mad and flicked a pin at her (she said it whizzed by her ear). So they got to have a chat with Mr. E. Sigh. As I said, you can definitely tell a storm is coming. The kids are hoping we get school called off or at least two hours late. I'm not so optimistic. It looks like we're right on the edge of everything... 2-6 inches is what the forecast estimated, although that might've changed by now.
My friend K works at MVL but lives in Mankato. She was nervous about driving all that way to work tomorrow in the snow, so she's going to stay at my place tonight. I have a separate guest room and a spare key, so it's really no trouble at all. She's probably already there since her workday ends sooner than I can get out of school.
My report cards are almost finished. I had a huge pile of correcting to do this weekend, but with the help of my mom, dad, and sister everything got corrected! A few of my students noticed the handwriting was a little different on some of the papers. When I told them who'd corrected the papers, one of them said, "Wow, you and your sister have the same handwriting!"
Well, I supposed I'd best finish up at school and head for home. My cold is still lingering unfortunately, and it's one that saps energy. I just can't shake it! So in some ways, a snow day might be nice... but I have a lot I want to accomplish this week in my classroom, so a day off won't help those matters!
All the kiddos were crazy today; you can tell there's a storm coming. My class was violent towards each other. One kid couldn't keep his hands or comments to himself. He was throwing the girls basketballs all over the gym, almost hitting them in the head a few times. He said enough comments to a female classmate that she slammed his desk shut on his arm, resulting in him bursting into tears. (I was in the gym at this point watching recess; they were in the classroom). He got mad and flicked a pin at her (she said it whizzed by her ear). So they got to have a chat with Mr. E. Sigh. As I said, you can definitely tell a storm is coming. The kids are hoping we get school called off or at least two hours late. I'm not so optimistic. It looks like we're right on the edge of everything... 2-6 inches is what the forecast estimated, although that might've changed by now.
My friend K works at MVL but lives in Mankato. She was nervous about driving all that way to work tomorrow in the snow, so she's going to stay at my place tonight. I have a separate guest room and a spare key, so it's really no trouble at all. She's probably already there since her workday ends sooner than I can get out of school.
My report cards are almost finished. I had a huge pile of correcting to do this weekend, but with the help of my mom, dad, and sister everything got corrected! A few of my students noticed the handwriting was a little different on some of the papers. When I told them who'd corrected the papers, one of them said, "Wow, you and your sister have the same handwriting!"
Well, I supposed I'd best finish up at school and head for home. My cold is still lingering unfortunately, and it's one that saps energy. I just can't shake it! So in some ways, a snow day might be nice... but I have a lot I want to accomplish this week in my classroom, so a day off won't help those matters!
Friday, January 20, 2017
Inauguration Day
A parent had the great idea we should watch President Trump's inauguration at school, so Mr. E and I joined forces late morning so we could do just that. He found a live-stream video on YouTube and had it projected on the wall. This is the first swearing in I've ever watched before. Mr. E said the same (and so did all the kids too). I'm glad we did it! It was very interesting, and led to some really good discussion with the 5th and 6th graders and 7th and 8th graders too. Plus it gave my kiddos a chance to get caught up on their work that had to be turned in before the end of the quarter. As of 3:00, everything was turned in from the 5th and 6th graders (the 7th and 8th graders too).
The other interesting thing from today was the student who had a dentist appointment. She is TERRIFIED of the dentist, so her mom never tells her until right before she has to leave. I happened to check my phone sometime this morning and saw a text from her mom letting me know she was coming to pick up her student to go to the dentist to fix a cracked tooth. Yikes. She said, "Don't tell her unless absolutely necessary." Because her daughter freaks out so much just hearing she has to go there. I was reading aloud to the class when her mom came in and whispered in her daughter's ear. I just kept reading, but no one was paying any attention to me (actually, I wasn't paying much attention either because I was watching her). The student immediately stiffened and looked like she was fighting back tears as she frogmarched her way to the coatroom and closed the door behind her. A few moments later, her mom came back in to collect the student's work just in case she wouldn't be back in school later. Thankfully, it was a false alarm and her tooth wasn't actually cracked. So she was back by lunchtime no worse for the wear.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
The End is Near
The end of the quarter is tomorrow. And there are a ton of assignments due. My kids haven't been freaking out as much as I hoped they would... Well, I don't actually want them to freak out, but I do want them to get their butts in gear to get their homework done. So much of the time it seems like they are all, "la di da, I have all the time in the world to get this finished... [Friday comes] HOLY COW I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO I'M NEVER GOING TO GET IT ALL DONE!" I was hoping to avoid that this time. We had another work day this afternoon, so a large quantity of assignments were handed in. Blah, lots of correcting tonight. But there are still a bunch not handed in yet.
I had an oopsie moment in bells today... Our bells only go up to C7. On the music I usually mark the letter names of the bells each student is playing. But I wrote the wrong note names after G6; I skipped straight from G6 to C7 instead of doing G6, A6, B6, C7. I thought we were in trouble because I had assigned those notes to students, and they already highlighted their parts, but we didn't have those bells for them to play. It turns out we do! I just wrote the wrong note names on the parts. Of course I didn't realize that until after school when I had Miss S take a look at the music. During practice I had those students use tone chimes instead of bells. Thankfully, we won't have to do that any more! ...I wonder how many other songs I've done that on...
Well, I'm going to keep this short today. My sore throat has moved on to bigger and better things in my nose and throat, so it's still kicking my butt and I need to rest. So if this post doesn't make sense at times, that's why! I've been very scatterbrained lately. I've also been blowing my nose nonstop all day; my students teased me that it's going to fall off pretty soon. I'd sure like to cut it off right about now! From what I hear, the cold/cough that's going around lasts about 3-4 weeks, two if you're lucky, four if you're not lucky. I have a bad feeling I'm going to be in the unlucky group...
I had an oopsie moment in bells today... Our bells only go up to C7. On the music I usually mark the letter names of the bells each student is playing. But I wrote the wrong note names after G6; I skipped straight from G6 to C7 instead of doing G6, A6, B6, C7. I thought we were in trouble because I had assigned those notes to students, and they already highlighted their parts, but we didn't have those bells for them to play. It turns out we do! I just wrote the wrong note names on the parts. Of course I didn't realize that until after school when I had Miss S take a look at the music. During practice I had those students use tone chimes instead of bells. Thankfully, we won't have to do that any more! ...I wonder how many other songs I've done that on...
Well, I'm going to keep this short today. My sore throat has moved on to bigger and better things in my nose and throat, so it's still kicking my butt and I need to rest. So if this post doesn't make sense at times, that's why! I've been very scatterbrained lately. I've also been blowing my nose nonstop all day; my students teased me that it's going to fall off pretty soon. I'd sure like to cut it off right about now! From what I hear, the cold/cough that's going around lasts about 3-4 weeks, two if you're lucky, four if you're not lucky. I have a bad feeling I'm going to be in the unlucky group...
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Busy Bees
Another busy day today. We finished all the Fast Testing today. Their reading fluency has really gone up! Most made improvements of at least 20-30 words per minute! A few students even went higher than that. And there were a few who scored lower too. I think they tried to strategize too much. One girl said later that she read slower on purpose so she wouldn't make any mistakes and she still got a low score. The first time we did it she tried to read fast (and then made a bunch of mistakes) and she got a lower score. So no strategy she's trying is working. I told her next time she should probably not try to strategize and just focus on reading. I think she must be a 'how' person.
One of the articles I proofread for my UpWork client (freelance writing I do on the side) was an interview with a guy who specializes in coaching in a gym. One of his theories/philosophies is that there are three kinds of people: Who, What, and How. You need to figure out who you are and who they are so you can coach them in the manner that will benefit them the most. For example, a What person just wants the facts. They want you to tell them what to do and they'll do it. But a 'Why' person wants to know the reasoning behind something before doing it. So if you give a 'why' person instructions without an explanation, he/she won't do it, or won't buy into it until it's explained. A 'how' person wants to know how it's done or how it fits in the grand scheme of things. Or how they relate to other people around them. I am definitely a 'why' person. I'm always looking for the explanation behind something. But after hearing that interview, I realized that I should probably be more conscious of other people's styles and try to cater to them more... so I did a survey with my class. Most of them said they considered themselves 'what' people. One person said she was a 'how' person, but later told me she meant to raise her hand for 'what'. It seems kind of odd that they'd all be the same, but I suppose it could happen! Maybe they're all 'what' people in school and have more variance in different circumstances. I suppose that means I don't have to explain myself quite so much! But for me, being a 'why' person, I work better if I have an explanation. I asked my class if it ever annoys them for me to explain so much. They said only if I repeat the explanation more than once (ahem, like for science labs). Since they've said that, I'm going to try to be better about keeping my explanations to a minimum. I wonder what the 7th and 8th graders are? I haven't asked them yet, but I plan to.
One of the 5th graders said she's done using the exercise balls. So far the rest of the class is still gungho about them. When we first started using exercise balls as seating, my mom told me about her experiences with them from the classroom she works in (they use exercise balls too). She said generally the students love them for about a month, then they get tired of them and go back to regular seats. And sometimes after another month, they'll want to try the balls again. It's the novelty of the thing, she said. Well, it's been longer than a month, but if this 5th grader is ready for a chair again, I wonder how many more will follow suit?
There's a boy whose parents haven't bought into the exercise ball chair phenomenon; they're very skeptical. But they bought their son a ball anyway. He's the one who needs it the most! He's always wiggly, doing acrobatics on his chair, although I guess the ball isn't much different. He's gotten it taken away a few times. Yesterday it was because he was lounging. Today it was because he was kicking another student's ball. His brother is an 8th grader and asked me how many times the ball has been taken away. He also said his parents will take it home if this kid gets it taken away too many times. Hmm, what to do? This 5th grader doesn't stay in any kind of seat, but at least with the ball, no one trips over the legs. There was one day I had him sit on a stool (after he got both his ball and his chair removed). He wasn't too bad on the stool. Maybe that's what he needs to try... I'll have to keep thinking on that.
On the other end of the spectrum, one 6th grader told me he's going to be bringing a ball chair in sometime soon. Someone from his mom's office isn't going to work in the office anymore and won't need the ball chair, so his mom is going to buy it for him to use at school. From what I can tell, it's a chair that has an exercise ball instead of a seat. That should be interesting!
My sickness is still hanging on. My sore throat is about 80% better, still lingering a bit. It was hard to talk today; I could still do it, but it hurt after a while. I had to change some lesson plans around a little so I wouldn't have to talk as much. I made it through the day! Now my ears are pluggy and my sinuses are feeling more clogged up. Lovely. I'm sure that's more information than you wanted to know! I heard on the radio this morning that this particular cold is pretty much everywhere (the radio guy had it, and so did pretty much everyone he's talked to too). He said it's a virus so you just have to wait for it to run its course, which happens to be a long one. Most of my class has been battling it, so it's no wonder I got it too!
One of the articles I proofread for my UpWork client (freelance writing I do on the side) was an interview with a guy who specializes in coaching in a gym. One of his theories/philosophies is that there are three kinds of people: Who, What, and How. You need to figure out who you are and who they are so you can coach them in the manner that will benefit them the most. For example, a What person just wants the facts. They want you to tell them what to do and they'll do it. But a 'Why' person wants to know the reasoning behind something before doing it. So if you give a 'why' person instructions without an explanation, he/she won't do it, or won't buy into it until it's explained. A 'how' person wants to know how it's done or how it fits in the grand scheme of things. Or how they relate to other people around them. I am definitely a 'why' person. I'm always looking for the explanation behind something. But after hearing that interview, I realized that I should probably be more conscious of other people's styles and try to cater to them more... so I did a survey with my class. Most of them said they considered themselves 'what' people. One person said she was a 'how' person, but later told me she meant to raise her hand for 'what'. It seems kind of odd that they'd all be the same, but I suppose it could happen! Maybe they're all 'what' people in school and have more variance in different circumstances. I suppose that means I don't have to explain myself quite so much! But for me, being a 'why' person, I work better if I have an explanation. I asked my class if it ever annoys them for me to explain so much. They said only if I repeat the explanation more than once (ahem, like for science labs). Since they've said that, I'm going to try to be better about keeping my explanations to a minimum. I wonder what the 7th and 8th graders are? I haven't asked them yet, but I plan to.
One of the 5th graders said she's done using the exercise balls. So far the rest of the class is still gungho about them. When we first started using exercise balls as seating, my mom told me about her experiences with them from the classroom she works in (they use exercise balls too). She said generally the students love them for about a month, then they get tired of them and go back to regular seats. And sometimes after another month, they'll want to try the balls again. It's the novelty of the thing, she said. Well, it's been longer than a month, but if this 5th grader is ready for a chair again, I wonder how many more will follow suit?
There's a boy whose parents haven't bought into the exercise ball chair phenomenon; they're very skeptical. But they bought their son a ball anyway. He's the one who needs it the most! He's always wiggly, doing acrobatics on his chair, although I guess the ball isn't much different. He's gotten it taken away a few times. Yesterday it was because he was lounging. Today it was because he was kicking another student's ball. His brother is an 8th grader and asked me how many times the ball has been taken away. He also said his parents will take it home if this kid gets it taken away too many times. Hmm, what to do? This 5th grader doesn't stay in any kind of seat, but at least with the ball, no one trips over the legs. There was one day I had him sit on a stool (after he got both his ball and his chair removed). He wasn't too bad on the stool. Maybe that's what he needs to try... I'll have to keep thinking on that.
On the other end of the spectrum, one 6th grader told me he's going to be bringing a ball chair in sometime soon. Someone from his mom's office isn't going to work in the office anymore and won't need the ball chair, so his mom is going to buy it for him to use at school. From what I can tell, it's a chair that has an exercise ball instead of a seat. That should be interesting!
My sickness is still hanging on. My sore throat is about 80% better, still lingering a bit. It was hard to talk today; I could still do it, but it hurt after a while. I had to change some lesson plans around a little so I wouldn't have to talk as much. I made it through the day! Now my ears are pluggy and my sinuses are feeling more clogged up. Lovely. I'm sure that's more information than you wanted to know! I heard on the radio this morning that this particular cold is pretty much everywhere (the radio guy had it, and so did pretty much everyone he's talked to too). He said it's a virus so you just have to wait for it to run its course, which happens to be a long one. Most of my class has been battling it, so it's no wonder I got it too!
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
2 hours late
School was two hours late today. Hooray! I had all these big plans for my two extra hours at home... read a book, do dishes, correct papers... yeah, none of those things happened. I slept in. But I'm still feeling kinda crummy, so I probably needed it.
The delay made our whole day speed by. We did get the FAST reading test in like I wanted to, but no more students presented their powerpoints. Their scores were pretty good. I'm not entirely sure what is 'good' compared to 'bad' score-wise, but 80 % of the class improved, some more than I was expecting! The two that had a decrease in score were students who are good readers and scored well in the Fall, so I'm not sure what happened there. There are lots of graphs to look at and compare; I'm not sure where to start! I've played around with them a little bit. Sometime in February, the teacher from Nicollet who helped us get started with FAST will visit again and give us some tips on using the FAST data.
Our 5/6th grade science lab today involved mixing polymers (liquid starch and glue). Mixing them together caused a change in their properties resulting in something that acted kind of like a bouncy ball! They said it was their favorite lab so far! The next lab in the book will probably be their least favorite... the saliva-chewing-bread lab. Last time we did it, a few kids got so grossed out they almost puked! I'm thinking I'll send it home for extra credit if anyone wants to do it, and not have it be a lab we do in class...
The delay made our whole day speed by. We did get the FAST reading test in like I wanted to, but no more students presented their powerpoints. Their scores were pretty good. I'm not entirely sure what is 'good' compared to 'bad' score-wise, but 80 % of the class improved, some more than I was expecting! The two that had a decrease in score were students who are good readers and scored well in the Fall, so I'm not sure what happened there. There are lots of graphs to look at and compare; I'm not sure where to start! I've played around with them a little bit. Sometime in February, the teacher from Nicollet who helped us get started with FAST will visit again and give us some tips on using the FAST data.
Our 5/6th grade science lab today involved mixing polymers (liquid starch and glue). Mixing them together caused a change in their properties resulting in something that acted kind of like a bouncy ball! They said it was their favorite lab so far! The next lab in the book will probably be their least favorite... the saliva-chewing-bread lab. Last time we did it, a few kids got so grossed out they almost puked! I'm thinking I'll send it home for extra credit if anyone wants to do it, and not have it be a lab we do in class...
Monday, January 16, 2017
Struggling
Whew, this day is kicking my butt. Last week, Friday, I had a sore throat but it went away Friday night. By Saturday night it was back again. Then it went mostly away Sunday but was back in full force this morning. If I weren't a teacher, I probably would've stayed home from work today. But it's easier to power through than it is to be gone, so here I am.
It's been kind of a crazy day. This morning I saw that registration was open for the Young Writers and Artists Conference, so I quickly updated last year's permission form so students could register right away and get in to all the cool classes. Most other years we register at the last minute and all the exciting classes are filled. This year, everyone got every class they wanted to be in! The most popular classes are the canvas painting class, pottery class, and 3D drawing class.
Before school started, one of the 6th grade girls handed me a permission slip I never remembered handing out. I recognized it; it was on the colored paper I typically use for permission forms. It was for a guest speaker on the Fur Trade at MLHS. When I looked closer, I saw that it was a form from last year! She had dug it out of her backpack, and her mom signed it thinking it needed to be handed in ASAP (the field trip last year was on January 26th). Apparently, last year she had misplaced this form and her mom printed a new one from the website. Well, the lost has been found!
Another funny story about misplacing things... First of all, the bell performance yesterday was wonderful. I didn't hear a single mistake! After church, some boys were helping me put things away and one of them asked where I parked so they could put the cases right in there. When I told him, he said, "Oh good, that's easy to find. Last time we put them in someone else's car at first." Another boy chimed in, "Yeah, it looked like your car, but we couldn't get the trunk open. And then when we did get it open and put the bells in, we realized it wasn't yours! So we had to quick change it over." Another boy chimed in, "Oh I always know which one's yours; it's the one that's dirty!" True, very true. Well, this time, they ended up in the right car.
It's been kind of a crazy day. This morning I saw that registration was open for the Young Writers and Artists Conference, so I quickly updated last year's permission form so students could register right away and get in to all the cool classes. Most other years we register at the last minute and all the exciting classes are filled. This year, everyone got every class they wanted to be in! The most popular classes are the canvas painting class, pottery class, and 3D drawing class.
Before school started, one of the 6th grade girls handed me a permission slip I never remembered handing out. I recognized it; it was on the colored paper I typically use for permission forms. It was for a guest speaker on the Fur Trade at MLHS. When I looked closer, I saw that it was a form from last year! She had dug it out of her backpack, and her mom signed it thinking it needed to be handed in ASAP (the field trip last year was on January 26th). Apparently, last year she had misplaced this form and her mom printed a new one from the website. Well, the lost has been found!
Another funny story about misplacing things... First of all, the bell performance yesterday was wonderful. I didn't hear a single mistake! After church, some boys were helping me put things away and one of them asked where I parked so they could put the cases right in there. When I told him, he said, "Oh good, that's easy to find. Last time we put them in someone else's car at first." Another boy chimed in, "Yeah, it looked like your car, but we couldn't get the trunk open. And then when we did get it open and put the bells in, we realized it wasn't yours! So we had to quick change it over." Another boy chimed in, "Oh I always know which one's yours; it's the one that's dirty!" True, very true. Well, this time, they ended up in the right car.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Stress Balls
Earlier this week, one of my students and I had a conversation about stress balls. I'm not sure how it went exactly, but the result was that if she brought flour to school, we could make stress balls in art on Friday. She remembered! So I dug the balloons out of a cupboard, found some spoons and water bottle funnels, and the fun began. We only made a bit of a mess, mostly dribbling flour on the lab table (and a little on my shoes). Some of the balloons were bigger than others, but there weren't as many colors to choose from. The bigger ones worked the best. One girl used a small balloon because she liked the color better. It was super tiny! She was disappointed with it; since she brought the flour I said she could make a second one with a big balloon. Still, the small one was cute. One of her classmates said to me later, "It's pocket-sized so she can take it literally anywhere!" She was so excited about this feature. :)
After everyone finished, we went out for recess. Most of them brought their stress balls along and played catch/basketball/throw-at-stuff with them. One boy got his stuck high up on the wall; it had landed between some pipes and the wall. But he got it down with the help of a step stool. They sure had fun! A lot of them said they're going to make more when they get home. One boy (the same one who popped his exercise ball) accidentally got a hole in his ball. He tried regular tape, but again, it didn't work. He was going to try duct tape once he got home. I wonder if that will work...
At the end of the day I told the class they'd be allowed to use them during class as a fidget tool, but if it became a distraction, it would go in my desk. If they threw them at something/someone, it would go in my desk. They might have a hard time with that one...
After everyone finished, we went out for recess. Most of them brought their stress balls along and played catch/basketball/throw-at-stuff with them. One boy got his stuck high up on the wall; it had landed between some pipes and the wall. But he got it down with the help of a step stool. They sure had fun! A lot of them said they're going to make more when they get home. One boy (the same one who popped his exercise ball) accidentally got a hole in his ball. He tried regular tape, but again, it didn't work. He was going to try duct tape once he got home. I wonder if that will work...
At the end of the day I told the class they'd be allowed to use them during class as a fidget tool, but if it became a distraction, it would go in my desk. If they threw them at something/someone, it would go in my desk. They might have a hard time with that one...
Thursday, January 12, 2017
InCoWriMo
Oh I'm so excited for February! Miss F (preschool) told me about this month long event in February called International Correspondence Writing Month, InCoWriMo for short, inspired by NaNoWriMo. Participants pledge to "hand-write and mail/deliver one letter, card, note or postcard every day during the month of February." It can be to anyone as long as it is hand written... the same people over and over again, different people, strangers, etc. There's a message board where people can post their addresses so others can write to them. People participate from all over the world! And they're all people who love the written word (and quite a few who love calligraphy and pens). Here's the website if you want to check it out: http://incowrimo.org/. I might try to incorporate it with my class somehow... I'm still mulling that over... but I am definitely participating. Let me know if you'd like a note from me!
The 5th and 6th graders started a project for MN history today that involves mapping out a town. We just finished learning about sodbusters and land speculators, so they're pretending to be a speculator while mapping a section of land, plotting a town, and making a poster to entice people to settle in their town. A lot of them said it was fun! And some of them even worked on it in the gym during recess!
I'm glad the day ended on a high note; I got pretty crabby during bell practice today. The 7th and 8th graders had been so good in class! We watched some interviews of people who'd been in North Korea (a journalist from South Korea who'd taught English there and a native-born North Korean who'd escaped and helped her family escape). The students were riveted. One of the videos went a bit long, so I sent the 6th graders over to church to get started setting up since we play bells on Sunday. By the time the rest of us got over there, nothing had been done. I had dropped off the bell cases in the morning, but they were still sitting right where I'd left them. The tables and foam and covers were still in their places in the little room where they'd been stored. Okay, not the end of the world, but it didn't put me in the best mood. Once I got everyone started setting up, I realized no one had grabbed the crate of music folders or bell gloves. I had asked someone to do it before leaving school, and I thought for sure someone had said 'I got it!' So I had to make a special trip back to school to get those few things. One boy had taken too long to get his coat and hadn't been around to hitch a ride over with me (there hadn't been room for him anyway), and as I pulled in to the school parking lot I saw him in the school cook's car. She was about to leave school for the day but was going to give him a ride over. Since it was out of her way and I was headed that way again, he hopped in my car and she took off. So I got the music and tried not to be crabby about the extra trip and wasted time.
Back at church, I found the tables/foam/covers set up, but the bell cases were still exactly where I left them! AUGH! Kids were lounging all over the place, not paying any attention. One boy commented loudly, "I hate bells, no one likes to play. It's a waste of time; why do we even do it?" Grrr... Finally we got everyone where they needed to be. And we practiced. But by that point I was very crabby. They knew it. I knew it. They whispered about it. Which only irritated me more.
However, practice went all right. The songs are not perfect, but I think they'll be okay for Sunday. When I got back to school, I told my 5th and 6th graders that I was not in the best mood after bell practice, but I was going to try my best to snap out of it and if they could help me by paying attention and being 'bucket fillers' I'd really appreciate it. Maybe that's why they were so, "wow, this project is really fun!' But I do think they enjoyed doing it, even without trying to cheer me up again. And FYI, I did snap out of my yucky mood.
My garage door behaved last night and this morning, closing without any extra help/adjusting from me. I hope they got it fixed! I guess I'll find out soon. I had hoped to get out of school at a decent hour today since the PTL meeting went long last night. Although I didn't make my goal today, I guess it's not too late yet. My plans for tonight are to do the dishes piled up on my counter (I've been waiting to do them until my cut finger was healed more... they're really starting to annoy me...) and probably correct the mound of papers I've accumulated this week. Or maybe I'll just save that stuff for another day and read a book instead!
The 5th and 6th graders started a project for MN history today that involves mapping out a town. We just finished learning about sodbusters and land speculators, so they're pretending to be a speculator while mapping a section of land, plotting a town, and making a poster to entice people to settle in their town. A lot of them said it was fun! And some of them even worked on it in the gym during recess!
I'm glad the day ended on a high note; I got pretty crabby during bell practice today. The 7th and 8th graders had been so good in class! We watched some interviews of people who'd been in North Korea (a journalist from South Korea who'd taught English there and a native-born North Korean who'd escaped and helped her family escape). The students were riveted. One of the videos went a bit long, so I sent the 6th graders over to church to get started setting up since we play bells on Sunday. By the time the rest of us got over there, nothing had been done. I had dropped off the bell cases in the morning, but they were still sitting right where I'd left them. The tables and foam and covers were still in their places in the little room where they'd been stored. Okay, not the end of the world, but it didn't put me in the best mood. Once I got everyone started setting up, I realized no one had grabbed the crate of music folders or bell gloves. I had asked someone to do it before leaving school, and I thought for sure someone had said 'I got it!' So I had to make a special trip back to school to get those few things. One boy had taken too long to get his coat and hadn't been around to hitch a ride over with me (there hadn't been room for him anyway), and as I pulled in to the school parking lot I saw him in the school cook's car. She was about to leave school for the day but was going to give him a ride over. Since it was out of her way and I was headed that way again, he hopped in my car and she took off. So I got the music and tried not to be crabby about the extra trip and wasted time.
Back at church, I found the tables/foam/covers set up, but the bell cases were still exactly where I left them! AUGH! Kids were lounging all over the place, not paying any attention. One boy commented loudly, "I hate bells, no one likes to play. It's a waste of time; why do we even do it?" Grrr... Finally we got everyone where they needed to be. And we practiced. But by that point I was very crabby. They knew it. I knew it. They whispered about it. Which only irritated me more.
However, practice went all right. The songs are not perfect, but I think they'll be okay for Sunday. When I got back to school, I told my 5th and 6th graders that I was not in the best mood after bell practice, but I was going to try my best to snap out of it and if they could help me by paying attention and being 'bucket fillers' I'd really appreciate it. Maybe that's why they were so, "wow, this project is really fun!' But I do think they enjoyed doing it, even without trying to cheer me up again. And FYI, I did snap out of my yucky mood.
My garage door behaved last night and this morning, closing without any extra help/adjusting from me. I hope they got it fixed! I guess I'll find out soon. I had hoped to get out of school at a decent hour today since the PTL meeting went long last night. Although I didn't make my goal today, I guess it's not too late yet. My plans for tonight are to do the dishes piled up on my counter (I've been waiting to do them until my cut finger was healed more... they're really starting to annoy me...) and probably correct the mound of papers I've accumulated this week. Or maybe I'll just save that stuff for another day and read a book instead!
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Dictionary
My garage is being stupid. Last night, it wouldn't go closed because the little light sensor had come loose from the wall. I had to move it around so the sensor wouldn't go off and the door would close. After about 10 minutes of trying (in the cold!) I finally got it shut. This morning, it opened without a hitch, but closing it took some doing. Thankfully, it didn't take as long as last night. Still, it was annoying. The door would get 98% of the way closed and then pop back up. UGH! I called and left a message for maintenance to fix it, but it was so close to 7:30am (the deadline for getting maintenance requests in) that I wasn't sure if it would get fixed today. This afternoon I got a call from the maintenance man who said he couldn't get into my garage without the opener. So it didn't get fixed today; I have to leave my opener in my porch tomorrow and then he'll fix it. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe it will stay in a good spot tonight and tomorrow and I won't have to fuss with it.
Here's a funny story from today: The 6th grade boys like to play hangman when they're finished with their spelling for the day. They like using basketball players' names, which I'm not the biggest fan of. I mean, it's getting them better at spelling proper nouns, but not regular words. So today I asked them to avoid using proper nouns for hangman. Of course they didn't want to; basketball players are more fun! I suggested picking words at random from the dictionary. One of the boys bragged that he already knew how to spell all the words in there. Oh really??? Let's just see about that.
So I flipped the book open and gave him a word. I can't remember what the word was, but he spelled it right. And the next word too. The third word he was off by one letter and the fourth he didn't even try. But that gave them an idea for a new game. Now they take turns spelling words randomly from the dictionary, getting a point for each word they spell correctly. Some of the girls tried it too; the hardest part is pronouncing the word!
Gotta keep this short: we have a PTL meeting in five minutes and I need to make some copies quick!
Here's a funny story from today: The 6th grade boys like to play hangman when they're finished with their spelling for the day. They like using basketball players' names, which I'm not the biggest fan of. I mean, it's getting them better at spelling proper nouns, but not regular words. So today I asked them to avoid using proper nouns for hangman. Of course they didn't want to; basketball players are more fun! I suggested picking words at random from the dictionary. One of the boys bragged that he already knew how to spell all the words in there. Oh really??? Let's just see about that.
So I flipped the book open and gave him a word. I can't remember what the word was, but he spelled it right. And the next word too. The third word he was off by one letter and the fourth he didn't even try. But that gave them an idea for a new game. Now they take turns spelling words randomly from the dictionary, getting a point for each word they spell correctly. Some of the girls tried it too; the hardest part is pronouncing the word!
Gotta keep this short: we have a PTL meeting in five minutes and I need to make some copies quick!
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Snowy and Blustery
I did not anticipate this icky weather. The skies were cloudy on my way to school, and snow was gently falling by the time I settled in my classroom. Shortly after the kids arrived, the snow fell heavier. It wasn't too long after that, one of the 5th graders told me he was positive school was going to be cancelled. Uh, no. It's not. But he was positive we were in for a mega storm. Grrr, so I had to deal with that all morning. Especially once the wind picked up. We ended up closing the shades because the bad weather was so distracting.
"Miss H! I can't even see the church out the window!!!" Yes, that's because I closed the shades. That got a few laughs (and a few eye rolls too). It stayed windy the rest of the day. But suddenly at 4:00 the wind quit completely. Now everything is calm.
Our science lab today was fun. The 5th and 6th graders used iodine to test for the presence of starch in foods. The school cook gave me extra fruits and vegetables to test, so we had quite a selection! And we finished the lab in time for our full recess! As you can imagine, my students were quite excited about that.
"Miss H! I can't even see the church out the window!!!" Yes, that's because I closed the shades. That got a few laughs (and a few eye rolls too). It stayed windy the rest of the day. But suddenly at 4:00 the wind quit completely. Now everything is calm.
Our science lab today was fun. The 5th and 6th graders used iodine to test for the presence of starch in foods. The school cook gave me extra fruits and vegetables to test, so we had quite a selection! And we finished the lab in time for our full recess! As you can imagine, my students were quite excited about that.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Correspondence
Lots of correspondence was accomplished today. Over the weekend, my to-do list expanded exponentially, so I had lots of little things to do when I got to school. I heard back from my next three guest speakers for geography and replied to them, setting up a time for them to come. I sent out a bunch of reminders via Remind.com about upcoming school things, i.e. tests, singing on Sunday, science fair info coming soon. I also emailed the Young Writers and Artists Conference coordinator to find out about discount pricing for our school. Along those lines, I applied for a Thrivent Grant so PTL doesn't have such an expensive bill. It costs $17 (our discount price) to register each student; chaperones are free. Registration opens Monday or Tuesday, and we want to be prepared to register the first day so our kiddos get in the cool classes. In past years we've registered too late and have had to choose from the leftovers. We have a PTL meeting this Wednesday, so if it gets approved that they'll help cover the cost, we'll be all set to register early!
My kids put the Christmas decorations away. The box the tree had been in got water damaged over the summer; it needed serious duct tape. It still won't close all the way. I might need a giant garbage bag or something...
Pastor did religion for us this morning. Last week my class had had a bunch of questions about Islam, so I invited Pastor to tell us more about it. He went a bit more basic than I had anticipated, and most of them forgot which questions they were going to ask. But they did think of other ones, mostly about heaven. So we had good discussion on both topics.
Bell practice with the choir went much better today. Miss S had found an audio version of the song for us to play along with (there's an organ part that is played with the bells, and so far we haven't heard it) that had the organ part. It was so fast!!! We could barely keep up! Thankfully, Miss S said the song will be played much slower. Whew!
Ugh! The sound quit working on my computer today, right in the middle of MN history. So when I went to play a short video clip, no sound came out. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure it out, plugging and replugging, but nothing worked. I even called the IT guys! (They answered!) But he couldn't figure out what was wrong. His solution was to restart the computer. That did cause the sound to work again, but by that point, the 5th and 6th graders had to go to PE. Grrr... now this lesson has to stretch into another day...sigh.
I suppose it's past time for me to go home... This will probably be a bad week for my goal of leaving by 5:30. Definitely didn't make it tonight! Tomorrow I will though; I'm meeting a friend in Mankato for supper and a movie. She said the sooner I get to Mankato the better, so I'll need to book it out of school. Wednesday night is the PTL meeting, which doesn't even start until 6:00. Thursday I don't have anything on the agenda, so who knows? Maybe I'll have a 50% success rate?
My kids put the Christmas decorations away. The box the tree had been in got water damaged over the summer; it needed serious duct tape. It still won't close all the way. I might need a giant garbage bag or something...
Pastor did religion for us this morning. Last week my class had had a bunch of questions about Islam, so I invited Pastor to tell us more about it. He went a bit more basic than I had anticipated, and most of them forgot which questions they were going to ask. But they did think of other ones, mostly about heaven. So we had good discussion on both topics.
Bell practice with the choir went much better today. Miss S had found an audio version of the song for us to play along with (there's an organ part that is played with the bells, and so far we haven't heard it) that had the organ part. It was so fast!!! We could barely keep up! Thankfully, Miss S said the song will be played much slower. Whew!
Ugh! The sound quit working on my computer today, right in the middle of MN history. So when I went to play a short video clip, no sound came out. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure it out, plugging and replugging, but nothing worked. I even called the IT guys! (They answered!) But he couldn't figure out what was wrong. His solution was to restart the computer. That did cause the sound to work again, but by that point, the 5th and 6th graders had to go to PE. Grrr... now this lesson has to stretch into another day...sigh.
I suppose it's past time for me to go home... This will probably be a bad week for my goal of leaving by 5:30. Definitely didn't make it tonight! Tomorrow I will though; I'm meeting a friend in Mankato for supper and a movie. She said the sooner I get to Mankato the better, so I'll need to book it out of school. Wednesday night is the PTL meeting, which doesn't even start until 6:00. Thursday I don't have anything on the agenda, so who knows? Maybe I'll have a 50% success rate?
Friday, January 6, 2017
Surprise!
Oh I'm so excited! One of my coworkers tagged me in a post on Facebook today. A to Zinnia in New Ulm has a promotion on Fridays that if your name is "such and such" you get a free bouquet of flowers. Guess what name is today's winner??? Yep, Emily! So I just need to make it to the store before six and I get free flowers! How neat is that?
The 8th grade geography student heard back from the coin people. The comment said there were some Italian coin collectors on the site, maybe they'd know more about it. So we have to wait and see.
This morning the 5th and 6th graders and I had a frank talk about interrupting. They've been absolutely terrible about it this week, distracting each other and talking over me nearly constantly. I'm sick of it. Last night I read a post that gave 22 different ways to stop students from blurting and it inspired me to do something about my talkative class. They were much quieter after our discussion. We talked about why they act way quieter in Mr. E's room without prompting, ways to make our classroom quieter, and consequences for them getting above a certain noise level (their idea). Basically it comes down to self-control; they all said they knew which times during the day they are allowed to talk and which times they are not allowed to talk. So that means they are talking just because they want to talk. We must've spent about 10-20 minutes discussing. They didn't have a ton of ideas about how to make our room more respectful, aside from just being quiet when they're supposed to. But like I said, the morning was quieter after that. We'll see how long it lasts.
Art came at the end of the day. Today's project was "Shadow People" where you draw yourself, put that paper on top of black paper, and cut out both pages at the same time, resulting in a shadow person. You glue them both on a colored piece of paper with the shadow sticking out just a little bit. It's pretty neat. The kiddos were having a tough time drawing themselves, but a few of them did really well. One boy whose forte is not art drew this: (He must not have been listening to my instructions to 'draw yourself', because this doesn't look anything like him...also, he added the booger and gold tooth after the following conversation happened).
When he saw me looking at it, he said, "I couldn't get the arms." My response, "I see... is that armpit hair?" "Yes, it is." I looked at him thinking to myself, do you even have armpit hair? But I thought that would be weird to ask him, so I refrained. Then he said (totally serious), "Except I don't have armpit hair. The armpit hair is just for fun." I totally lost it and burst out laughing. Oh these kids!
The 8th grade geography student heard back from the coin people. The comment said there were some Italian coin collectors on the site, maybe they'd know more about it. So we have to wait and see.
This morning the 5th and 6th graders and I had a frank talk about interrupting. They've been absolutely terrible about it this week, distracting each other and talking over me nearly constantly. I'm sick of it. Last night I read a post that gave 22 different ways to stop students from blurting and it inspired me to do something about my talkative class. They were much quieter after our discussion. We talked about why they act way quieter in Mr. E's room without prompting, ways to make our classroom quieter, and consequences for them getting above a certain noise level (their idea). Basically it comes down to self-control; they all said they knew which times during the day they are allowed to talk and which times they are not allowed to talk. So that means they are talking just because they want to talk. We must've spent about 10-20 minutes discussing. They didn't have a ton of ideas about how to make our room more respectful, aside from just being quiet when they're supposed to. But like I said, the morning was quieter after that. We'll see how long it lasts.
Art came at the end of the day. Today's project was "Shadow People" where you draw yourself, put that paper on top of black paper, and cut out both pages at the same time, resulting in a shadow person. You glue them both on a colored piece of paper with the shadow sticking out just a little bit. It's pretty neat. The kiddos were having a tough time drawing themselves, but a few of them did really well. One boy whose forte is not art drew this: (He must not have been listening to my instructions to 'draw yourself', because this doesn't look anything like him...also, he added the booger and gold tooth after the following conversation happened).
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Accomplished
I feel like I got a lot accomplished today, and yet, when I think back over my day to find things to write about, I'm kinda drawing a blank...
A few kiddos said their memory work this morning, I got all the 7th and 8th grade presentations corrected... except one of the smartest kids in class plagiarized everything that was on his brochure. When I first looked at his project (a brochure on famous places in Italy), I was impressed with how professional it looked! But after I read a bit of it, I realized the text had been copied and pasted from Wikipedia. It even had all the highlighted blue hyperlinks. I was so sad. So I wrote a note on his grading sheet that said that copying and pasting (and not giving credit for your work) is considered plagiarizing and results in an F. If he wants a better grade, redo it and hand it in by Monday. So we'll see what he does. I didn't say anything to Mr. E about it, I guess I'm waiting to see how it all turns out. I didn't ever talk to the student face to face, just the note on his paper, but I know he read it since he was at his desk when I handed their projects back.
On a more positive note, the bell songs made great progress today! I think we'll be all right for our rapidly approaching performance date. Speaking of bells, a lady who works for an assisted living home in New Ulm attended our Christmas program this year. She left a message at school asking about having our bell choir coming to play for the residents there. I was kind of dreading calling her back because it would be a HUGE hassle to get everything over there. But once I explained, she agreed. So we came up with a different plan... at first we thought maybe the residents should bus over to us and we could put on a concert in the gym. Then I brought up the Spring Talent Show... ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! She thought that was a fabulous idea and we are tentatively expecting them to come to the show. Yay, no extra planning for me!
Oh, one last thing I forgot to tell about yesterday... There was a kid in my class getting into mischief. Not big stuff, just doing things that annoyed his classmates like kicking at their chair area, flipping his eraser over and over, stuff like that. Each time I saw him doing something, I turned back to my work and said (without looking at him), "[student] please stop [insert annoying behavior]." He was shocked, "Miss H! How did you know I was [annoying behavior]?!" He must not have seen me looking at him before. So I said, "Oh, I'm like an owl, I can see out of the corners of my eyes." Another kid piped up, "Were you raised by owls?" My answer, "Yes, yes I was. That's also why I love books so much. They read lots of books." A few hours later, the same thing happened again, the whole looking-without-looking-then-chastising-and-being-shocked-at-my-peripheral-vision thing. I don't think he ever caught on to the fact that he just wasn't catching me looking at him. And each time the other kids reminded him that I had been raised by owls.
A few kiddos said their memory work this morning, I got all the 7th and 8th grade presentations corrected... except one of the smartest kids in class plagiarized everything that was on his brochure. When I first looked at his project (a brochure on famous places in Italy), I was impressed with how professional it looked! But after I read a bit of it, I realized the text had been copied and pasted from Wikipedia. It even had all the highlighted blue hyperlinks. I was so sad. So I wrote a note on his grading sheet that said that copying and pasting (and not giving credit for your work) is considered plagiarizing and results in an F. If he wants a better grade, redo it and hand it in by Monday. So we'll see what he does. I didn't say anything to Mr. E about it, I guess I'm waiting to see how it all turns out. I didn't ever talk to the student face to face, just the note on his paper, but I know he read it since he was at his desk when I handed their projects back.
On a more positive note, the bell songs made great progress today! I think we'll be all right for our rapidly approaching performance date. Speaking of bells, a lady who works for an assisted living home in New Ulm attended our Christmas program this year. She left a message at school asking about having our bell choir coming to play for the residents there. I was kind of dreading calling her back because it would be a HUGE hassle to get everything over there. But once I explained, she agreed. So we came up with a different plan... at first we thought maybe the residents should bus over to us and we could put on a concert in the gym. Then I brought up the Spring Talent Show... ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! She thought that was a fabulous idea and we are tentatively expecting them to come to the show. Yay, no extra planning for me!
Oh, one last thing I forgot to tell about yesterday... There was a kid in my class getting into mischief. Not big stuff, just doing things that annoyed his classmates like kicking at their chair area, flipping his eraser over and over, stuff like that. Each time I saw him doing something, I turned back to my work and said (without looking at him), "[student] please stop [insert annoying behavior]." He was shocked, "Miss H! How did you know I was [annoying behavior]?!" He must not have seen me looking at him before. So I said, "Oh, I'm like an owl, I can see out of the corners of my eyes." Another kid piped up, "Were you raised by owls?" My answer, "Yes, yes I was. That's also why I love books so much. They read lots of books." A few hours later, the same thing happened again, the whole looking-without-looking-then-chastising-and-being-shocked-at-my-peripheral-vision thing. I don't think he ever caught on to the fact that he just wasn't catching me looking at him. And each time the other kids reminded him that I had been raised by owls.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Behind
This morning my class was late for chapel... oops. We walked in partway through the first song. Time slipped away from me this morning before school. For one thing, I needed to get the bell songs put in the folders. Normally the students do that, but we didn't get that finished before Christmas break and that particular song is being played with the school choir. We sing/play for church two Sundays from now, which doesn't give us a lot of practice time, so I wanted the bell people to play along when the choir practiced after chapel. So I was already in a crunch for that, and some of the music wasn't in order, and the books weren't in number order, and my kids wanted to say memory work or ask me other questions... so we were a little late to chapel.
The song went all right, but not as well as I was hoping. We used tone chimes, which threw some of them off. The song is easy enough, but some of them didn't realize that they should be playing half notes instead of quarter notes. So we'll probably need to take bell time to practice their song too. The other half of the bell students are playing a different song.
The 7th and 8th graders presented their projects today. We actually got through everyone in the hour. Normally we have a study hall on Wednesday for part of the time they're with me, but they voted to just get all the presenting finished today. At the end of the hour, there were still two people to go, so we called Mr. E's room to see if we could go 15min extra today. Sure! And so we got everyone in.
A bunch of them forgot to include their works cited page. If they get it in before the bell rings tomorrow morning, it won't be late and their grade won't be docked. One boy came back after school was out to show me his sources on his laptop. His presentation had been about European coins; he actually brought in some coins his stepdad had collected from his time stationed in Europe. This student's favorite coin was a 500 lire coin from Italy. It is pretty neat! He said the dots at the top of the coin represented the year of the coin. He didn't know how they could figure out the year from all the dots, so we spent some time researching. It turns out the dots are actually braille! And the braille states the value of the coin. So we looked up the braille alphabet and translated the dots, and lo and behold it was the value of the coin. However, two letters were in front of the number: kl.#500. is the exact translation. We figured that the "l" stands for lire, but no matter where we searched, we could not figure out what the "k" stands for. We must've looked for at least 45 minutes. Finally we found a world coin online forum thing and the student created an account so he could ask the question. I hope someone answers it!
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Remembering
It's tough to remember everything coming back from Christmas break. I forgot to take church attendance three times this morning. Thankfully, my kiddos were on top of that and reminded me. But some of them, when it came time to say when they went to church, couldn't remember which days they had gone! It always discourages me that they don't go to church more. One kid blatantly said, "Miss H, I never go to church Christmas morning. It's a time to spend with your family, not be at church." Uhhh... whatever happened to the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place???
The other thing we had trouble remembering was the finishing around our outside door. One of the 6th graders thought for sure we had new wood strips put around the outside. I'm pretty sure it's still the same. Or at least, if it had been changed, Mr. E would've told me or something. But in the dark (when the kid first noticed), it sure looked new!
When I first came to school in the morning, I found a bunch of notes written on the board from former students. My guess is they came to use the gym over break and decided to leave little notes. Most of them were "[student] was here!" or just names. But one girl wrote, "Love you Miss H!" The funny thing is, I only taught her science and social studies in 7th and 8th grade. Anyway, it's nice she loves me!
The 7th and 8th graders had a lab today. It took longer than the half an hour I had planned, so we cancelled bells. Probably not the smartest idea since we play for church two Sundays from now. Maybe I'll have them practice tomorrow... or at least put their music in folders... or maybe I'll do that when I get to school tomorrow... hmm... we'll see what time I actually get here.
I did pretty good today, getting to school early. I had a ton of things to get ready/print, and I needed to pick up some of the props from church, so I wanted to leave my apartment sooner than usual. But as I cut apart my bagel for breakfast, the butter knife slipped and sliced my finger. It must've been in just the right spot, because it wouldn't stop bleeding. Thankfully, I had some gauze in my medicine cabinet and I one-handedly wrapped it up. It's been weird avoiding use of that hand today... and it's weird typing with a band-aid on one finger! I just took the band-aid off and it looks like it's closed up pretty good, so now it'll be more of a nuisance than anything.
The other thing we had trouble remembering was the finishing around our outside door. One of the 6th graders thought for sure we had new wood strips put around the outside. I'm pretty sure it's still the same. Or at least, if it had been changed, Mr. E would've told me or something. But in the dark (when the kid first noticed), it sure looked new!
When I first came to school in the morning, I found a bunch of notes written on the board from former students. My guess is they came to use the gym over break and decided to leave little notes. Most of them were "[student] was here!" or just names. But one girl wrote, "Love you Miss H!" The funny thing is, I only taught her science and social studies in 7th and 8th grade. Anyway, it's nice she loves me!
The 7th and 8th graders had a lab today. It took longer than the half an hour I had planned, so we cancelled bells. Probably not the smartest idea since we play for church two Sundays from now. Maybe I'll have them practice tomorrow... or at least put their music in folders... or maybe I'll do that when I get to school tomorrow... hmm... we'll see what time I actually get here.
I did pretty good today, getting to school early. I had a ton of things to get ready/print, and I needed to pick up some of the props from church, so I wanted to leave my apartment sooner than usual. But as I cut apart my bagel for breakfast, the butter knife slipped and sliced my finger. It must've been in just the right spot, because it wouldn't stop bleeding. Thankfully, I had some gauze in my medicine cabinet and I one-handedly wrapped it up. It's been weird avoiding use of that hand today... and it's weird typing with a band-aid on one finger! I just took the band-aid off and it looks like it's closed up pretty good, so now it'll be more of a nuisance than anything.
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