It was a good thing I made two sub plans for yesterday because our school was two hours late due to the wind and blowing snow. They called it the night before. Actually, Thursday morning it wasn't too bad. I was able to see pretty good and the roads were fine for Mrs. L and I to head to Mankato at the time we'd originally planned.
The first teacher we observed was a 1st grade powerhouse. Wow she has a lot of energy! She must've spent a ton of time at the beginning of the year going over procedures and expectations because her classroom ran like clockwork. Mrs. L and I took a lot of notes and had a great time observing her. In the afternoon we observed a 3rd grade classroom for Writers Workshop and I didn't get as much out of it as I'd hoped. The lesson was only about 15 minutes instead of a half an hour (the teacher spent more time on her small reading groups) and she doesn't do a true Writers Workshop. Both teachers invited us back again, so maybe we'll see what they're up to on another day.
My students love the sub, Mrs. L (she subbed for Mrs. E a few times this year). I didn't have any 'bad' notes from her, so the day must've gone well! They said if I'm gone again, I should have the same sub. Good to know!
Yesterday I found out there's a historical speaker at MLHS next Tuesday, as in, two school days from now. It's my favorite speaker of the year, Arn Kind, who dresses up like whatever period of history he's talking about. No matter the topic, he's awesome. I talked to Mr. E about it and he said if we can get enough drivers, we can go! So today I talked to as many parents as I could and I think we only need a few more... just space for 6 more kids! Thankfully I kept my permission form from last year, so I quick changed the dates, printed them off, and sent them home today before all the kids left.
It was also a crunch time today since we had a field trip at Immanuel Gaylord this morning. The science museum did a talk on Solids, Liquids, and Gases. It was very interactive and had a lot of fun demonstrations with dry ice and liquid nitrogen. There was a time when the speaker had the students waft the smell towards their noses (never sniff science stuff directly!) and every single one of the 5-8th graders looked at me and did the wafting thing by their noses. It was hilarious! They knew it already because we go over that on the first day of science!
We got back in time for a late-ish lunch at school, and after lunch most of the parents picked up their 5-8th graders to head to the Lakefield tournament. I had one student stay until the end of the day. She had late work to do, so she worked quietly at her desk while I did the same. I did get quite a bit accomplished. Now I'm shoving my stuff in my car and I'm headed down to watch some basketball. Hopefully I won't be too late for their 4pm game. The boys play at 7pm; I don't think I'll stay for their game, but we'll see.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Sub
My kids were crazy again today. One had a med change, and it's really throwing him off. Poor kid can't get anything done because he's so full of energy. There's still one kid out sick. I have four report cards I haven't been able to send home because their work still hasn't been handed in. I'll be glad for a little break tomorrow...
Tomorrow Mrs. L and I get to shadow other teachers to learn more about Writers Workshop and Literacy Stations. The only thing is, there's a blizzard watch/warning until 9am tomorrow. So school might be 2h late. Normally, that would only be a minor inconvenience, however, I had to write two sub plans... one for a regular day and one for a 2h late start. So, we'll see which plan my sub has to use!
I think everything is ready now, but I'm definitely going to be late for bible study tonight. It's okay though; a lot of the ladies are staying home because of the cold.
Tomorrow Mrs. L and I get to shadow other teachers to learn more about Writers Workshop and Literacy Stations. The only thing is, there's a blizzard watch/warning until 9am tomorrow. So school might be 2h late. Normally, that would only be a minor inconvenience, however, I had to write two sub plans... one for a regular day and one for a 2h late start. So, we'll see which plan my sub has to use!
I think everything is ready now, but I'm definitely going to be late for bible study tonight. It's okay though; a lot of the ladies are staying home because of the cold.
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Crazies
My kids had the crazies today... SO LOUD! I think there's more snow in the forecast, although we haven't gotten much so far today. I had two kids show up late and one never show up at all. It turns out her whole family has some type of sick, maybe influenza. She'll probably be out tomorrow. I had a few kids who still didn't turn in their late work from last quarter, so I only handed out some of the report cards, not all. Sigh. It'd be nice to be totally finished with them all.
Friday, January 18, 2019
Snow Day!
Technically, it's not a true full snow day; we did come to school for a few hours. I'm really glad we did, what with the end of the quarter and all. A few kids turned in last minute assignments, we got our spelling tests finished, a few more worked on their art projects, said memory, and planned out science fair ideas.
Nicollet already didn't have school today, New Ulm had a half day on the schedule, so it was kind of up to Mr. E if we'd stay all day or not. We kept hearing about more and more schools cancelling, and then we got word that New Ulm was sending their kids home at 11am, not 1pm as originally planned. So if we wanted to use their buses to get our kids home, we'd have to dismiss then too. Cue the scurrying around to get everything finished!
We had roughly a half an hour to cram everything end of the quarter in. I had my kiddos do their spelling tests, then we switched with Mr. E's class so my kids could do math things. I gave the 7-8th graders their spelling tests. And that was it! Everyone went home. Just a few students didn't have everything handed in. I gave them a reprieve until Tuesday, when we next have school. If they don't have their work done, then they'll have to stay after school until it is complete.
I have my papers organized into piles to be corrected, the classroom tidied up, computers shut off... all I have to do is get Joe situated for the long weekend and then I'm taking off. Not going too far today, just my apartment. I'll probably get my grades done while I'm still in 'school mode'. Then I can have the rest of the weekend without the weight of report cards hanging over me.
Nicollet already didn't have school today, New Ulm had a half day on the schedule, so it was kind of up to Mr. E if we'd stay all day or not. We kept hearing about more and more schools cancelling, and then we got word that New Ulm was sending their kids home at 11am, not 1pm as originally planned. So if we wanted to use their buses to get our kids home, we'd have to dismiss then too. Cue the scurrying around to get everything finished!
We had roughly a half an hour to cram everything end of the quarter in. I had my kiddos do their spelling tests, then we switched with Mr. E's class so my kids could do math things. I gave the 7-8th graders their spelling tests. And that was it! Everyone went home. Just a few students didn't have everything handed in. I gave them a reprieve until Tuesday, when we next have school. If they don't have their work done, then they'll have to stay after school until it is complete.
I have my papers organized into piles to be corrected, the classroom tidied up, computers shut off... all I have to do is get Joe situated for the long weekend and then I'm taking off. Not going too far today, just my apartment. I'll probably get my grades done while I'm still in 'school mode'. Then I can have the rest of the weekend without the weight of report cards hanging over me.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Dioramas
Our first attempt at dioramas was a success! A few students made different things for the assignment besides a diorama. One kid made a pretty stellar Minecraft world of the lumber industry. He's been working on it since I first told them about the project (about 2-3 weeks ago). It turned out awesome. His lumber mill even burned down! (He was trying to build a fire inside to heat the workers). A few kids made brochures, one made a poster, but the rest made dioramas. Some should've started theirs a long time ago, but overall, they were really neat!
Here are a couple:
Here are a couple:
The gold stuff under the horse/wagon represents straw they'd put under to give the skis more traction in the winter time. The white thing is an egg and the circles are donuts, which the lumberjacks would eat for breakfast.
A kitchen of the lumber camp. There's a chicken under the table to show that the men ate a lot of eggs. The cat is there to eat the mice. And there's a pot of stew on the stove getting ready for the lumberjacks' next meal.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
MN Mining
Oh man, we had an awesome MN history lesson today! A while back (can't remember where or when exactly) I found a teacher resource about a simulation of a mine. I stumbled upon it on my flash drive when I planned activities for Minnesota's main industries and decided to make it happen.
Today was actually sunny for once, which was kind of a bummer since we needed the room dark to make a mine. So we covered all the windows with blankets and taped the shades down to make it extra dark. I taped a square (5x4ft) in the reading corner to represent the cage the miners would ride down into the mines. 15 miners would squeeze into each cage (two cages on top of each other) along with their hats, candles, and two lunch pails. The cages went down the shaft between 40-60mph.
Two kids were sick today, so we only had 11 people crammed in the space. Yes, it was still crammed. Imagine how tight it would be for 15 adults! Each kid had a tin can (big ones from the school cook) and a candle (the ones we use for the Christmas services). With their candles lit, they walked through the dark classroom to the even darker coatroom (no windows there!). I had little plastic counters scattered on the floor, some with marks on them, some without. They had to use their candles to see which 'rocks' were valuable and pick those ones up. If I had planned ahead more, I would've used real rocks. Ah well, things to improve for next time.
After a while of mining, they had to blow out their candles and continue mining to mimic the miners who used up their candle supplies. When all the plastic pieces were collected, they wound their way back to the cage to go up to the surface. But unbeknownst to them, I spread a towel on the floor partway back. If they stepped on it, they fell into shaft used for disposing useless rock. Oops. Most of the class didn't make it back to the cage. Since these shafts were up to a hundred feet deep, many men lost their lives in the mines just because they couldn't see them.
Once we turned the lights back on, I had them see how much precious ore they'd collected. I paid them one token per plastic piece with a mark. They definitely had a good time!
(This activity came from www.minnesotahumanities.org)
Today was actually sunny for once, which was kind of a bummer since we needed the room dark to make a mine. So we covered all the windows with blankets and taped the shades down to make it extra dark. I taped a square (5x4ft) in the reading corner to represent the cage the miners would ride down into the mines. 15 miners would squeeze into each cage (two cages on top of each other) along with their hats, candles, and two lunch pails. The cages went down the shaft between 40-60mph.
Two kids were sick today, so we only had 11 people crammed in the space. Yes, it was still crammed. Imagine how tight it would be for 15 adults! Each kid had a tin can (big ones from the school cook) and a candle (the ones we use for the Christmas services). With their candles lit, they walked through the dark classroom to the even darker coatroom (no windows there!). I had little plastic counters scattered on the floor, some with marks on them, some without. They had to use their candles to see which 'rocks' were valuable and pick those ones up. If I had planned ahead more, I would've used real rocks. Ah well, things to improve for next time.
After a while of mining, they had to blow out their candles and continue mining to mimic the miners who used up their candle supplies. When all the plastic pieces were collected, they wound their way back to the cage to go up to the surface. But unbeknownst to them, I spread a towel on the floor partway back. If they stepped on it, they fell into shaft used for disposing useless rock. Oops. Most of the class didn't make it back to the cage. Since these shafts were up to a hundred feet deep, many men lost their lives in the mines just because they couldn't see them.
Once we turned the lights back on, I had them see how much precious ore they'd collected. I paid them one token per plastic piece with a mark. They definitely had a good time!
(This activity came from www.minnesotahumanities.org)
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Bird Seed Mining
We had a MN history lab today... it's called 'Birdseed Mining' and involves students working in groups to mine seeds etc. from a paper plate. After 10 minutes, they count how much of each type of seed they mined and multiply it by how much it's worth. Most of the items aren't worth anything. I have a few colorful beads in each pie plate to represent gold, silver, and copper. The circle noodles represent iron, which is the cheapest value, but makes them the most money because it's more plentiful.
Every time I do this lab I have students try to beat the system by collecting only one kind of item. Usually they think the little rocks are worth lots and lots. Except they're worth zero. I had one kid do that today. His grand mining total: $0. Some only go for the beads, but there are two white beads in each mine that represent the reclamation fees ($100 each) to make the land look nice after all the minerals are mined out. At least this time I didn't have anyone lose money!
We turned it into a bit of a contest. I gave out 10 tokens for the person who earned the most each mine AND I have out 20 tokens per person to the mine that produced the most income. Here are the totals:
Every time I do this lab I have students try to beat the system by collecting only one kind of item. Usually they think the little rocks are worth lots and lots. Except they're worth zero. I had one kid do that today. His grand mining total: $0. Some only go for the beads, but there are two white beads in each mine that represent the reclamation fees ($100 each) to make the land look nice after all the minerals are mined out. At least this time I didn't have anyone lose money!
We turned it into a bit of a contest. I gave out 10 tokens for the person who earned the most each mine AND I have out 20 tokens per person to the mine that produced the most income. Here are the totals:
- #1- $20,510
- #2- $19,570
- #3- 17,720
- #4- $9,370
The group that won had a lot of their earnings from the 'iron' circle noodles. The group that got the least had the boy who only mined rocks. Lesson learned: listen to Miss H when she says to not just pick out one item!
Monday, January 14, 2019
Last Chemistry
Another normal day at school: typical Monday chatter about weekend happenings, excitement about the basketball games, checking the papers in their mailboxes to see how they did on last week's assignments. Over the weekend I checked out a bunch of graphic novels from the Fulda and stuck them in the 'new book' bookshelf without saying anything. They noticed them pretty quick! Since I met with spelling groups today I didn't notice how many of them were claimed by students, but I know a few were snatched right up. Some of the girls have been reading them together for Read to Someone. It's great to hear them putting inflection and tone in the dialogue the characters speak in the books!
Today was the final chapter of our 5-6th grade chemistry book! After this one, we switch to physics. Some kids are excited to be done and some are sad. I enjoy the chemistry experiments, but the physics ones are good too. Actually, I should be getting them in gear for their science fair projects... I introduced the project last week. This Friday is the first due date: project purpose/objective and hypothesis. Some already have their ideas picked out. Others are still working on it.
In other news, with all the financial donations being given to our school, the board of ed decided to give each teacher $500 to spend on things for her classroom. They're ordering VISA gift cards through the SCRIP program. We just have to keep receipts for the things we spend and turn in the envelope once the money is spent. Woohoo! More books!!! I've been toying with the idea of buying a few cheap trac phones from Walmart and downloading the library audiobook app so my kids can listen to audiobooks during Daily 5, but I'm not sold on the idea quite yet. This money would be the perfect thing to pay for them though! I'll have to keep mulling it over.
Today was the final chapter of our 5-6th grade chemistry book! After this one, we switch to physics. Some kids are excited to be done and some are sad. I enjoy the chemistry experiments, but the physics ones are good too. Actually, I should be getting them in gear for their science fair projects... I introduced the project last week. This Friday is the first due date: project purpose/objective and hypothesis. Some already have their ideas picked out. Others are still working on it.
In other news, with all the financial donations being given to our school, the board of ed decided to give each teacher $500 to spend on things for her classroom. They're ordering VISA gift cards through the SCRIP program. We just have to keep receipts for the things we spend and turn in the envelope once the money is spent. Woohoo! More books!!! I've been toying with the idea of buying a few cheap trac phones from Walmart and downloading the library audiobook app so my kids can listen to audiobooks during Daily 5, but I'm not sold on the idea quite yet. This money would be the perfect thing to pay for them though! I'll have to keep mulling it over.
Friday, January 11, 2019
Weaving
It's interesting to do weaving projects with 5-6th graders. Some kids take to it like spiders while others struggle and bang their heads on their desks (Actually, one boy did that... he wouldn't stop banging his head under his desk because he was so frustrated by his thread).
I think the kids who have everything come easily to them academically sometimes struggle with weaving since they have to listen to instructions carefully. I know that's the case with this head-banger. He often ignores the instructions because he thinks he knows how to do it, and then he's stumped when it's time to actually do the work.
My kiddos drove me up the wall today, though it wasn't too bad until the end of the day/after school. There's another home basketball game tonight, so I had a ton of wild and crazy kids hanging out in my room. Everyone was gossiping and talking lovey-dovey stuff (which is outlawed in Miss H's room). They worked for a while, but then Friday got to them and they were out of control. Thankfully the game starts soon, so they can burn off their energy.
We had to have a conversation about memory work... 80% of the class did not say all of their memory work by the time the bell rang this morning. Uggh! So we came up with a plan, I typed up a note, and we sent it home today. From now on, if you don't get your memory said by the bell on Friday, the highest grade you can get is an 80% if you say it by lunchtime. If you say it by the end of the day it's 70%, and if it's on Monday, it's 60%. Hopefully that lights a fire under them to study more.
I think the kids who have everything come easily to them academically sometimes struggle with weaving since they have to listen to instructions carefully. I know that's the case with this head-banger. He often ignores the instructions because he thinks he knows how to do it, and then he's stumped when it's time to actually do the work.
My kiddos drove me up the wall today, though it wasn't too bad until the end of the day/after school. There's another home basketball game tonight, so I had a ton of wild and crazy kids hanging out in my room. Everyone was gossiping and talking lovey-dovey stuff (which is outlawed in Miss H's room). They worked for a while, but then Friday got to them and they were out of control. Thankfully the game starts soon, so they can burn off their energy.
We had to have a conversation about memory work... 80% of the class did not say all of their memory work by the time the bell rang this morning. Uggh! So we came up with a plan, I typed up a note, and we sent it home today. From now on, if you don't get your memory said by the bell on Friday, the highest grade you can get is an 80% if you say it by lunchtime. If you say it by the end of the day it's 70%, and if it's on Monday, it's 60%. Hopefully that lights a fire under them to study more.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Ice Skating
We went outside for afternoon recess, even though many of my students complained that it was too cold. They had a good time though!
Earlier this afternoon someone came with a truck to dump sand over the big lake of ice covering the kickball field. It was starting to melt things a very little bit when we went out. We discovered that the GaGa Ball pit is full of ice. Smooth ice. Apparently, before it got cold again, it had been warm enough to melt the pile of snow that had drifted in the hexagon. One edge of the ice is still pretty bumpy, but the majority of the near-circle is perfect for 'skating'.
It's also neat to find what things froze under the surface. The little ones like to play with 'kitchen' tools in the GaGa Ball pit, and they frequently leave their tools there. This time, the tools got cemented in. We found a spoon, a few buckets half in and half out, a blue sifter thing, and a bunch of other pieces. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow... I wonder how much our skating rink will melt?
Earlier this afternoon someone came with a truck to dump sand over the big lake of ice covering the kickball field. It was starting to melt things a very little bit when we went out. We discovered that the GaGa Ball pit is full of ice. Smooth ice. Apparently, before it got cold again, it had been warm enough to melt the pile of snow that had drifted in the hexagon. One edge of the ice is still pretty bumpy, but the majority of the near-circle is perfect for 'skating'.
It's also neat to find what things froze under the surface. The little ones like to play with 'kitchen' tools in the GaGa Ball pit, and they frequently leave their tools there. This time, the tools got cemented in. We found a spoon, a few buckets half in and half out, a blue sifter thing, and a bunch of other pieces. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow... I wonder how much our skating rink will melt?
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Big Things
Not a whole lot to report today. It was pretty typical: the weather's gone back to being cold, we had chapel at school, kids were decently behaved, lunch was tasty, etc.
We had a PTL meeting tonight at 6pm, so I knew I had to stay late. I had a bunch of big things on my to-do list, things I haven't done yet because they'll take a long time. But I got both finished today before the meeting! I entered my grades into the online grade book (in anticipation of the end of the quarter next Friday) and I typed up all the spelling words in the new 8th grade vocabulary/spelling book so I can print spelling lists.
They only have about five weeks left of their current book before we have to make the switch. This one is focused more on vocabulary. But I got everything typed and printed and ready to go for the class website.
My little 5th grader who had her endoscopy/colonoscopy yesterday was back at school and chipper today! They found out what's wrong and are starting treatment to fix it. Yay! Other kids are struggling with colds and strep throats... I'm drinking lots of kombucha and taking my vitamins. I'm still working on getting more sleep... getting up right away in the morning has been going well, but going to bed early is taking some work.
We had a PTL meeting tonight at 6pm, so I knew I had to stay late. I had a bunch of big things on my to-do list, things I haven't done yet because they'll take a long time. But I got both finished today before the meeting! I entered my grades into the online grade book (in anticipation of the end of the quarter next Friday) and I typed up all the spelling words in the new 8th grade vocabulary/spelling book so I can print spelling lists.
They only have about five weeks left of their current book before we have to make the switch. This one is focused more on vocabulary. But I got everything typed and printed and ready to go for the class website.
My little 5th grader who had her endoscopy/colonoscopy yesterday was back at school and chipper today! They found out what's wrong and are starting treatment to fix it. Yay! Other kids are struggling with colds and strep throats... I'm drinking lots of kombucha and taking my vitamins. I'm still working on getting more sleep... getting up right away in the morning has been going well, but going to bed early is taking some work.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Slime Lab
If you're not related to any school age child, you maybe missed the slime fad that's been going around for a little under a year. You can mix glue with some kind of detergent to make a super stretchy substance a bit like Silly Putty. The kids in my class last year were obsessed with it. This year's class is still in love with it, but don't talk about/play with it as much.
Still, when they saw the glue on the lab table, they were stoked.
Our lab wasn't to truly make slime. Our purpose was to mix two polymers together and notice what changes in property the substance had. So we took glue (regular white and another kind... clear or colored) and mixed it with the same amount of liquid starch. The result: either a stretchy, rubbery mass (the white kind), or a fragile rubbery ball that breaks apart when you squeeze it (the clear kind).
We had issues with retaliation earlier today. I used one of my mom's favorite catchphrases to use on her three daughters... "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord!" One of the 6th grade girls has adopted it as her favorite thing to say for all occasions. Packing up to go home, after school before the basketball game... "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord!"
Still, when they saw the glue on the lab table, they were stoked.
Our lab wasn't to truly make slime. Our purpose was to mix two polymers together and notice what changes in property the substance had. So we took glue (regular white and another kind... clear or colored) and mixed it with the same amount of liquid starch. The result: either a stretchy, rubbery mass (the white kind), or a fragile rubbery ball that breaks apart when you squeeze it (the clear kind).
We had issues with retaliation earlier today. I used one of my mom's favorite catchphrases to use on her three daughters... "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord!" One of the 6th grade girls has adopted it as her favorite thing to say for all occasions. Packing up to go home, after school before the basketball game... "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord!"
Monday, January 7, 2019
Piles of Boxes
Last Friday at the end of the day a van backed up to the main doors at school and a man unloaded box after cardboard box into the school (with the help of the 7-8th graders). My students and I tried to figure out who he was and what he was doing. There were no markings on the van; it was just a regular minivan. The man himself had the look of a teacher about him. I was kind of right. A nearby Christian book store went out of business with lots of merchandise left over. The man split the inventory among area Christian schools and we were one of them!
This morning the office table was jam-packed with boxes and boxes of Bible themed items for teachers to take. It was hard to get a good look at everything, so today during my prep time I took everything out of their little boxes and arranged them on the table so they are easier to see. I found a few good things to bring home and a bunch of things for the prize box. I don't want to clean off the whole table though, so I'm giving everyone else a chance and then I'll go through again more thoroughly for items 5-6th graders might want as prizes.
It's cool to see what's all in the boxes. Some are going over to church; those are the ones with candles and baptismal certificates, etc. I have no idea what we're going to do with it all! Hopefully now that it's all spread out, people will take more things.
This morning the office table was jam-packed with boxes and boxes of Bible themed items for teachers to take. It was hard to get a good look at everything, so today during my prep time I took everything out of their little boxes and arranged them on the table so they are easier to see. I found a few good things to bring home and a bunch of things for the prize box. I don't want to clean off the whole table though, so I'm giving everyone else a chance and then I'll go through again more thoroughly for items 5-6th graders might want as prizes.
It's cool to see what's all in the boxes. Some are going over to church; those are the ones with candles and baptismal certificates, etc. I have no idea what we're going to do with it all! Hopefully now that it's all spread out, people will take more things.
Friday, January 4, 2019
Clipboards
Not the most calm day ever, but we survived. I'm sure glad it's Friday!
The weather was GORGEOUS today... 43 degrees. We had afternoon recess outside and it was splendid. One 6th grader and I shoveled slush into a pile basically all recess, just because. The rest of the class played 'Hunger Games'. Two of the girls started reading the books this week after watching the movie at home. One of them came up with this tag-like game they're calling Hunger Games. I had mixed feelings about the game, but all of them were running and having fun, even the kids who usually sit out at recess and just watch. So I let them play.
The clipboards have been falling off the tall shelf I keep them on with increasing frequency. The Christmas tree is right underneath, so there's always at least one ornament knocked off the tree every time it happens. It's driving me nuts! Granted, the tree is coming down next week, but my guess is since my kids are just a little too short to reach up there, things will keep falling.
When I worked at the library over break, my boss let me take some things she had stashed in the closet waiting to be discarded... some pictures/frames, cork board strips for posting things, and some more iron magazine holders. Those magazine holders happen to be perfect for sorting books in my library. I took two and used them to keep the clipboards and whiteboards upright. It looks waaay neater and we won't have any more things sliding off the shelf!
The weather was GORGEOUS today... 43 degrees. We had afternoon recess outside and it was splendid. One 6th grader and I shoveled slush into a pile basically all recess, just because. The rest of the class played 'Hunger Games'. Two of the girls started reading the books this week after watching the movie at home. One of them came up with this tag-like game they're calling Hunger Games. I had mixed feelings about the game, but all of them were running and having fun, even the kids who usually sit out at recess and just watch. So I let them play.
The clipboards have been falling off the tall shelf I keep them on with increasing frequency. The Christmas tree is right underneath, so there's always at least one ornament knocked off the tree every time it happens. It's driving me nuts! Granted, the tree is coming down next week, but my guess is since my kids are just a little too short to reach up there, things will keep falling.
When I worked at the library over break, my boss let me take some things she had stashed in the closet waiting to be discarded... some pictures/frames, cork board strips for posting things, and some more iron magazine holders. Those magazine holders happen to be perfect for sorting books in my library. I took two and used them to keep the clipboards and whiteboards upright. It looks waaay neater and we won't have any more things sliding off the shelf!
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Another Good Day
We had a very productive and creative day in 5-6th grade. Yesterday my kiddos asked what project we'd be doing for our unit on MN's economies (for history). To be honest, I hadn't thought about giving them a project for it; my plan had been to glom it together with the next unit, not giving them a test or project. But since they asked...
We brainstormed together and they had great ideas! One boy wanted to build a Minecraft world with a lumber mill in it. Another girl wanted to make a video commercial/documentary of a day in the life of a lumberjack. Other kids wanted to do a diorama or a brochure about one of the main industries (lumber, flour milling, and iron mining). Last night I put together a rubric that let them choose what mode to present their information and today I shared it with them. They had TONS of good ideas. A bunch got started during Writers Workshop and a few more had plans to work on them after school today. The Minecraft boy admitted he started building his last night and showed it to me before recess. It looks awesome! So glad they asked about this project! They even voted to present/share them with the class. Awesome!
There was a staff meeting after school. We finished in about an hour, surprisingly! That worked perfectly since one of my friends wanted to have a 'book date' at 4:30. We basically sit around and read together. It's lovely. So I had to book it out of school right away, but I got most of my work done last night after school and this morning. The rest I can do before school tomorrow.
Since it's a new year, I thought I'd share my resolutions with ya'll. They're not exactly New Year Resolutions since they've been goals of mine in December and/or earlier, but they're things I want to focus on...
- Go to bed earlier.
- Get up without pressing the snooze button.
- Drink all the water in my big blue water bottle at school (35oz or so).
- Leave school most days between 5-5:30.
So far drinking water and leaving school have been the more successful of my goals, but each day is another chance, so I'll just keep trying!
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
First Day Back
Whew, I was not ready to come back to school after this break, but then again, I don't know that I've ever had a 'long enough' Christmas break. The kids were pretty good today actually. They were a little chatty, but that's normal after a long weekend let alone a long break.
I completely forgot it was Wednesday today, therefore Chapel. It was almost 8:30 when Mr. E said that chapel would be over here at school since it was cold out. My first thoughts: Why are we having chapel today? Ohhhh, wait... So my kiddos had to hustle to set everything up in the gym.
Joe is glad to be back at school. He hasn't moved around a lot today, but he usually pouts for a while after having to ride in a car. I have a jug I fill with warm water to put in his 'travel' tank (a rubbermaid tub) to keep him warm without his heat lamp. But still, the cold weather might have put him in hibernation mode.
Before break I made my kids a deal that I'd finish reading their NaNos over break. If not, I owed each of them 100 tokens. I had the best of intentions! But I procrastinated reading them until New Year's Eve during the day. I had five left last night and read two more over breakfast. Then I read another two before school (miracle of miracles, no one came in to talk to me before school!). I got the last one started, but didn't have it finished by the time the morning bell rang. So at Writers Workshop time, I asked my students for an extension since I'm usually so generous with their late work. They agreed that if I could read the last one by the end of the day, I wouldn't have to give them tokens. I was lucky today was a PE day so I had time to finish it! Still, I gave them each 20 tokens since I hadn't officially met my original goal.
I completely forgot it was Wednesday today, therefore Chapel. It was almost 8:30 when Mr. E said that chapel would be over here at school since it was cold out. My first thoughts: Why are we having chapel today? Ohhhh, wait... So my kiddos had to hustle to set everything up in the gym.
Joe is glad to be back at school. He hasn't moved around a lot today, but he usually pouts for a while after having to ride in a car. I have a jug I fill with warm water to put in his 'travel' tank (a rubbermaid tub) to keep him warm without his heat lamp. But still, the cold weather might have put him in hibernation mode.
Before break I made my kids a deal that I'd finish reading their NaNos over break. If not, I owed each of them 100 tokens. I had the best of intentions! But I procrastinated reading them until New Year's Eve during the day. I had five left last night and read two more over breakfast. Then I read another two before school (miracle of miracles, no one came in to talk to me before school!). I got the last one started, but didn't have it finished by the time the morning bell rang. So at Writers Workshop time, I asked my students for an extension since I'm usually so generous with their late work. They agreed that if I could read the last one by the end of the day, I wouldn't have to give them tokens. I was lucky today was a PE day so I had time to finish it! Still, I gave them each 20 tokens since I hadn't officially met my original goal.
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