I'm super excited for geography...
Two years ago, when I last taught this subject, I had a guest speaker for each continent (except Oceania...time slipped away from me for that continent). Most of my speakers were friends/schoolmates who'd studied abroad. Now all those people have gotten jobs/moved away, and even if they could come, it's been a while since they've been to those places, so the stories and information is not fresh.
Mrs. E has been working on getting a piano teacher to replace Miss N. She contacted MLC to find out if they had a teacher/music student who'd be interested in teaching our kiddos... and she found one! Since she had such good luck with that, I thought I'd give it a try.
This morning I emailed both MLC and BLC's study abroad coordinators to see if they could recommend guest speakers and I heard back from MLC within a few hours! The coordinator gave me a list of countries they have represented and it sounds like I'll have all the continents covered except Oceania. But that continent is last on the list, so I have time to check around. And maybe BLC will have someone to fit the bill. Our first speaker will actually be two people, one from Canada and the other from St. Luci (an island in the Bahamas). Woo! I can't wait! The best part is, this lady will coordinate between the students, so I don't have to scramble!
Volleyball update: our B team won the match (2-1) and our A team lost the match by two points in overtime (1-2).
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Straws on the Ground
For some reason, lunch took quite a long time to serve today. We had hamburgers and fries, so I'm not sure what the holdup was... maybe putting stuff on the burgers? Anyway, we were in line way early with many 3rd and 4th graders in front of us. A lot of them had straws to drink their milk with. The only bad thing was they were skittering around so much they kept dropping their straws on the dirty floor! And then picked them up! And kept them to use still! Gross.
We did our first day of Work on Writing (with Daily 5). They were actually really excited about using the prompt pails. We didn't have nearly enough time to write, but now they have ideas about what to write tomorrow. Some wanted to share their writing already, so I'll set aside class time tomorrow for sharing. We haven't done Writing Workshop yet... I'm still a bit shaky on how I want to run it/what I want to teach with it in my classroom, so I'm a bit scared to start this year. I suppose I should just dive right in and make changes as we go along. I should re-read the book that goes along with it. It's been in my teacher bag for weeks; I just haven't pulled it out to look at it.
Our first soccer and volleyball games are today. I wanted to watch part of the soccer game... and it sounds like halftime is over... so I'd best get out to the field. It's right outside my classroom now so I can kind of hear what's going on. After that is B squad volleyball followed by A squad. Then probably more teacher work...
We did our first day of Work on Writing (with Daily 5). They were actually really excited about using the prompt pails. We didn't have nearly enough time to write, but now they have ideas about what to write tomorrow. Some wanted to share their writing already, so I'll set aside class time tomorrow for sharing. We haven't done Writing Workshop yet... I'm still a bit shaky on how I want to run it/what I want to teach with it in my classroom, so I'm a bit scared to start this year. I suppose I should just dive right in and make changes as we go along. I should re-read the book that goes along with it. It's been in my teacher bag for weeks; I just haven't pulled it out to look at it.
Our first soccer and volleyball games are today. I wanted to watch part of the soccer game... and it sounds like halftime is over... so I'd best get out to the field. It's right outside my classroom now so I can kind of hear what's going on. After that is B squad volleyball followed by A squad. Then probably more teacher work...
Monday, September 12, 2016
Long Day
Today was good. Long, but good.
I taught my kiddos about the periodic table of elements in Chemistry class today. Some were so excited, they wanted me to give them a copy of the table of elements so they could take it home and hang it on their walls. We've been talking about atoms and matter, not to mention protons, neutrons, and electrons. I think they're getting it for the most part.
We got on the topic of DNA in religion this morning. This year is all about Bible history, so we're starting at Genesis and working our way through the bible. Thus, the topic of who Adam and Eve's kids married came up. And since they thought it was gross brothers married sisters, we had to talk about why it wasn't bad to do that back then and why nowadays it's not such a good idea. Of course they wanted to learn more about DNA, but they'll have to wait until they get to 7th and 8th grade. That's actually what the 7th and 8th graders will learn about next week!
After school, I skipped volleyball practice and went to our staff meeting instead. It was supposed to be a short meeting, but it ended up getting over at about 4:40pm. And as usual, my to-do list grew exponentially after the meeting. Got some of the things done after the meeting, but by that point, my motivation decided to call it a day, so I'll have to do more of those things later this week. It's going to be a busy one!
Soccer and volleyball games tomorrow, PTL meeting on Wednesday, Friday my sisters are coming up to see Theater Physics at Bethany that evening, and Saturday my cousin is getting married!
This past weekend's volleyball tournament went well, though I actually didn't get to play in the actual tournament. The morning's games were all played to determine ranking for the tournament bracket. By the time we'd played each of the teams once (we only lost one of five games), I had to leave to get ready for Miss N's wedding. I found out our team took first place in the tournament. Kind of a bummer I didn't get to stay for it, but the wedding was fun, so that makes up for it! My farmer and I actually ran into quite a few people we knew... he saw more people he knew than I did! The same was true at the Clay County Fair the next day... all sorts of people we knew were there... relatives, friends, people from college days... it's a small world after all!
I taught my kiddos about the periodic table of elements in Chemistry class today. Some were so excited, they wanted me to give them a copy of the table of elements so they could take it home and hang it on their walls. We've been talking about atoms and matter, not to mention protons, neutrons, and electrons. I think they're getting it for the most part.
We got on the topic of DNA in religion this morning. This year is all about Bible history, so we're starting at Genesis and working our way through the bible. Thus, the topic of who Adam and Eve's kids married came up. And since they thought it was gross brothers married sisters, we had to talk about why it wasn't bad to do that back then and why nowadays it's not such a good idea. Of course they wanted to learn more about DNA, but they'll have to wait until they get to 7th and 8th grade. That's actually what the 7th and 8th graders will learn about next week!
After school, I skipped volleyball practice and went to our staff meeting instead. It was supposed to be a short meeting, but it ended up getting over at about 4:40pm. And as usual, my to-do list grew exponentially after the meeting. Got some of the things done after the meeting, but by that point, my motivation decided to call it a day, so I'll have to do more of those things later this week. It's going to be a busy one!
Soccer and volleyball games tomorrow, PTL meeting on Wednesday, Friday my sisters are coming up to see Theater Physics at Bethany that evening, and Saturday my cousin is getting married!
This past weekend's volleyball tournament went well, though I actually didn't get to play in the actual tournament. The morning's games were all played to determine ranking for the tournament bracket. By the time we'd played each of the teams once (we only lost one of five games), I had to leave to get ready for Miss N's wedding. I found out our team took first place in the tournament. Kind of a bummer I didn't get to stay for it, but the wedding was fun, so that makes up for it! My farmer and I actually ran into quite a few people we knew... he saw more people he knew than I did! The same was true at the Clay County Fair the next day... all sorts of people we knew were there... relatives, friends, people from college days... it's a small world after all!
Friday, September 9, 2016
Tic Tac Toe Relays
Woohoo! First Friday of the year! We made it through the first week of school! Not that I had any doubts of course, but it's still fun to celebrate.
My class has started settling into our routine. The 6th graders remember a lot from last year and the 5th graders are picking things up fast. Everyone said memory work on time, everyone turned their spelling in on time, and everyone turned in handwriting on time. Excellent. Even the 7th and 8th graders had everything done on time. I hope we can keep it up!
I remembered a funny story from volleyball practice yesterday... one little girl came up to me (4th grade) and said her chest hurt when she bumped the ball. I had her stretch and go back to the drill, but a few minutes later she came back and said it still hurt. Well, send her home or keep her playing? She didn't want to go home, just wanted to sit on the bleachers. After a while, I stopped back over to see if she wanted to play again, but no, she wanted to keep sitting. She still didn't want to call her mom, which I kind of thought was weird. I mean, she's at practice to practice, right? So why be bored watching when you could go home?
I figured her back was probably just out of alignment and once it was popped back into place, she'd be all right. But messing with backs is tricky business, one I don't feel comfortable doing, so I told the girl if her chest still hurt when she got home, she should tell her mom. She didn't want to do that either (her mom is a nurse).
Then she asked a question that put all the pieces together... "Miss H, can you have surgery on your chest?" When I answered affirmatively, her eyes got big and worried. "But don't worry, you're too young; most of the people who need surgery are older." She was still worried. And didn't want to tell her mom about her chest hurting. "I don't want to tell my mom! She'll make me have surgery!"
Aha... light bulb! "You don't need surgery, your back is just a little bunched up. It needs to get popped back into place." And then came an explanation of chiropractors and spines, etc. and after that she was a little calmer. Today she stopped me in the hallway to say her mom popped her back last night and she's all better. Whew!
At the end of the day today we did an all-school activity. First we signed yearbooks, then we played relays, then we ate Popsicles, and then we played Gaga Ball (it was dry enough, yay!). Mr. D lead one of the relays... use a flyswatter to swat a balloon past the black line and back to your team. Mine was a bit more complicated. It's called the "tic tac toe relay" and you play it with hula hoops and scarves for a tic tac toe board. Here's a video:
My class has started settling into our routine. The 6th graders remember a lot from last year and the 5th graders are picking things up fast. Everyone said memory work on time, everyone turned their spelling in on time, and everyone turned in handwriting on time. Excellent. Even the 7th and 8th graders had everything done on time. I hope we can keep it up!
I remembered a funny story from volleyball practice yesterday... one little girl came up to me (4th grade) and said her chest hurt when she bumped the ball. I had her stretch and go back to the drill, but a few minutes later she came back and said it still hurt. Well, send her home or keep her playing? She didn't want to go home, just wanted to sit on the bleachers. After a while, I stopped back over to see if she wanted to play again, but no, she wanted to keep sitting. She still didn't want to call her mom, which I kind of thought was weird. I mean, she's at practice to practice, right? So why be bored watching when you could go home?
I figured her back was probably just out of alignment and once it was popped back into place, she'd be all right. But messing with backs is tricky business, one I don't feel comfortable doing, so I told the girl if her chest still hurt when she got home, she should tell her mom. She didn't want to do that either (her mom is a nurse).
Then she asked a question that put all the pieces together... "Miss H, can you have surgery on your chest?" When I answered affirmatively, her eyes got big and worried. "But don't worry, you're too young; most of the people who need surgery are older." She was still worried. And didn't want to tell her mom about her chest hurting. "I don't want to tell my mom! She'll make me have surgery!"
Aha... light bulb! "You don't need surgery, your back is just a little bunched up. It needs to get popped back into place." And then came an explanation of chiropractors and spines, etc. and after that she was a little calmer. Today she stopped me in the hallway to say her mom popped her back last night and she's all better. Whew!
At the end of the day today we did an all-school activity. First we signed yearbooks, then we played relays, then we ate Popsicles, and then we played Gaga Ball (it was dry enough, yay!). Mr. D lead one of the relays... use a flyswatter to swat a balloon past the black line and back to your team. Mine was a bit more complicated. It's called the "tic tac toe relay" and you play it with hula hoops and scarves for a tic tac toe board. Here's a video:
We set up two hula hoop "boards" in the middle of the gym so four teams could play at once (two games at a time). They had a blast! There were quite a few kids per team, so not everyone got to put a scarf down each time, but we played more than once so everyone at least got a few turns. When they weren't running, they were cheering on their teammates. There's definitely some strategy involved in addition to speed!
Well, I suppose it's time to close for the week. I still have a few things to do before I make my library run for the week. Tonight my plan is to get my lessons ready for next week and bake cookies. Tomorrow late morning/early afternoon is our sand volleyball tournament. I'm supposed to bring dessert for our team. I might make brownies tomorrow morning too. We'll see. Then Saturday afternoon, my farmer and I will go to Miss N's wedding. Sunday our plan is to go to his parent's early church service before heading to the Clay County Fair. Boy this weekend is busy!
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Gaga Ball
Last year, the Student Council made it their mission to get a Gaga Ball pit for our school. We learned about it from Camp Omega and my class fell in love from the first game. They fund-raised and found volunteers to build it for our school, but alas, things did not fall together to have it in place before the end of school last year. Over the summer, we put it together outside school kind of in the area by the prairie garden and the soccer field.
But with all the traffic along our road, people in the congregation/community/school have said we should not and cannot have kids playing so close to the road. So how can we use our new Gaga ball court if we're not allowed to be over there? The wooden outside and metal brackets make it too heavy for people to move...
The answer: get two guys with massive Bobcats come after school and move it. They came after the first day of school (was that really only three days ago???) and stuck it by the kickball diamond (where we also moved our soccer field). My kiddos used it for the first time this afternoon. A surprising number of them didn't know how to play... but the rest quickly remedied that situation. By the end of recess, the whole class (including me) was playing. Mr. E even stopped by to watch for a while. We'll teach the rest of the school how to play tomorrow afternoon as part of our all-school activity. Hopefully it won't rain!
But with all the traffic along our road, people in the congregation/community/school have said we should not and cannot have kids playing so close to the road. So how can we use our new Gaga ball court if we're not allowed to be over there? The wooden outside and metal brackets make it too heavy for people to move...
The answer: get two guys with massive Bobcats come after school and move it. They came after the first day of school (was that really only three days ago???) and stuck it by the kickball diamond (where we also moved our soccer field). My kiddos used it for the first time this afternoon. A surprising number of them didn't know how to play... but the rest quickly remedied that situation. By the end of recess, the whole class (including me) was playing. Mr. E even stopped by to watch for a while. We'll teach the rest of the school how to play tomorrow afternoon as part of our all-school activity. Hopefully it won't rain!
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Chirping Little Frog
Another rainy day... it brings the frogs out! I went in the outside door of my classroom when I got to school, and as I opened the door through the dripping rain, out popped a little green frog! And by green, I mean super bright green, the greenest frog I've ever seen. It was about the size of a quarter!
A little blurry, but you can still see the little guy.
We heard his (or some other frog's) chirruping the rest of the day... it sounded like our air conditioner was squeaking, but we're pretty sure it was a frog...
The rest of the day went fairly normal. We finally got our tomatoes and our tomato labs are underway. Speaking of which, I need to clean off the lab table from that... some of our cut tomatoes got a little juicy and with volleyball practice after school I didn't have a chance earlier to clean up. Well, I had some time while Mr. E taught my class PE, but I was distracted by the Scholastic book order that arrived. Five new chapter books and four new picture books! Woohoo! Books galore! I haven't read any of the chapter books, but they're all on my to-read list, so they might come home with me before I add them to our library. Besides, the kids just picked their books to read, so they probably won't need to pick another one anytime soon. Right?
After school we had our first volleyball practice. It went very well. Many of the girls went to volleyball camps over the summer (and practiced with their parents too), so we are much improved from last year. Another parent volunteered to coach the A squad, a job I am more than happy to let her take, so my coaching role is more of the organizing and directing variety than actual skill teaching.
After volleyball, we teachers went over to church for the Ice Cream Social, a fundraiser meal our church puts on. When I first heard about it my first year of teaching, I thought it was a chance for the congregation to meet the teachers and feed them ice cream. Nope. It's a full-on meal with freewill donation. So I had supper at 4:30pm, much earlier than my usual supper meal. But eating so early means I have lots of time to work at school without getting hungry...
So far I'm not doing so well on my "leave school between 5-5:30" goal. Eventually, when volleyball season is over, I will hopefully do better. Until then, it's going to be kinda tough to get out of here when practice ends at 4:15.
Sand volleyball last night went well, playing wise. It did not rain for most of our games, and at the end it only sprinkled a little. But the mosquitoes though! Ugh. They were terrible. I put bug spray on three times and I still got bit up! We did win both matches. Only lost one game each match. We should be ranked pretty high for the tournament this weekend.
A little blurry, but you can still see the little guy.
We heard his (or some other frog's) chirruping the rest of the day... it sounded like our air conditioner was squeaking, but we're pretty sure it was a frog...
The rest of the day went fairly normal. We finally got our tomatoes and our tomato labs are underway. Speaking of which, I need to clean off the lab table from that... some of our cut tomatoes got a little juicy and with volleyball practice after school I didn't have a chance earlier to clean up. Well, I had some time while Mr. E taught my class PE, but I was distracted by the Scholastic book order that arrived. Five new chapter books and four new picture books! Woohoo! Books galore! I haven't read any of the chapter books, but they're all on my to-read list, so they might come home with me before I add them to our library. Besides, the kids just picked their books to read, so they probably won't need to pick another one anytime soon. Right?
After school we had our first volleyball practice. It went very well. Many of the girls went to volleyball camps over the summer (and practiced with their parents too), so we are much improved from last year. Another parent volunteered to coach the A squad, a job I am more than happy to let her take, so my coaching role is more of the organizing and directing variety than actual skill teaching.
After volleyball, we teachers went over to church for the Ice Cream Social, a fundraiser meal our church puts on. When I first heard about it my first year of teaching, I thought it was a chance for the congregation to meet the teachers and feed them ice cream. Nope. It's a full-on meal with freewill donation. So I had supper at 4:30pm, much earlier than my usual supper meal. But eating so early means I have lots of time to work at school without getting hungry...
So far I'm not doing so well on my "leave school between 5-5:30" goal. Eventually, when volleyball season is over, I will hopefully do better. Until then, it's going to be kinda tough to get out of here when practice ends at 4:15.
Sand volleyball last night went well, playing wise. It did not rain for most of our games, and at the end it only sprinkled a little. But the mosquitoes though! Ugh. They were terrible. I put bug spray on three times and I still got bit up! We did win both matches. Only lost one game each match. We should be ranked pretty high for the tournament this weekend.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Contact Lens
Survived the first day of school! It rained/thundered pretty much all day, but it still stayed hot and humid. My air conditioner was no match for the sweaty bodies occupying my room even though I turned it on almost right away in the morning.
One of my students is on vacation the whole first week. I knew about it before they left, so she has some of her assignments, but there's a lot crammed into the first week of school! We got most of my to-do list for today accomplished, but not everything. Going over the all-school rules took longer than anticipated and we also did an unplanned religion lesson. But those are good things to do too and there's plenty of time in the school year, so life goes on.
My tomatoes never arrived at school today... a parent was supposed to have dropped them off over the weekend, but she forgot. Thankfully, we had another activity to do, so the tomato lab has been pushed off until tomorrow.
The worst part of the day was in the afternoon when my contact somehow got out of whack... as in, it got stuck behind my eye. It's happened before and I just have to wait it out. Eventually things will right themselves. This time took forever though! I was walking around the room with one eye opened and one eye closed. Of course my kiddos noticed, how could you not? I felt kinda like a pirate. But I was back to normal before the school day ended.
Tonight I have my last two sand volleyball games of the year (aside from the tournament this weekend). They are rescheduled games from one of the weeks we got rained out... though I was wondering with all the rain earlier today if they'd be cancelled again! I think the rain has stopped for now, so we're still on as far as I know.
One of my students is on vacation the whole first week. I knew about it before they left, so she has some of her assignments, but there's a lot crammed into the first week of school! We got most of my to-do list for today accomplished, but not everything. Going over the all-school rules took longer than anticipated and we also did an unplanned religion lesson. But those are good things to do too and there's plenty of time in the school year, so life goes on.
My tomatoes never arrived at school today... a parent was supposed to have dropped them off over the weekend, but she forgot. Thankfully, we had another activity to do, so the tomato lab has been pushed off until tomorrow.
The worst part of the day was in the afternoon when my contact somehow got out of whack... as in, it got stuck behind my eye. It's happened before and I just have to wait it out. Eventually things will right themselves. This time took forever though! I was walking around the room with one eye opened and one eye closed. Of course my kiddos noticed, how could you not? I felt kinda like a pirate. But I was back to normal before the school day ended.
Tonight I have my last two sand volleyball games of the year (aside from the tournament this weekend). They are rescheduled games from one of the weeks we got rained out... though I was wondering with all the rain earlier today if they'd be cancelled again! I think the rain has stopped for now, so we're still on as far as I know.
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