First Day of Year 10!

Can you believe this is my 10th year teaching? Neither can I. 

Today was a fabulous first day. My kiddos were great; it hardly felt like teaching. I have a feeling we're going to learn a ton this year. 

One student was particularly nervous about starting school this year. She hasn't been in school since third grade (medical reasons and homeschooling from covid), so it's understandable. She and I came up with a way for her to take a break if she needs to (setting a special pen on top of her desk, and adding a popsicle stick if I need to check on her/she wants to call her mom). But she fit right back in today, no problems. I didn't notice any anxious behavior from her at all throughout the day and the pen stayed in the desk. Woohoo! Hopefully that trend continues. 

My kids got most excited over plants. I bought a kiddie pool from Walmart for $3.50 to fill with potting soil. First we went on a rock finding mission to put in the bottom of the pool to create space for the water/roots of the plants. My idea was that we'd split the pool into sections, one for each student to grow whatever he/she wants to grow. They loved that idea and began coming up with things they want to grow. Two kids decided to join forces and combine plots; they're going to grow potatoes. 

I had other containers/dirt in the storage shed, so we took a field trip to bring back more supplies. We found a mushroom growing on the bag of potting soil...

I brought it back to the classroom for further inspection. "Don't touch it Miss H! What if it's poisonous! ...You better wash your hands, just in case." This prompted a 20 minute exploration of mushrooms and whether or not they can kill you just by touching. We learned that only 1% of mushrooms are fatal, and only one of the poisonous mushrooms kills you via skin contact (it grows in Australia... Poison Fire Coral Mushroom), plus a whole bunch of other stuff. Now one kid wants to attempt growing mushrooms. Their homework tonight was to look through their cupboards at home for things we could grow at school (sprouting onions or potatoes, carrots, etc.) or do research about what it takes to germinate other seeds. We'll see what they find out!