We started our pinata art project today. I'm never quite sure how long it will take my students to make them, so I try to do it at the beginning of April so there's plenty of time to finish before the end of school. They're all working in groups of two, although quite a few of them are doing separate pinatas even though they're a group. Oh well, if they want to do all the work, so be it. We had just enough time to build the pinata with glue/newspaper/balloons. Each student got one balloon so if there was a group of two they could combine theirs to make a head/body of something for their pinata. One 6th grader popped his, so I gave him a new one. Then that one popped. He said it had just been resting in his hand! Poor kid, it was not his day today.
At lunch, one of the 5th grade girls stole his 'spot' at the lunch table, so he tried to shove her out of the way. She shoved back, he shoved back, classmates got pushed and also shoved... his tray slipped and knocked her milk all over her tray so she had to get a new lunch. Of course I was still in the lunch line getting my lunch while all this happened. He was so frustrated/angry/upset when I came in that he could barely talk. The girl got a new lunch, he explained what happened after lunch (calmly in the coatroom), and we went on our merry way.
The bell foam arrived today. It was in a big, roundish, cardboard container. After math/7th8th class, all the 5-8th graders gathered around the table for the opening of the foam... it wasn't nearly as exciting as everyone had hoped. First, the box was wrapped in saran wrap, then came the box, followed by another layer of saran wrap, followed by the plastic bag package the foam was actually inside. Sure it was all squished, but it didn't suddenly come flying out to hit someone in the face. One 7th grader actually wanted that to happen; he kept moving around for maximum impact. It didn't actually hit him. Still, new foam is exciting. And we got to have a dumpster party throwing away all the old yucky foam!
Friday, March 31, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Spiders
Spider hunting was AWESOME today. The weather didn't cooperate very well; it was cold and windy and still damp from yesterday's rain. But it didn't actually rain on us, so we were still able to go outside. Chad gave them the option to stay inside, but the students unanimously voted to go out and hunt. We found 10-16 spiders all total today; my 5th and 6th graders found more than the 7th and 8th graders. Two 5th graders maybe even found a county record! Their eyes went huge when they heard that. They got bigger and bigger when they learned that if their find is a county record their names will get published on the official spider database, the spider will be preserved in alcohol, and it will end up in a museum someday!
After the collecting portion (in the woods behind school), we came inside and looked through the stereoscopes to see them up close. Again, my kiddos were fascinated! Chad had three scopes for us to look through and he brought specimens he'd found and preserved (in the past) for us to look at. Man, I'd love to have one of those microscopes! We could put the spiders in the little glass dishes and see them running around up close. Even the hairs on their legs were visible.
Last night's Lenten supper was a success. Many people passed on compliments to the chef and one even said our fajitas were better than Chipotle's! I didn't have anything to do with the actual cooking, just supervising and organizing, but I'm glad people were satisfied. All total we served about 75 people and made $335.25. That will put a dent in Camp Omega fees for next year! Now, to get it deposited in the bank before it closes...
After the collecting portion (in the woods behind school), we came inside and looked through the stereoscopes to see them up close. Again, my kiddos were fascinated! Chad had three scopes for us to look through and he brought specimens he'd found and preserved (in the past) for us to look at. Man, I'd love to have one of those microscopes! We could put the spiders in the little glass dishes and see them running around up close. Even the hairs on their legs were visible.
Last night's Lenten supper was a success. Many people passed on compliments to the chef and one even said our fajitas were better than Chipotle's! I didn't have anything to do with the actual cooking, just supervising and organizing, but I'm glad people were satisfied. All total we served about 75 people and made $335.25. That will put a dent in Camp Omega fees for next year! Now, to get it deposited in the bank before it closes...
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
All Shook Up
Today has been a topsy-turvy day. Camp Omega did our chapel service this morning, but they pushed the time back until 9:30, so we started our day with a round of Daily 5 (read to self) and then read-aloud. Right before read-aloud, I got a call from Camp Omega saying our speaker would be a little late. So we spread the word and did read-aloud a little longer than planned.
After chapel, we did science. I know, it felt very strange... A lab was on the agenda for the day and I thought it would take longer than a half an hour to do it, thus doing it in the morning instead of the afternoon. Spelling is due tomorrow, so in place of science in the afternoon we did another Daily 5 round. In the morning after the science lab, my kiddos all thought it was the end of the day instead of lunchtime. Then when we met in the back to pick our round, they all thought it was almost time for lunch!
It took them a bit to get focused this afternoon. One boy (hard to focus any day/time) wanted to do Work on Writing, but no one else was doing it. He dinked around for a while, then asked a classmate if he could log on to his friend's account on the computer (he is locked out because he forgot his password and the IT guys haven't reset it yet... even though I've called them five times over the past two weeks). That friend didn't want to share, so my fidgety student played the Mad Libs game by himself. Well, kind of. He set cards aside for "Johnny", an invisible person who's not alive? I offered to play with him but he declined.
PE was supposed to be softball outside today. We made it out for noon recess, but it started raining five minutes before PE, so they're in the gym playing softball. Most brought their gloves, a few forgot, so it was 50/50 of bummed or excited about the rain and going in for recess. I realized I left my glove in Fulda. I'll have to get it next time I'm home; I like to have a spare glove just in case someone forgets theirs.
After chapel, we did science. I know, it felt very strange... A lab was on the agenda for the day and I thought it would take longer than a half an hour to do it, thus doing it in the morning instead of the afternoon. Spelling is due tomorrow, so in place of science in the afternoon we did another Daily 5 round. In the morning after the science lab, my kiddos all thought it was the end of the day instead of lunchtime. Then when we met in the back to pick our round, they all thought it was almost time for lunch!
It took them a bit to get focused this afternoon. One boy (hard to focus any day/time) wanted to do Work on Writing, but no one else was doing it. He dinked around for a while, then asked a classmate if he could log on to his friend's account on the computer (he is locked out because he forgot his password and the IT guys haven't reset it yet... even though I've called them five times over the past two weeks). That friend didn't want to share, so my fidgety student played the Mad Libs game by himself. Well, kind of. He set cards aside for "Johnny", an invisible person who's not alive? I offered to play with him but he declined.
PE was supposed to be softball outside today. We made it out for noon recess, but it started raining five minutes before PE, so they're in the gym playing softball. Most brought their gloves, a few forgot, so it was 50/50 of bummed or excited about the rain and going in for recess. I realized I left my glove in Fulda. I'll have to get it next time I'm home; I like to have a spare glove just in case someone forgets theirs.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Growing
I'd heard somewhere that you can put the bottom of a head of lettuce in water and it would regrow part of it. Last week, the cook put the bottom of a head of romaine lettuce (Joe's favorite) in the food bag. I found an empty container, poured water in, and set the lettuce by the window to see what would happen. It's growing! There are about three inches of new growth at the top. It's not too big yet, but over time I think it'll grow even more. I can't remember if you're supposed to put anything else in the water or not... right now I'm leaving it plain.
We did BINGO prizes today. More of them had their bingo sheets and reading notebooks filled out ahead of time, but there were still some who waited until the last minute. Oh well, fewer prizes to choose from! Everyone except one student got a bingo this quarter. Yay! The one who didn't get one read over five books, but they didn't fit in the spaces in a row, so I gave her a piece of candy. One student still isn't back from vacation and I have a feeling he didn't get a bingo either. Still, 8/10 is the highest percentage I've had so far! This quarter's bingo sheet is similar to last quarter's with the exception of some of the 'fun' categories: a book with a red cover, a book by an author with the same initial as you, a book recommended by Miss H, a Redwall book (a series that doesn't get read enough!), a book with no words, and of course the various genres. I gave them an added challenge; read a book from every genre. If they complete it by the end of the year, I said I'd get them a special prize. Not sure what that is exactly! If anyone has (cheap) ideas, I'd love to hear them!
I have a bunch of tiny prizes that kids would probably like, but they don't want to waste their one selection on such a tiny thing. I should make grab bags with some of the little things in there... I thought about doing it today as I packed up the prizes, but ran out of time. We're doing a science lab tomorrow and I wanted to set out the supplies tonight so I don't have to do it tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be a big day; we're serving the Lenten supper before church. Our menu is: chicken fajitas, rice, fresh fruit, bars (and chicken soup). A parent is doing most of the prep work so all I have to do is coordinate. The past two years we've run out of fajita meat; I hope we'll have enough! She's buying extra meat this year, so we should be good. After school today I dug out last year's free will offering and menu signs so I don't need to reprint them. Mr. E typically helps us get everything set up after school.
We did BINGO prizes today. More of them had their bingo sheets and reading notebooks filled out ahead of time, but there were still some who waited until the last minute. Oh well, fewer prizes to choose from! Everyone except one student got a bingo this quarter. Yay! The one who didn't get one read over five books, but they didn't fit in the spaces in a row, so I gave her a piece of candy. One student still isn't back from vacation and I have a feeling he didn't get a bingo either. Still, 8/10 is the highest percentage I've had so far! This quarter's bingo sheet is similar to last quarter's with the exception of some of the 'fun' categories: a book with a red cover, a book by an author with the same initial as you, a book recommended by Miss H, a Redwall book (a series that doesn't get read enough!), a book with no words, and of course the various genres. I gave them an added challenge; read a book from every genre. If they complete it by the end of the year, I said I'd get them a special prize. Not sure what that is exactly! If anyone has (cheap) ideas, I'd love to hear them!
I have a bunch of tiny prizes that kids would probably like, but they don't want to waste their one selection on such a tiny thing. I should make grab bags with some of the little things in there... I thought about doing it today as I packed up the prizes, but ran out of time. We're doing a science lab tomorrow and I wanted to set out the supplies tonight so I don't have to do it tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be a big day; we're serving the Lenten supper before church. Our menu is: chicken fajitas, rice, fresh fruit, bars (and chicken soup). A parent is doing most of the prep work so all I have to do is coordinate. The past two years we've run out of fajita meat; I hope we'll have enough! She's buying extra meat this year, so we should be good. After school today I dug out last year's free will offering and menu signs so I don't need to reprint them. Mr. E typically helps us get everything set up after school.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Missing
Whew! It's the end of the quarter and everything has been turned in! One 7th grader came down to the wire, but he finished everything on his massive list of late assignments (for me at least) before 4:00 (my goal to leave school today). He had two science worksheets, two weeks of spelling workbook (five pages each week), a geography project, and this week's spelling book. Honestly, I had no clue how he was going to get it all done in time. But he surprised me! After school he said his geography project to me, and then, the little helper that he is, he offered to "fluff" Joe's tank and feed him for me. Aww!
Unfortunately, there are still outstanding assignments from two of the 7th graders. They were out sick today and didn't have their spelling books at school for us to correct. So I can get everyone's grades done except those two. It definitely made the classroom quieter! Another 7th grader and his 6th grade brother left on vacation (they got their work turned in before they left), so my classroom was even more empty-feeling!
It did make it easier for my kiddos to focus. We got a ton of reading done this morning. Our read-aloud book is getting to the exciting part, so they convinced me to read extra today. I had brought the next two books in the Amulet series for the students reading them (I'd had them stashed at home so I could read them first!). Grr, the 7th one has a major cliff-hanger and the 8th book isn't due out for another year!!! We've been spoiled, getting to read the first seven without having to wait. I can't wait for my two students reading the series to read these last two. In my opinion, they're the best in the series so far! And I'm positive they will both freak out after reading the endings.
No school on Monday so we teachers can get our report cards finished. My plans for the weekend are to go to Fulda, swinging by Truman of course. We actually have a date scheduled: bowling! Then correcting papers and lesson planning the rest of the weekend, although that shouldn't be too much since I already have a lot corrected and next week is a short week.
Unfortunately, there are still outstanding assignments from two of the 7th graders. They were out sick today and didn't have their spelling books at school for us to correct. So I can get everyone's grades done except those two. It definitely made the classroom quieter! Another 7th grader and his 6th grade brother left on vacation (they got their work turned in before they left), so my classroom was even more empty-feeling!
It did make it easier for my kiddos to focus. We got a ton of reading done this morning. Our read-aloud book is getting to the exciting part, so they convinced me to read extra today. I had brought the next two books in the Amulet series for the students reading them (I'd had them stashed at home so I could read them first!). Grr, the 7th one has a major cliff-hanger and the 8th book isn't due out for another year!!! We've been spoiled, getting to read the first seven without having to wait. I can't wait for my two students reading the series to read these last two. In my opinion, they're the best in the series so far! And I'm positive they will both freak out after reading the endings.
No school on Monday so we teachers can get our report cards finished. My plans for the weekend are to go to Fulda, swinging by Truman of course. We actually have a date scheduled: bowling! Then correcting papers and lesson planning the rest of the weekend, although that shouldn't be too much since I already have a lot corrected and next week is a short week.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Student Teacher
My student teacher met with me after school today. I happened to be walking past the door right when she entered the building, so our first meeting was a bit awkward. First, I took her to the classroom and let her take her coat off. Then I gave her a tour of the school. She said she's never observed/taught classes in a christian school before (only once in an inner city school), so she's looking forward to being here. After meeting all the teachers, we settled in to discuss class schedules and curriculum and which lessons she wants to teach.
I think we've come up with a good plan! She loves history, so she'll be teaching most of the MN history lessons in April. She gets good topics like the Great Depression, WWII, and the Cold War. She'll also be teaching the 7/8th graders about the body systems. Sigh, I'm kind of sad about that... I LOVE teaching about the body systems. Oh sure I'll get to teach a few of them: the Excretory/Urinary System, Immune/Lymphatic System, Integumentary System, and... the Reproductive System, dun dun dun! I guess the Digestive System is the one I'm most bummed about not teaching. Maybe I can teach extra stuff about it during the Excretory System lesson. I just have to remind myself, "You're here to help her prepare to be a teacher. How's she supposed to get better if she doesn't teach anything?!"
The past two days my kiddos have been fascinated with the microscopes. I've had them sitting on the lab table for about a week or two and yesterday finally had some slides set up for the 7/8th graders to check out. One of the 8th grade boys wanted to keep looking at things, so I gave him a quick tutorial on dos and don'ts of microscope use and let him have free range. There are actually quite a few prepared slides for them to look at... lots of plant parts. When the 5/6th graders saw what the big kids got to do, they wanted a turn. So I taught them too! Most of the 5th graders spent read-aloud time looking through the scopes! They'll have even more fun next week when my favorite biology professor at BLC comes to do a spider lab with us. If it's a nice day, we'll hunt for spiders in the woods for an hour or so. If it rains, he'll show a ton of spider pictures and bring spectroscopes so they can look at live spiders magnified (Shoot, now I can't remember if that's the correct name for the microscope I'm thinking of... it's the kind that lets you look at living things 3D magnified. I remember it starts with an "s"!).
I think we've come up with a good plan! She loves history, so she'll be teaching most of the MN history lessons in April. She gets good topics like the Great Depression, WWII, and the Cold War. She'll also be teaching the 7/8th graders about the body systems. Sigh, I'm kind of sad about that... I LOVE teaching about the body systems. Oh sure I'll get to teach a few of them: the Excretory/Urinary System, Immune/Lymphatic System, Integumentary System, and... the Reproductive System, dun dun dun! I guess the Digestive System is the one I'm most bummed about not teaching. Maybe I can teach extra stuff about it during the Excretory System lesson. I just have to remind myself, "You're here to help her prepare to be a teacher. How's she supposed to get better if she doesn't teach anything?!"
The past two days my kiddos have been fascinated with the microscopes. I've had them sitting on the lab table for about a week or two and yesterday finally had some slides set up for the 7/8th graders to check out. One of the 8th grade boys wanted to keep looking at things, so I gave him a quick tutorial on dos and don'ts of microscope use and let him have free range. There are actually quite a few prepared slides for them to look at... lots of plant parts. When the 5/6th graders saw what the big kids got to do, they wanted a turn. So I taught them too! Most of the 5th graders spent read-aloud time looking through the scopes! They'll have even more fun next week when my favorite biology professor at BLC comes to do a spider lab with us. If it's a nice day, we'll hunt for spiders in the woods for an hour or so. If it rains, he'll show a ton of spider pictures and bring spectroscopes so they can look at live spiders magnified (Shoot, now I can't remember if that's the correct name for the microscope I'm thinking of... it's the kind that lets you look at living things 3D magnified. I remember it starts with an "s"!).
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Book Orders
Book orders came in today, of course after all the students went home. Only one girl ordered anything, but she's been asking when it will come in. She got a robot making kit (something involving solar power?).
I, on the other hand, ordered quite a few, most of which I haven't read yet... can we just pause time so I can read them all??? I thought I'd have a lot of time between school and Lenten services tonight so I could maybe catch up on the graphic novel book series my kiddos are obsessed with. Nope, I found enough teacher things to do that I didn't have time for fun stuff. On the other hand, I did get everything ready for the student teacher's visit tomorrow after school. I have a pile of books/class pictures/schedules for her so she'll be prepared for her clinical in April!
I, on the other hand, ordered quite a few, most of which I haven't read yet... can we just pause time so I can read them all??? I thought I'd have a lot of time between school and Lenten services tonight so I could maybe catch up on the graphic novel book series my kiddos are obsessed with. Nope, I found enough teacher things to do that I didn't have time for fun stuff. On the other hand, I did get everything ready for the student teacher's visit tomorrow after school. I have a pile of books/class pictures/schedules for her so she'll be prepared for her clinical in April!
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Bell Foam
Finally, the bell foam is ordered. It took forever to get a hold of the lady in charge of ordering! I tried calling a bunch of times, but after always getting the answering machine, I clicked around on their website some more and found an email address. Just as I was typing the email, she called me back. So new foam will soon be on its way to us! Yay!
When it gets here, it will have all the air sucked out of it (so it's not such a big package and is cheaper to ship!) and will have to 're-inflate.' I'm super pumped! It ships in 3-4 business days, so we could even get it next week! Our book orders are already on track to arrive tomorrow, and I expect our hand bell folders/gloves to arrive any day now. Lots of little packages for Miss H!
Yesterday, all the intricate details of my after school plans worked out perfectly! I had just enough time before my meeting with Thrivent (to see if my retirement accounts are in order) to watch a movie that was due at the library (I couldn't renew it because it was from a different library). I made it to my meeting on time, then had just enough time to sneak into the library to drop off said-movie before they closed at 8:00 and get to the grocery store before the pharmacy closed, also at eight. I made it there with two minutes to spare! After unpacking groceries at home, I swept floors, cleaned a sink, and bagged up garbage (something I'd been neglecting all week...). Whew! I was on fire!
Tonight I'm headed to Mankato to see the new live-action Beauty and the Beast with a college friend (who saw it on Friday already, but wants to see it again because it's her favorite fairy tale). We're going out to eat beforehand, and I need to run a few errands (pick up a new light bulb for Joe since his is doing the annoying, flickering thing that means it's about to go dead).
When it gets here, it will have all the air sucked out of it (so it's not such a big package and is cheaper to ship!) and will have to 're-inflate.' I'm super pumped! It ships in 3-4 business days, so we could even get it next week! Our book orders are already on track to arrive tomorrow, and I expect our hand bell folders/gloves to arrive any day now. Lots of little packages for Miss H!
Yesterday, all the intricate details of my after school plans worked out perfectly! I had just enough time before my meeting with Thrivent (to see if my retirement accounts are in order) to watch a movie that was due at the library (I couldn't renew it because it was from a different library). I made it to my meeting on time, then had just enough time to sneak into the library to drop off said-movie before they closed at 8:00 and get to the grocery store before the pharmacy closed, also at eight. I made it there with two minutes to spare! After unpacking groceries at home, I swept floors, cleaned a sink, and bagged up garbage (something I'd been neglecting all week...). Whew! I was on fire!
Tonight I'm headed to Mankato to see the new live-action Beauty and the Beast with a college friend (who saw it on Friday already, but wants to see it again because it's her favorite fairy tale). We're going out to eat beforehand, and I need to run a few errands (pick up a new light bulb for Joe since his is doing the annoying, flickering thing that means it's about to go dead).
Monday, March 20, 2017
Squeak
...There's squeaking in the walls... I haven't seen any mice and I dearly hope they haven't made it in the room, but I've definitely heard squeaks as I work at my desk. So far my classroom has been mouse free... I'll have to get our 7th grade 'janitor' to set some traps out in the coatroom.
Spring is definitely in the air now. As I walked out to my car this morning, I heard birds chirping and smelled the earth thawing out from the last bit of snow. Kids have been outside at recess, playing in the sandbox (though not my kids... they're too wimpy and still play in the gym so it's not cold).
The end of the quarter is on Friday, so we're kicking it into high gear to get everything finished up before then. With Writing Workshop, I don't have many grades for English. Instead, I have students turn in one piece of writing they are most proud of, one that is as perfect as they can possibly get it, or at least a piece of writing that shows they learned the skills we learned in English this quarter. Together we made a checklist of things I'll grade their one piece of writing on. This includes: beginning and ending punctuation, possessive nouns, homophones, quotation marks, capitalized proper nouns, etc. They were so focused today! Some dug out stories they'd written earlier in the year, planning to polish them up. Others started new stories. A few decided to write a letter (showing off their letter formatting skills!). I'm excited to see what they come up with! I also plan to have them grade their writing, just to see how they think they're doing in English class this quarter.
This morning, a bunch of students asked if they could go get a pencil from their backpacks. This isn't a new phenomena... for whatever reason, my students like to keep the only pencil they have in their book bags. It's weird. What's even weirder is that it was halfway through our rounds before the student asked to get it. How did she make it through half the morning without a pencil?! I actually asked her that and she admitted she had a regular pencil in her desk, but the better mechanical pencil was out in the coatroom.
Lunch today was a bit crazy; our cook never showed up. She's the secondary cook hired to serve when our head cook has to work at her other job. I don't know why #2 didn't come today, but we had no plan for lunch without her. Thankfully, Mr. E was in New Ulm with the 8th graders touring the high school, so he swung by Papa Murphy's pizza and picked up a bunch. What's even better is that they had a sale going on so each family-sized pizza was only about $6! It was definitely a God thing.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Bonus Word!
The 5th graders had a doozy of a bonus word on their spelling test this week... reticuloendothelial system. None of them got it right, but one of the 6th graders did! (He's going to the spelling bee). It took me a while to figure out how to pronounce it! Most of the 5th graders were only off by a few letters. Nothing else terribly exciting happened today, so I won't ramble on for too long. All the students were feeling their oats and we had a lot of older kids having a 'talk' with Mr. E in the office for being disrespectful/rude to each other and me.
I ordered the book orders and have a whole bunch of exciting books coming, some even I haven't read yet, but they're on my to-read list (or they got added to the list when I saw them in the book order!). Today's order put me into the "Green Apple" Teacher category, which means my kiddos (and I) have bought so many books, I now get extra perks. Woohoo! More free books! And coupons! And other stuff I don't know about yet! Yay!
I ordered the book orders and have a whole bunch of exciting books coming, some even I haven't read yet, but they're on my to-read list (or they got added to the list when I saw them in the book order!). Today's order put me into the "Green Apple" Teacher category, which means my kiddos (and I) have bought so many books, I now get extra perks. Woohoo! More free books! And coupons! And other stuff I don't know about yet! Yay!
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Simple Machines
The 5/6th grade physics book doesn't talk about simple machines. The general science book does a little, but I think the topic fits in better with our physics curriculum. So I decided to quick add a simple machine lesson to our agenda for the week. I found a hands-on lab online that has students build/use each of the simple machines, but I wasn't sure which supplies I'd need to buy. I did know that I didn't have a wedge, so last night after church, (my farmer came up again, yay!) we went grocery shopping and I found some wooden wedges that should work. I had forgotten to read over the lab supply list before we left, so I went off memory and hoped I'd have the rest in my classroom!
Surprisingly, it didn't take as much time to gather my supplies as I thought! I had boards handy for another physics lab we do, a lot of the machines use a stack of books for the fulcrum or the ramp (we have plenty of those!), and I had some screws/screwdrivers in my desk drawer. All I needed to grab were some spools from home (for the pulley and the wheel/axle). We didn't have time to get to the actual building part of the lab today... we'll save that for Monday. But everyone seemed to grasp the concept of simple machines very well.
Surprisingly, it didn't take as much time to gather my supplies as I thought! I had boards handy for another physics lab we do, a lot of the machines use a stack of books for the fulcrum or the ramp (we have plenty of those!), and I had some screws/screwdrivers in my desk drawer. All I needed to grab were some spools from home (for the pulley and the wheel/axle). We didn't have time to get to the actual building part of the lab today... we'll save that for Monday. But everyone seemed to grasp the concept of simple machines very well.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Tunnel
Joe actually sat inside his tunnel for the first time today! At least, the first time I've witnessed. It was after lunch and I glanced over to the tank and didn't see him... he was sitting under the plastic dome, just chilling. He didn't stay there long though, the next time I looked he was under the heat lamp. Now he's buried himself. There isn't any bad weather in the forecast, but there is supposed to be a big temperature increase tomorrow... going from -1 degrees today to about 37 degrees tomorrow!
I ordered new bell folders today. A lot of our old ones are falling apart and are taped together. While I was at it, I ordered some new gloves too. We have a bunch, but the kids keep ripping them; I have a pile at home waiting for me to stitch back together. Since I was ordering, I got a few in a larger size than we currently have. Maybe they won't rip them so much if they're bigger!
We have permission to order new foam pads too. The foam we're currently using at school is a mixture of fuzzy foam that sheds and no one wants and some foam that's been dubbed "the good foam" which everyone argues over. Once the new foam comes, it will all look the same and it will all be "good"! Our old good foam will to go Miss S's room for bell practice since the foam she has is even worse than the 6-8th grade foam. And we'll toss that yucky stuff in the garbage!
The company I want to order the foam from doesn't have a place on their website to make a purchase order/send a bill; we'd need to pay by credit card or PayPal account, which school doesn't have. I called and left a message on the machine, but haven't heard back yet.
I ordered new bell folders today. A lot of our old ones are falling apart and are taped together. While I was at it, I ordered some new gloves too. We have a bunch, but the kids keep ripping them; I have a pile at home waiting for me to stitch back together. Since I was ordering, I got a few in a larger size than we currently have. Maybe they won't rip them so much if they're bigger!
We have permission to order new foam pads too. The foam we're currently using at school is a mixture of fuzzy foam that sheds and no one wants and some foam that's been dubbed "the good foam" which everyone argues over. Once the new foam comes, it will all look the same and it will all be "good"! Our old good foam will to go Miss S's room for bell practice since the foam she has is even worse than the 6-8th grade foam. And we'll toss that yucky stuff in the garbage!
The company I want to order the foam from doesn't have a place on their website to make a purchase order/send a bill; we'd need to pay by credit card or PayPal account, which school doesn't have. I called and left a message on the machine, but haven't heard back yet.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Planning
I'm going to keep this short since the PTL meeting just got over...
Today was a day jam-packed with learning. Yesterday I went over the units the 5/6th and 7/8th graders have left in science and social studies to see if we'll finish everything before the end of the school year. Most are pretty close! I'm a little short in 5/6th physics, on track with MN history, a tiny bit short in geography, and waaay behind in life science for the 7/8th graders. I'm so bummed! We have two of the most interesting topics left: animals and the human body systems (well, my favorites to teach anyway). There are so many cool activities I could do in those units, but I have to squeeze and cut out some stuff to get everything in. Let's pray there are no more snow days or early outs! I think I found a way to do it if I do a double day of science and social (instead of doing bells or a study hall day), and if we do a take home test instead of an in-class test and skip the study session. They won't be too happy about the missed study session, but they should be on-board about the take home test.
I mapped out the rest of the year in preparation for my student teacher who's coming for the month of April for a clinical in science/social studies. She's coming after school next week to meet me, tour the classroom, get familiar with our school/schedule, look over curriculum. I'm excited! I still need to make a final copy of the topics we'll be doing each day in April, but I'm going to wait until next week so I don't have to do so much erasing when my plans change...
Today was a day jam-packed with learning. Yesterday I went over the units the 5/6th and 7/8th graders have left in science and social studies to see if we'll finish everything before the end of the school year. Most are pretty close! I'm a little short in 5/6th physics, on track with MN history, a tiny bit short in geography, and waaay behind in life science for the 7/8th graders. I'm so bummed! We have two of the most interesting topics left: animals and the human body systems (well, my favorites to teach anyway). There are so many cool activities I could do in those units, but I have to squeeze and cut out some stuff to get everything in. Let's pray there are no more snow days or early outs! I think I found a way to do it if I do a double day of science and social (instead of doing bells or a study hall day), and if we do a take home test instead of an in-class test and skip the study session. They won't be too happy about the missed study session, but they should be on-board about the take home test.
I mapped out the rest of the year in preparation for my student teacher who's coming for the month of April for a clinical in science/social studies. She's coming after school next week to meet me, tour the classroom, get familiar with our school/schedule, look over curriculum. I'm excited! I still need to make a final copy of the topics we'll be doing each day in April, but I'm going to wait until next week so I don't have to do so much erasing when my plans change...
Monday, March 13, 2017
New Watch
My green watch conked out last week. I thought it just needed a new battery, but after replacing it, the watch still wouldn't keep time. Me being the planner that I am had a backup watch at the ready (at home), so the next day I started using it. It has taken some getting used to! The watch ticks much louder than my old one, and the face is larger too. I like it, but the other one was a better quality (especially in the straps and clasps). ...I already bought my next 'backup' watch and it's on my dresser at home... gotta be prepared!
We had a two hour late start this morning to get all the snow cleared up. They called it last night, so I was able to sleep in a little (and adjust to Daylight Savings Time a little more!). This time, I did not have all sorts of grand plans for the two 'extra' hours; I just read a book. My farmer was out snowplowing early this morning and I'm sure he's happily snowmobiling this afternoon! I myself am curled up with a blanket at my desk, doing my usual teacher-ish things and enjoying the bright, sunny afternoon (wishing it were warmer outside...).
I had thought this week wasn't going to be as busy as last week, but looking at my calendar, I have something going on every night this week except tonight! Well, I'll be running errands after I leave here, so I guess I do have something going on tonight too. Tomorrow night we have a PTL meeting with a Teacher Appreciation Supper beforehand, hosted by the Immanuelites. Wednesday is Lenten services. Thursday there's a financial seminar in New Ulm hosted by Thrivent called "Women, Wine, and Wealth". My friend K and I had planned to go to one earlier this year, but it got postponed due to bad weather. It's all about women taking charge of their finances and being prepared for retirement, understanding their money, etc. It should be good! And then Friday is the end of the week! Whew!
We had a two hour late start this morning to get all the snow cleared up. They called it last night, so I was able to sleep in a little (and adjust to Daylight Savings Time a little more!). This time, I did not have all sorts of grand plans for the two 'extra' hours; I just read a book. My farmer was out snowplowing early this morning and I'm sure he's happily snowmobiling this afternoon! I myself am curled up with a blanket at my desk, doing my usual teacher-ish things and enjoying the bright, sunny afternoon (wishing it were warmer outside...).
I had thought this week wasn't going to be as busy as last week, but looking at my calendar, I have something going on every night this week except tonight! Well, I'll be running errands after I leave here, so I guess I do have something going on tonight too. Tomorrow night we have a PTL meeting with a Teacher Appreciation Supper beforehand, hosted by the Immanuelites. Wednesday is Lenten services. Thursday there's a financial seminar in New Ulm hosted by Thrivent called "Women, Wine, and Wealth". My friend K and I had planned to go to one earlier this year, but it got postponed due to bad weather. It's all about women taking charge of their finances and being prepared for retirement, understanding their money, etc. It should be good! And then Friday is the end of the week! Whew!
Friday, March 10, 2017
Flag Day
Quite a few kids wore their country's colors today! My kids got most of their stuff turned in on time; just one more to say memory work and one more to turn in her science fair written report... She forgot to print off a fixed copy and her mom couldn't email it to me until later than I can stay at school, so they'll need to be to the FAF before the 8:30am deadline tomorrow. She has younger siblings who perform in the morning, so they have to be down in Northrup by 9:00 anyway.
Winter Olympics went well. We got a late start because Mrs. E didn't want her kindergartners to ride the scooters since they haven't learned how to use them. She forgot to tell me until right when Winter Olympics was supposed to start, so we had to do some last minute changes. I made a note for the next time we do the Olympics so teams know that when they sign up for events.
One of my 5th graders got a little crazy during the dog-sled race. One person (in this case, a 1st grade girl) sat on a scooter holding a jump rope while the 'dog' (the 5th grader) pulled her to the end of the gym and back. He took off with a yank and she slid right off the scooter onto her bottom. You could tell it hurt, but she got back on and they kept going... only to have her yanked off again. You'd think my 5th grader would've learned his lesson! They made it down and back (with a few more slip-offs), but their time was terrible, so we let them redo it with another team that hadn't crossed the red line the right way. The 1st grader was hesitant to do it again, understandably so, but she agreed. One of their other teammates offered to pull this time (a 7th grade girl) and I should've just had her do it. The 5th graders assured us that no, he'd be much more careful this time, so we let him. Not the best choice. He started off nice and slow, no yank-offs, but he picked up speed and didn't slow down for the end... and she slammed into the wall of the gym. There was padding on the wall, but still. I doubt she'll ever get on a scooter again. :(
Aside from that mishap, it went just as it should have!
All I need to do at school yet is load up the boards/visual aids. I need to stop at the New Ulm Vet Clinic to pick up some things for my farmer and then I'm going to a dinner hosted by a family from church. They're new and wanted to have all the teachers over for supper. I think only Pastor/Mrs. B, Mr. D, and Miss S and I will be there, but it should be fun!
Winter Olympics went well. We got a late start because Mrs. E didn't want her kindergartners to ride the scooters since they haven't learned how to use them. She forgot to tell me until right when Winter Olympics was supposed to start, so we had to do some last minute changes. I made a note for the next time we do the Olympics so teams know that when they sign up for events.
One of my 5th graders got a little crazy during the dog-sled race. One person (in this case, a 1st grade girl) sat on a scooter holding a jump rope while the 'dog' (the 5th grader) pulled her to the end of the gym and back. He took off with a yank and she slid right off the scooter onto her bottom. You could tell it hurt, but she got back on and they kept going... only to have her yanked off again. You'd think my 5th grader would've learned his lesson! They made it down and back (with a few more slip-offs), but their time was terrible, so we let them redo it with another team that hadn't crossed the red line the right way. The 1st grader was hesitant to do it again, understandably so, but she agreed. One of their other teammates offered to pull this time (a 7th grade girl) and I should've just had her do it. The 5th graders assured us that no, he'd be much more careful this time, so we let him. Not the best choice. He started off nice and slow, no yank-offs, but he picked up speed and didn't slow down for the end... and she slammed into the wall of the gym. There was padding on the wall, but still. I doubt she'll ever get on a scooter again. :(
Aside from that mishap, it went just as it should have!
All I need to do at school yet is load up the boards/visual aids. I need to stop at the New Ulm Vet Clinic to pick up some things for my farmer and then I'm going to a dinner hosted by a family from church. They're new and wanted to have all the teachers over for supper. I think only Pastor/Mrs. B, Mr. D, and Miss S and I will be there, but it should be fun!
Thursday, March 9, 2017
This Vs. That Day
Each grade picked a different "versus" to do in their classrooms:
Since I teach the 7/8th graders too, I figured I'd try to dress like all four things! (I talked over my master plan with my farmer and he thought I was just trying to cop out of making a decision...). I suppose if I'm being honest that was partly true! But the biggest reason was I didn't have a whole outfit to fit the category; I just cleaned out my closet and got rid of my strange clothes... ahem, well, most of them anyway. Still, here's what I actually wore to school today:
Since I teach the 7/8th graders too, I figured I'd try to dress like all four things! (I talked over my master plan with my farmer and he thought I was just trying to cop out of making a decision...). I suppose if I'm being honest that was partly true! But the biggest reason was I didn't have a whole outfit to fit the category; I just cleaned out my closet and got rid of my strange clothes... ahem, well, most of them anyway. Still, here's what I actually wore to school today:
- hair twisted in a bun on top of my head, two pencils shoved in (mathlete)
- Hawaiian shirt with a red, plaid button up over top (islander vs. mountaineer)
- sweat pants (athlete)
- sneakers (mathlete)
I'd thought about wearing a jersey and flipflops (switching the islander and mathlete/athlete around) but decided it was too cold for no socks!
Today was a mostly normal day. Miss S and I took the 5-8th graders to church at 10:30 to practice bells. Last night they sounded FANTASTIC! Everyone was there and they all remembered to come up during the offering to play our second song. The 5th graders were a little shaky with the tone chimes, but they sounded much better today... lots of nerves in front of an audience, I think. Hopefully we play that well on Saturday at the Fine Arts Fair!
My kiddos brought their science fair boards in today. I don't know what it is this year, but it seemed like hardly anyone referenced the packet I sent home on what to include on the boards. So many of them were missing stuff! Important stuff too like their hypotheses and conclusions! I think I got everyone straightened out though... I know we're not going to get all blue ribbons, probably a bunch of reds and whites. Grr... But maybe I'll be surprised!
This afternoon we painted rocks in the gym. Mrs. E put that activity together and it turned out really well. She had a table set up for each teacher to supervise (with a festive yellow plastic tablecloth covering it). Everyone brought their own paintbrush. Before we went to the gym to claim a table/rock, Mrs. E went over how to clean a paintbrush and etiquette of sharing colors of paint (there were small cups of each color on each table). She gave each student a plate with his/her name on it to set the rock after painting. After they dry, we'll take them back to our classrooms and decorate them more with words or fancy things. A lot of kids asked what we'll do with the rocks. Take them home, I suppose, or put them around the prairie garden at school. Maybe that would stop the naysayers about our wild garden!
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Dress to Impress Day
Another drama-filled day...
Before I even finished unpacking my teacher bag this morning, I found out we were supposed to have brought pitchers, serving trays, and pickle trays from church. And the water pitchers were supposed to have been filled. And we were supposed to have put out the place settings on the tables. Oops. So Mr. D and I gathered up the necessities at church and got them to the cook in plenty of time. Still, both of us had been at church yesterday after school; it would've been so easy to pick up the stuff then instead of making a special trip in the morning. The place setting thing the cooks said they'd take care of, we didn't have to worry about it. Whew!
Aside from that oopsie, the day went pretty well. Wind gusts were strong today, so we shuttled kids over to church for chapel. We had to have it there to give our blind magician enough time/space to set up for his act. After chapel we all bused back to school and settled in the bleachers for our entertainment. They weren't quite ready, which set our morning schedule back by a few minutes. He was really good! Definitely funny and lighthearted with his jokes, both regular jokes and jokes about his blindness, he brought God into his message quite a bit too, and he could play the harmonica!
Since he started late, we got a late start on the awards/announcements made before dinner was served: Bucket Prize winner from this quarter, January's and February's Student of the Month winners, and Fire Poster Winners. It took a while to announce all those, so we started lunch a half an hour later than planned. I'm sure my kids were all STARVING!
After lunch with our guests, we packed up the tables/chairs. The 5-8th graders were supposed to practice bells at church at 1:00, but we got over there later because of the table take-down. Mr. E kept telling us to just go and the younger grades could pack up, but it took a while to round everyone up and set up the bell tables at church. The 5th graders are playing tone chimes with us, so we needed every single bell table set up over at church. There isn't enough foam over there, so Miss S and I had to bring some of the school's foam over after school (and an extra table too). Now I think we're all set!
There was added drama to bells tonight because one of the 8th graders has to be at church in St. Peter, but no one told me about that until his mom texted me an hour ago. We have no replacements since the 5th graders are playing tone chimes. Miss S said she could maybe play one bell, but she's directing the chimes across the aisle, so it might sound weird. Thankfully, his mom texted back (after many other texts) that he would be there some way or another. Praise the Lord for supportive parents!
We also had Fine Arts Fair dress rehearsal this afternoon. A lot of the piano players didn't have their music, so we just had them practice introducing themselves. The 7-8th graders got bucky about having to sit there; they wanted to do their homework since the FAF rehearsal was during the time they normally get for study hall. Nope, be a good audience member, I told them. I got a lot of eye rolling and 'are you serious?' and some other mumbled, grumbled comments. Sigh, there must be another surge of hormones going around because their attitudes have been terrible this past week! Anyway, we made it through the day. Three down, two to go (plus the Fine Arts Fair).
Before I even finished unpacking my teacher bag this morning, I found out we were supposed to have brought pitchers, serving trays, and pickle trays from church. And the water pitchers were supposed to have been filled. And we were supposed to have put out the place settings on the tables. Oops. So Mr. D and I gathered up the necessities at church and got them to the cook in plenty of time. Still, both of us had been at church yesterday after school; it would've been so easy to pick up the stuff then instead of making a special trip in the morning. The place setting thing the cooks said they'd take care of, we didn't have to worry about it. Whew!
Aside from that oopsie, the day went pretty well. Wind gusts were strong today, so we shuttled kids over to church for chapel. We had to have it there to give our blind magician enough time/space to set up for his act. After chapel we all bused back to school and settled in the bleachers for our entertainment. They weren't quite ready, which set our morning schedule back by a few minutes. He was really good! Definitely funny and lighthearted with his jokes, both regular jokes and jokes about his blindness, he brought God into his message quite a bit too, and he could play the harmonica!
Since he started late, we got a late start on the awards/announcements made before dinner was served: Bucket Prize winner from this quarter, January's and February's Student of the Month winners, and Fire Poster Winners. It took a while to announce all those, so we started lunch a half an hour later than planned. I'm sure my kids were all STARVING!
After lunch with our guests, we packed up the tables/chairs. The 5-8th graders were supposed to practice bells at church at 1:00, but we got over there later because of the table take-down. Mr. E kept telling us to just go and the younger grades could pack up, but it took a while to round everyone up and set up the bell tables at church. The 5th graders are playing tone chimes with us, so we needed every single bell table set up over at church. There isn't enough foam over there, so Miss S and I had to bring some of the school's foam over after school (and an extra table too). Now I think we're all set!
There was added drama to bells tonight because one of the 8th graders has to be at church in St. Peter, but no one told me about that until his mom texted me an hour ago. We have no replacements since the 5th graders are playing tone chimes. Miss S said she could maybe play one bell, but she's directing the chimes across the aisle, so it might sound weird. Thankfully, his mom texted back (after many other texts) that he would be there some way or another. Praise the Lord for supportive parents!
We also had Fine Arts Fair dress rehearsal this afternoon. A lot of the piano players didn't have their music, so we just had them practice introducing themselves. The 7-8th graders got bucky about having to sit there; they wanted to do their homework since the FAF rehearsal was during the time they normally get for study hall. Nope, be a good audience member, I told them. I got a lot of eye rolling and 'are you serious?' and some other mumbled, grumbled comments. Sigh, there must be another surge of hormones going around because their attitudes have been terrible this past week! Anyway, we made it through the day. Three down, two to go (plus the Fine Arts Fair).
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Favorite Sports Team Day
Well this has been a crazy day... mostly due to the Young Writers and Artists Conference...
It started when I got to school and saw a text from a chaperone that said she was sick, but she'd still drive today. She would bring kids to Mankato, then turn around and come home, then come back and pick them up at 1:30 when we finished. Wow, way too much driving and messing around for someone, let along a sick someone. Last night we had some last minute switcheroos: two kids who live in Mankato were going to get dropped off/picked up by a relative, so they wouldn't need seats in cars. There were a few random empty spaces in cars, plus no one was scheduled to ride with Mr. E so we had getting them there covered for sure. Getting them home? That was going to be more complicated.
There's a boy who gets dropped off at school at 7:30am sometimes. He was here this morning and said maybe his mom could get off work early and bring kids back. So we called her, she said she'd talk to her boss... a few minutes later she called back and said she lined someone else up to drive kids back. Whew! I was able to call the sick mom and tell her she had the day off! ...Then came telling everyone else the change in plans.
I had to get to BLC early to pick up our registration packets, so I took off shortly after 8:00. Mr. E packed up the art for the Fine Arts Fair and grabbed the leftover kiddos and took off once all the other chaperones had loaded up. Everyone made it there and back just fine; it was a lot more complicated than I had anticipated! (Another boy met us there; his mom forgot he had an appointment in the morning before school so she dropped him off after).
The conference was good, as usual. I didn't get to any classes I really wanted to see... the first session I chased after a chaperone who didn't get a folder and ended up in a room jam-packed with kids creating dragons. The 7-8th grade girls had asked me if I wanted to come with them to their canvas painting session, but they left without me while I tracked down folders for chaperones.
The second session I hoped to go to a pastel class, but one of the 7th grade boys who registered late snagged me and asked if I'd come with him. Since he registered late, he got stuck with the 'not cool' classes. This one was by a Lincoln impersonator who talked about the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg address. I've heard this guy speak before and sometimes it's interesting, sometimes it gets a little dry. Thankfully, this time was pretty interesting. I learned things I didn't know before, which is always a good thing!
The third session was after lunch and the 6th grade girls convinced me to come to origami class with them. That was pretty neat; I've done some origami before, so I could follow along pretty easily. I was the only chaperone in the room; the rest were kids (about half from my school and half from other schools). The speaker thought I was one of the kids! We made cranes that flap their wings. Some of the folds were tricky, so I helped the kids around me figure out if they were folding correctly. One boy had made some folds upside down. I wanted to help him, but I didn't know his name. He was wearing a sweatshirt with a galaxy pattern on it, so I said, "Outerspace Boy, I think you have your folds upside down." Everyone laughed that I called him 'outerspace' and he turned super red. I felt so bad! I didn't mean to embarrass him! A few minutes later I saw him joking about it, so hopefully I didn't forever ruin that sweatshirt for him...
Once we got back to school, we were supposed to write letters to wounded soldiers for our NLSW service event. The 5-8th graders were having none of it. Mr. E was still at his principal's meeting, and no one had told them what to do once they got back. Since it was 2:00, recess time, they thought they could just shoot baskets in the gym while all the other kids worked on these cards. Umm, no. They gave me so much attitude about it! It was terrible! So then I was grouchy and had to scold and prod them into doing it. Grr... I hate when I have to be that guy.
After school some dads helped set up tables/chairs for the meal tomorrow. Centerpieces/table decorations never crossed my mind, so the tables just have tablecloths on them! It will be what it will be.
Tomorrow is going to be another full day... so I better go home and get some R&R!
It started when I got to school and saw a text from a chaperone that said she was sick, but she'd still drive today. She would bring kids to Mankato, then turn around and come home, then come back and pick them up at 1:30 when we finished. Wow, way too much driving and messing around for someone, let along a sick someone. Last night we had some last minute switcheroos: two kids who live in Mankato were going to get dropped off/picked up by a relative, so they wouldn't need seats in cars. There were a few random empty spaces in cars, plus no one was scheduled to ride with Mr. E so we had getting them there covered for sure. Getting them home? That was going to be more complicated.
There's a boy who gets dropped off at school at 7:30am sometimes. He was here this morning and said maybe his mom could get off work early and bring kids back. So we called her, she said she'd talk to her boss... a few minutes later she called back and said she lined someone else up to drive kids back. Whew! I was able to call the sick mom and tell her she had the day off! ...Then came telling everyone else the change in plans.
I had to get to BLC early to pick up our registration packets, so I took off shortly after 8:00. Mr. E packed up the art for the Fine Arts Fair and grabbed the leftover kiddos and took off once all the other chaperones had loaded up. Everyone made it there and back just fine; it was a lot more complicated than I had anticipated! (Another boy met us there; his mom forgot he had an appointment in the morning before school so she dropped him off after).
The conference was good, as usual. I didn't get to any classes I really wanted to see... the first session I chased after a chaperone who didn't get a folder and ended up in a room jam-packed with kids creating dragons. The 7-8th grade girls had asked me if I wanted to come with them to their canvas painting session, but they left without me while I tracked down folders for chaperones.
The second session I hoped to go to a pastel class, but one of the 7th grade boys who registered late snagged me and asked if I'd come with him. Since he registered late, he got stuck with the 'not cool' classes. This one was by a Lincoln impersonator who talked about the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg address. I've heard this guy speak before and sometimes it's interesting, sometimes it gets a little dry. Thankfully, this time was pretty interesting. I learned things I didn't know before, which is always a good thing!
The third session was after lunch and the 6th grade girls convinced me to come to origami class with them. That was pretty neat; I've done some origami before, so I could follow along pretty easily. I was the only chaperone in the room; the rest were kids (about half from my school and half from other schools). The speaker thought I was one of the kids! We made cranes that flap their wings. Some of the folds were tricky, so I helped the kids around me figure out if they were folding correctly. One boy had made some folds upside down. I wanted to help him, but I didn't know his name. He was wearing a sweatshirt with a galaxy pattern on it, so I said, "Outerspace Boy, I think you have your folds upside down." Everyone laughed that I called him 'outerspace' and he turned super red. I felt so bad! I didn't mean to embarrass him! A few minutes later I saw him joking about it, so hopefully I didn't forever ruin that sweatshirt for him...
Once we got back to school, we were supposed to write letters to wounded soldiers for our NLSW service event. The 5-8th graders were having none of it. Mr. E was still at his principal's meeting, and no one had told them what to do once they got back. Since it was 2:00, recess time, they thought they could just shoot baskets in the gym while all the other kids worked on these cards. Umm, no. They gave me so much attitude about it! It was terrible! So then I was grouchy and had to scold and prod them into doing it. Grr... I hate when I have to be that guy.
After school some dads helped set up tables/chairs for the meal tomorrow. Centerpieces/table decorations never crossed my mind, so the tables just have tablecloths on them! It will be what it will be.
Tomorrow is going to be another full day... so I better go home and get some R&R!
Monday, March 6, 2017
Time Travel Day
Once again, my costume was not the best today. I had been thinking about wearing a dress I inherited from my maternal grandma (from the 50s), but since the forecast for today was in the mid-sixties, I thought I'd get too warm with the heavy fabric. So I went with jeans, cowboy boots, and a red plaid flannel shirt: cowboy/lumberjack. If I weren't running errands tonight, I would've drawn a beard on my face. To get fancier, I braided my hair in pig-tales and threw on a stocking cap. The stocking cap came off before school started... it was just too warm!
Not many students dressed up either; most claimed to be from the present! One girl who wore all black came up with a quick answer: "I just threw on clothes this morning, but I think I'm me from the future, at my funeral!" Kind of morbid, but you gotta admire her quick thinking. We had a few pioneer girls, one little old lady, and a few girls from the 90s.
Winter Olympic sign-up went all right. Most big kids didn't complain too much... their reaction had been much less enthusiastic when I told them last week we'd be doing the Olympics again. A lot of them let the younger students sign up for the majority of the events. Hey, as long as they're not fighting about it!
Making the flag banners was fun for some and not-so-fun for others. Most had easy flags to draw, but it's a lot of coloring! The China team grew frustrated when all their red markers died not even halfway through their coloring... And that's when I had the idea we should've given them red paper and they could've cut out yellow stars... way less coloring. Shoot! Eventually everyone finished and we hung the banners above the bleachers.
All the art for the Fine Arts Fair is ready except for one student from my class. She had a great project hanging up in the "Gumdrop Gallery", but she took it home! And the other projects she hung up afterwards weren't nearly as good. Today she worked on a project that I thought would do all right... She had to restart the project three times because she didn't get her lines right. Finally she got the hang of it! But then she colored in an area that looked better without color and now it doesn't look as impressive. I'm super bummed! She hasn't finished coloring it, so she'll need to do that before we leave on our field trip tomorrow. Cutting it a little close! Mr. E is taking the art down to his principal's meeting tomorrow afternoon, but he's tagging along for the morning at the Young Writers and Artists Conference, so all artwork has to be packed up before we leave! I hope she gets to school in time!
Not many students dressed up either; most claimed to be from the present! One girl who wore all black came up with a quick answer: "I just threw on clothes this morning, but I think I'm me from the future, at my funeral!" Kind of morbid, but you gotta admire her quick thinking. We had a few pioneer girls, one little old lady, and a few girls from the 90s.
Winter Olympic sign-up went all right. Most big kids didn't complain too much... their reaction had been much less enthusiastic when I told them last week we'd be doing the Olympics again. A lot of them let the younger students sign up for the majority of the events. Hey, as long as they're not fighting about it!
Making the flag banners was fun for some and not-so-fun for others. Most had easy flags to draw, but it's a lot of coloring! The China team grew frustrated when all their red markers died not even halfway through their coloring... And that's when I had the idea we should've given them red paper and they could've cut out yellow stars... way less coloring. Shoot! Eventually everyone finished and we hung the banners above the bleachers.
All the art for the Fine Arts Fair is ready except for one student from my class. She had a great project hanging up in the "Gumdrop Gallery", but she took it home! And the other projects she hung up afterwards weren't nearly as good. Today she worked on a project that I thought would do all right... She had to restart the project three times because she didn't get her lines right. Finally she got the hang of it! But then she colored in an area that looked better without color and now it doesn't look as impressive. I'm super bummed! She hasn't finished coloring it, so she'll need to do that before we leave on our field trip tomorrow. Cutting it a little close! Mr. E is taking the art down to his principal's meeting tomorrow afternoon, but he's tagging along for the morning at the Young Writers and Artists Conference, so all artwork has to be packed up before we leave! I hope she gets to school in time!
Friday, March 3, 2017
Joe's Birthday
Facebook has a feature called "On This Day" that shows you things you posted in the past on the same day. Most of mine are not things I reshare, but on March 1st, Facebook reminded me that I got Joe that day! Happy Birthday Joe! It seems fitting since he's gotten more attention than usual this week. The boys got fancy with his tank again today. They'd had the idea to build a tunnel that wouldn't collapse out of some kind of plastic container.
They'd asked me yesterday, but I didn't have time to look for something that would work that they could cut up. Well, at snack time today when I still didn't dig through the cupboards they got tired of waiting and went straight to the cook. She gave them an old ice cream pail and another plastic container without a lid that she didn't need back. They cut it in half and cut out the bottom to make an arch. And then the fun really began!
Two girls got involved at this point, deciding where to put the tunnel. Then came the test... Joe went in one side aaaaand he stayed there, didn't even try to walk through it. Well that's disappointing! I suggested they fill up the food dish and put it on the opposite side. Once food was added to the equation, Joe walked right through! One time wasn't enough though. They picked him up and deposited him on the other side again. This time he tried to walk over the top. My kiddos thought he was stuck (his feet kept slipping on the plastic, brushing the dirt off) and wanted to rescue him. I kept telling them, "No, give him a minute. See if he can work his way out of it." They were very impatient. Eventually he got a good enough grip to walk over the top! To make life easier for him we will add strips of hot glue on the tunnel's top so he won't slip so much.
The other big news of the day was Mr. E's gorilla suit. We read over 30,000 pages in February, 10,000 pages past our goal; Mr. E had to wear the suit for two hours and read us a book. He had fun scaring unsuspecting people with the costume! The book he read was If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss. Another teacher found a video of the book on youtube, so we had that playing on the projector while Mr. E read the book; that way everyone got to see the pictures. It turned out very well. He said he reread the book at least five times last night so he'd pronounce all the Seuss-words right!
It was also "Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character Day" but not many kids got the memo. Only one or two of them dressed up. Besides me, only one teacher dressed up; no one else could think of costume ideas! I had lots of ideas, but not many clothes that would work with the character. I went with Erica Hale from the Spy School series by Stuart Gibbs. Since not many people are familiar with the book, I made myself a name tag that said who I was and what book I was from... It was an easy costume: all black clothes, hair back in a low ponytail, fingerless gloves (she's never described as wearing them as far as I can remember, but I thought they added to the spy look). The 7-8th graders recognized me! But that's because I've read aloud the books to them. They said I matched her pretty well, except I look older than her.
Well, I'm going to close up shop for the week. My lessons are planned for next week. With all the special events, I don't have too many lessons to prepare! Most of my to-do list has been caught up with too. Now time to go home and read a book!
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Food Fear Factor
Food Fear Factor was a success! I had some kids at the start say, "No way am I trying any. They all sound gross. I'm gonna puke if I eat any." But later one of those (the loudest complainer) came up to me and said, "Guess what?! I tried everything! A lot of them were good!" Woohoo! Another win for education.
This morning the boys got architectural with Joe's bedding; they built a tunnel. I wasn't sure it would work since the bedding is so loose (coconut husk mixed with sand), but they succeeded! Then they added Joe to the tank. He wouldn't go through it. I suggested they put his food on one side and him on the other so he'd have to cross through. It worked! I took a video of it and it's pretty neat!
This morning the boys got architectural with Joe's bedding; they built a tunnel. I wasn't sure it would work since the bedding is so loose (coconut husk mixed with sand), but they succeeded! Then they added Joe to the tank. He wouldn't go through it. I suggested they put his food on one side and him on the other so he'd have to cross through. It worked! I took a video of it and it's pretty neat!
Well, I'm off to the Barnes and Noble book talk... we had a faculty meeting just now and my to-do list has grown exponentially. I am feeling slightly panicky about getting everything done... but the book talk is where I need to go next, so I'll focus on one thing at a time!
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Fruit and Veggie Challenge
Last day of the Fruit and Vegetable Challenge today. Whew. They're ready to be done; two fifth graders said they're never eating fruits and vegetables again after lunch today...
The 5th graders pulled off a win! They had 4.46 as an average while the 3rd graders were at 4.28. The 6th graders lost significantly to the 4th graders. 6th= 4.56, 4th=4.94. The nurse wanted to give everyone smoothies because they all tried really hard. So we'll get smoothies on Friday.
Tomorrow we're doing Food Fear Factor, where the nurse cooks a bunch of strange vegetables and my students have to try them... Hopefully they'll be brave! Otherwise I'll need to add a little incentive... maybe adding marbles to the jar for however many they eat? A bunch of my kiddos were jealous of the 7/8th graders; they got to watch The Penguins of Madagascar in class as their marble prize.
Well, gotta keep this short! Ash Wednesday services start at 6:30, so I'd best head over to church.
The 5th graders pulled off a win! They had 4.46 as an average while the 3rd graders were at 4.28. The 6th graders lost significantly to the 4th graders. 6th= 4.56, 4th=4.94. The nurse wanted to give everyone smoothies because they all tried really hard. So we'll get smoothies on Friday.
Tomorrow we're doing Food Fear Factor, where the nurse cooks a bunch of strange vegetables and my students have to try them... Hopefully they'll be brave! Otherwise I'll need to add a little incentive... maybe adding marbles to the jar for however many they eat? A bunch of my kiddos were jealous of the 7/8th graders; they got to watch The Penguins of Madagascar in class as their marble prize.
Well, gotta keep this short! Ash Wednesday services start at 6:30, so I'd best head over to church.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)