#3- Chew gum

Today was a day of sharing... some kids forgot to bring gum, while others brought a whole pack. It was nice to see the 'whole pack' kids giving gum to their forgetful classmates!

It was so nice out today that we read aloud outside again. It worked mostly okay. My voice is still pretty weak and it was hard to hear me in all areas of the playground. The kids were supposed to move so they could hear me, but some of them didn't. They got a little squirrely, playing on the playground equipment while 'listening' to me read. I made some of them sit closer to me when I caught them not paying attention.

We read thirty pages today. There's about 100 pages left. That means we need to read 50 pages tomorrow and Friday to finish our book on time. I think I can skip a bunch of the parts coming up, so we might be able to make it. I know I've said it before, but I still can't believe the last day of school is the day after tomorrow!

Today was a bit of a bummer. I gave the 7-8th graders my end of the year teacher survey I normally give. The trip itineraries they've been doing for each continent? The project I thought was so great and full of authentic learning that is useful in life, etc. etc.? Yeah, they told me they feel like they haven't learned anything by doing them. They were like 'what is the point of doing them?' Sigh. I wish they would've said that months ago! We could've switched back to the other type of project I had geography students do prior to this year.

I still think the trip project is a good one. The right kids will learn a ton by creating an itinerary. But I understand that some students aren't going to get much out of it if all they do is visit aquariums and zoos. My thoughts now are to give kids the choice if they want to plan a trip or do a project on a topic for each continent. If they pick the trip, they'll need to include specific kinds of tourist places: some relating to geography, history, government, etc. That might make them learn a little more.

It's too bad the 5-6th graders ended our science unit on a frustrating lab. They voted to do MN history tomorrow instead of science. Less work for me! Now I don't have to set a lab up. But it makes me a little sad they aren't loving this type of science. There are a few cool labs we never got to do! Maybe next time, we should make a voltaic battery as a class experiment to keep up morale.