Hello,
There was a lot of excitement today. I didn't give them any homework. I don't think the excitement was school related. I hope they have a great night tonight. Please don't send them in with mounds of candy unless they are donating it to our Sweets for Soldiers program. Ms. Smith, fourth grade teacher, got Coffin School involved with this program last year. Any unwanted or excess candy can be brought in and will be sent to our overseas troops. I think it is a great idea and am glad she shared it with us. A orange note went home with the details.
During writing time, we focused on what makes a story scary. The class came up with: suspense, a problem, stretching out the scary parts, strange noises, paranormal activity and caring about the characters. They practically ran back to their desks to start their stories. Most of them were including their classmates in their stories. We only had time to share brief plot lines. I'm hoping some will get read aloud as they get finished later on in the week.
Spelling words are back! After a hiatus, our Sitton Spelling Program is back. Students have ten words written in their assignment books that they will be tested on at the end of the week.
I just got an email letting us know that fourth graders will not be receiving letter grades until the end of the second quarter. We have new report cards and now we need to make grades consistent across grade levels. An A in my class has to mean the same as an A in another fourth grade class. The first quarter report card will have 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s on specific skills to indicate whether or not a child is proficient in those skills. All teachers will grade the exact same skills. If a teacher has covered a skill that others in the grade have not, they are not allowed to fill in a ranking for that skill. Every teacher at every grade level must fill in grades for the same skills. We can talk about this during conferences. I'll be sending out possible times this week.
Happy Halloween.
Mr. Shea
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Really late
Hello,
Sorry so late. The big event of the day happened when we were sorting cuisenaire rods (colored blocks). This turned into a real learning experience. One person did things differently and was not treated very well by their classmates. I felt like the task was a good reflection of most workplaces: there was a common goal, but many people had different ideas on how to get there. We need to use our words to communicate our ideas before things escalate out of control. There was a bit of escalation today.
We finished The City of Ember. It is a fantastic book. Ask your child about the ending, and why they are or aren't interested in the sequel.
I have been spending half the night sending apology emails to people who sent me emails earlier in the year that I never received. I discovered a junk mailbox file this morning while trying to change my email settings. I had over 20 emails in my junk box, and many of them were not junk. I immediately notified the principal who then emailed the staff that we have a third folder that incoming emails can go into. It is upsetting, and at the same time, ridiculous. Three of the emails were from my home address. I would send myself a link to my school email so I could use it on the interactive board, but then think that I had to wait for the blocked email update before I could get it. By the time the updates came, I would forget what I had sent. Now I know where they went. AAAUUUGGH!
Picture day tomorrow. Harry Potter Club is staying after school. Ms. Thayer and I are putting together a memo for an upcoming Chess Club. Details coming soon.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Sorry so late. The big event of the day happened when we were sorting cuisenaire rods (colored blocks). This turned into a real learning experience. One person did things differently and was not treated very well by their classmates. I felt like the task was a good reflection of most workplaces: there was a common goal, but many people had different ideas on how to get there. We need to use our words to communicate our ideas before things escalate out of control. There was a bit of escalation today.
We finished The City of Ember. It is a fantastic book. Ask your child about the ending, and why they are or aren't interested in the sequel.
I have been spending half the night sending apology emails to people who sent me emails earlier in the year that I never received. I discovered a junk mailbox file this morning while trying to change my email settings. I had over 20 emails in my junk box, and many of them were not junk. I immediately notified the principal who then emailed the staff that we have a third folder that incoming emails can go into. It is upsetting, and at the same time, ridiculous. Three of the emails were from my home address. I would send myself a link to my school email so I could use it on the interactive board, but then think that I had to wait for the blocked email update before I could get it. By the time the updates came, I would forget what I had sent. Now I know where they went. AAAUUUGGH!
Picture day tomorrow. Harry Potter Club is staying after school. Ms. Thayer and I are putting together a memo for an upcoming Chess Club. Details coming soon.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Good day
Hello,
I think we had one of our better days. We wrote some very entertaining book commercials. Students were trying to "sell" their favorite picture books. We heard some very energetic rants about how terrific some books were. It was very funny and we had some great energy in the classroom.
I think some of that energy came out of another successful Harry Potter Club meeting. The club decided to have to say a password to be granted entry to the classroom during meetings. I can't tell you what the password is, but I can tell you that you'd never guess it in a million years. The club discussed our after school meeting on Friday. Twenty-one members have already turned in signed permission slips to stay after to create Hogwarts banners. I am providing juice, fruit, and crackers, and two students have volunteered to make some special treats from the Harry Potter cookbook.
My math class is rolling along with multiplication. I am excited about how far this group should be able to go. We have a great energy in the class. Some may say a little rambunctious, but I say, "Give me the energy, I'll channel it." We were joined by Pete from Bowdoin College. He will be helping out once or twice a week.
In our continuing study of parts of speech, we took on the verb, be. We focused on am, is and are. These come very natural to a classroom of talkers. Tonight's homework is about past tense. I didn't get much of a chance to introduce the homework, (3:25 snuck up on me again), but I don't think it is too difficult. Either way, we'll go over it tomorrow.
I introduced our rocks and minerals unit. Full speed ahead tomorrow.
All for now. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
I think we had one of our better days. We wrote some very entertaining book commercials. Students were trying to "sell" their favorite picture books. We heard some very energetic rants about how terrific some books were. It was very funny and we had some great energy in the classroom.
I think some of that energy came out of another successful Harry Potter Club meeting. The club decided to have to say a password to be granted entry to the classroom during meetings. I can't tell you what the password is, but I can tell you that you'd never guess it in a million years. The club discussed our after school meeting on Friday. Twenty-one members have already turned in signed permission slips to stay after to create Hogwarts banners. I am providing juice, fruit, and crackers, and two students have volunteered to make some special treats from the Harry Potter cookbook.
My math class is rolling along with multiplication. I am excited about how far this group should be able to go. We have a great energy in the class. Some may say a little rambunctious, but I say, "Give me the energy, I'll channel it." We were joined by Pete from Bowdoin College. He will be helping out once or twice a week.
In our continuing study of parts of speech, we took on the verb, be. We focused on am, is and are. These come very natural to a classroom of talkers. Tonight's homework is about past tense. I didn't get much of a chance to introduce the homework, (3:25 snuck up on me again), but I don't think it is too difficult. Either way, we'll go over it tomorrow.
I introduced our rocks and minerals unit. Full speed ahead tomorrow.
All for now. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Let's go back to rewards
Hello,
Reading log participation was underwhelming. Everyone who passed in a reading log on time and fulfilled the minimum requirements (20 min per night for five nights) is getting some potting soil, a pot, and seeds. They will get to grow some vegetables or flowers on their desk. And hopefully motivate some others in the process. I made this announcement this afternoon and immediately two more reading logs were found. Thirteen is not an impressive total. I'm not a huge proponent of getting kids to read based on rewards, but at this point I've got to get them reading and will do whatever it takes.
We are nearing the end of The City of Ember, our class read aloud. Doon and Lina are trying to find a way out of the city. It is exciting and most of the class isn't happy when I stop reading. Ask your child to make a prediction or two on what they think will happen or what they would like to see happen. I have multiple copies of the sequel. I'm hoping for a lot of interest.
Picture notices went home last night. Picture day is Friday. I'll try not to make them cry before our picture time. That was supposed to be a joke. Probably not a good one. Let me know if you need a new notice. It looks like three students haven't emptied their mailboxes this week. The packages aren't cheap, but I heard that the school gets a cut. I think that's a bright side.
A bunch of book order forms went home. Our online code is J36TM if you would like to order online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Thank you to those of you ordering books. They make great gifts as well. If you want a book to be a secret, let me know and I'll hold it back when it comes in.
Many students completed a poster-sized map today. We are winding down map skills and should start Rocks and Minerals tomorrow or Thursday. We will finish up our geography unit tomorrow playing around with google earth. We talked about the international date line today. Ask your child if they can go back in time. Hopefully it will jog their memory to talk about the bizarre phenomenon of crossing the date line.
Have a good night,
Mr. Shea
Reading log participation was underwhelming. Everyone who passed in a reading log on time and fulfilled the minimum requirements (20 min per night for five nights) is getting some potting soil, a pot, and seeds. They will get to grow some vegetables or flowers on their desk. And hopefully motivate some others in the process. I made this announcement this afternoon and immediately two more reading logs were found. Thirteen is not an impressive total. I'm not a huge proponent of getting kids to read based on rewards, but at this point I've got to get them reading and will do whatever it takes.
We are nearing the end of The City of Ember, our class read aloud. Doon and Lina are trying to find a way out of the city. It is exciting and most of the class isn't happy when I stop reading. Ask your child to make a prediction or two on what they think will happen or what they would like to see happen. I have multiple copies of the sequel. I'm hoping for a lot of interest.
Picture notices went home last night. Picture day is Friday. I'll try not to make them cry before our picture time. That was supposed to be a joke. Probably not a good one. Let me know if you need a new notice. It looks like three students haven't emptied their mailboxes this week. The packages aren't cheap, but I heard that the school gets a cut. I think that's a bright side.
A bunch of book order forms went home. Our online code is J36TM if you would like to order online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Thank you to those of you ordering books. They make great gifts as well. If you want a book to be a secret, let me know and I'll hold it back when it comes in.
Many students completed a poster-sized map today. We are winding down map skills and should start Rocks and Minerals tomorrow or Thursday. We will finish up our geography unit tomorrow playing around with google earth. We talked about the international date line today. Ask your child if they can go back in time. Hopefully it will jog their memory to talk about the bizarre phenomenon of crossing the date line.
Have a good night,
Mr. Shea
Monday, October 24, 2011
Multiplication
Hello,
I was pleased with the last math quiz on addition, subtraction, place value and rounding, so we are moving ahead to multiplication a week earlier than I had planned. The math time has become the brightest spot of the day recently. The class is energetic and ready to think. The weekly challenge this week is to plan out the menu for a weekend getaway at Moosehead Lake. Students have Shaw's Supermarket circulars and a pretend $250 gift card. Unfortunately for them, they also have to write out the receipt. They were excited to get to work on it when they left this afternoon, but it is a lot of work so I hope they get started before Thursday night.
We had a fire alarm with bus evacuation drill this morning. Students boarded buses as they would if we had an actual emergency that required them to be taken offsite. Today the buses never left the parking lot, but the bus drivers discussed various emergency procedures with them.
In art, the class started a mini unit on Monet. They painted today and I hear they will be using clay next week. The class started the year doing artwork in the style of Van Gogh. This is my first year sending kids to Ms. Moll, but she seems to be getting them to do some excellent work.
In our parts of speech review, we watched a little School House Rock. Nouns and verbs should be a breeze by fourth grade, so we should fly through those. We will spend more time on the adjectives and adverbs this year.
Islands are mostly graded. I was disappointed not to get to more today. It involves a one-on-one conversation with the island creator, so I can ask questions like, "Which way does the river flow?" Unfortunately the class wasn't overly cooperative in giving me that one-on-one time with their classmates. I would definitely put TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY as one of our class goals. I don't like to be a taskmaster.
The total count for picture books read last week is still a big question mark. Many logs were left at home. Let's get those in tomorrow!
Have a good night.
Steve
I was pleased with the last math quiz on addition, subtraction, place value and rounding, so we are moving ahead to multiplication a week earlier than I had planned. The math time has become the brightest spot of the day recently. The class is energetic and ready to think. The weekly challenge this week is to plan out the menu for a weekend getaway at Moosehead Lake. Students have Shaw's Supermarket circulars and a pretend $250 gift card. Unfortunately for them, they also have to write out the receipt. They were excited to get to work on it when they left this afternoon, but it is a lot of work so I hope they get started before Thursday night.
We had a fire alarm with bus evacuation drill this morning. Students boarded buses as they would if we had an actual emergency that required them to be taken offsite. Today the buses never left the parking lot, but the bus drivers discussed various emergency procedures with them.
In art, the class started a mini unit on Monet. They painted today and I hear they will be using clay next week. The class started the year doing artwork in the style of Van Gogh. This is my first year sending kids to Ms. Moll, but she seems to be getting them to do some excellent work.
In our parts of speech review, we watched a little School House Rock. Nouns and verbs should be a breeze by fourth grade, so we should fly through those. We will spend more time on the adjectives and adverbs this year.
Islands are mostly graded. I was disappointed not to get to more today. It involves a one-on-one conversation with the island creator, so I can ask questions like, "Which way does the river flow?" Unfortunately the class wasn't overly cooperative in giving me that one-on-one time with their classmates. I would definitely put TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY as one of our class goals. I don't like to be a taskmaster.
The total count for picture books read last week is still a big question mark. Many logs were left at home. Let's get those in tomorrow!
Have a good night.
Steve
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Late
Hello,
I'm really late with this so I'm going to make this quick. We had a math curriculum meeting and it went really well. Then I had to chat with old colleagues that now work at different schools.
We made our play dough islands this afternoon. Thank you to Mr. Davis for coming in and helping out. Thank you to all of you for coming through on the play dough making. We had some extra that children were able to take home. Tomorrow the class will work on their compass roses, keys, symbols and labels. We will be using water color paints. Even though I have a great set of aprons donated by Wild Oats, I still would recommend wearing something that wouldn't break anyone's heart if it turned rainbow colored.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we had a visit by the school counselor, Mrs. Farrand. She came in and talked to us about the dangers of smoking. It went well and the kids were engaged. You might ask them to tell you a bit about it.
Picture book totals are at 364. Other than math, reading is the only thing on tonight's homework docket.
All for now. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
I'm really late with this so I'm going to make this quick. We had a math curriculum meeting and it went really well. Then I had to chat with old colleagues that now work at different schools.
We made our play dough islands this afternoon. Thank you to Mr. Davis for coming in and helping out. Thank you to all of you for coming through on the play dough making. We had some extra that children were able to take home. Tomorrow the class will work on their compass roses, keys, symbols and labels. We will be using water color paints. Even though I have a great set of aprons donated by Wild Oats, I still would recommend wearing something that wouldn't break anyone's heart if it turned rainbow colored.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we had a visit by the school counselor, Mrs. Farrand. She came in and talked to us about the dangers of smoking. It went well and the kids were engaged. You might ask them to tell you a bit about it.
Picture book totals are at 364. Other than math, reading is the only thing on tonight's homework docket.
All for now. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Islands tomorrow
Hello,
We did a little antonym activity. Please ask your child to give you a few examples of antonyms.
Island making is tomorrow. We reviewed the land forms today in a jeopardy like game. Tomorrow is the "test." If they only give me a couple mountains and a volcano, I'll be sorely disappointed. Thank you for those of you who have made play dough or plan on it. I will take some volunteers tomorrow after lunch if anyone would like to come in and help assist with the island making. We should get started around 12:30.
My math class has a quiz tomorrow. Subtraction and rounding will be the meat of the quiz, but I will throw in some addition and place value. A couple questions will feature a number line where they need to estimate where certain numbers would be placed on it. For example I may label the ends of a number line 0 and 100, and then ask them to approximate where 5, 75, and 90 would go. A few are still struggling a little with this, but if they use their strategies and think a bit, they should do well.
Our picture book week continues. We have read 277 books as a class. Our goal of 750 may be tough to do, especially with other pesky homework getting in the way. I still have faith. Achieving difficult goals is a lot more rewarding. Please ask your child about some of the books that they have read.
Hoop night tonight for me. I'll be making play dough with the rest of you after that.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
We did a little antonym activity. Please ask your child to give you a few examples of antonyms.
Island making is tomorrow. We reviewed the land forms today in a jeopardy like game. Tomorrow is the "test." If they only give me a couple mountains and a volcano, I'll be sorely disappointed. Thank you for those of you who have made play dough or plan on it. I will take some volunteers tomorrow after lunch if anyone would like to come in and help assist with the island making. We should get started around 12:30.
My math class has a quiz tomorrow. Subtraction and rounding will be the meat of the quiz, but I will throw in some addition and place value. A couple questions will feature a number line where they need to estimate where certain numbers would be placed on it. For example I may label the ends of a number line 0 and 100, and then ask them to approximate where 5, 75, and 90 would go. A few are still struggling a little with this, but if they use their strategies and think a bit, they should do well.
Our picture book week continues. We have read 277 books as a class. Our goal of 750 may be tough to do, especially with other pesky homework getting in the way. I still have faith. Achieving difficult goals is a lot more rewarding. Please ask your child about some of the books that they have read.
Hoop night tonight for me. I'll be making play dough with the rest of you after that.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The islands are coming!
Hello,
Picture book day two: Many students have caught the fever. They are sharing their favorites and stacking up the on deck books. It is great to see. I am hoping that our discussions will give us a good launching point for our reading for the rest of the year. It is fun to talk about and discuss books with people with differing or shared opinions. We all have our own unique perspective and it is great to hear students say, "Oh, I didn't notice that." or "I thought the same thing!" etc.
We did some map work today. Students paired up with large laminated maps of Maine that we got from AAA. I called out some coordinates like H-16 and students would try to find the town or city in Maine that was located in that section. We looked at the scale, legend and symbols as well. Students then went to their desk and drew an island. Tonight's homework is to think about their play dough island and sketch that out. What kind of symbols or shapes will they plan to use? Working with playdough is a lot different than drawing. They don't have to use tonight's plan as a blueprint, but some may want to go in that direction.
A couple more days before special services kick back in. I know that things should run more smoothly after that. I'll be contacting some of you about volunteer opportunities shortly. Thanks for your patience.
I went to the Parent Group meeting last night where parents were able to voice their concerns to the superintendent. There was a lot of talk about too many rules in the new school, too little communication between teachers and parents, and too strict security at the front. I appreciate that the superintendent faced the fire in an open forum. If you have any concerns about anything at all related to the school, please feel free to email or call me.
Have a great night,
Mr. Shea
Picture book day two: Many students have caught the fever. They are sharing their favorites and stacking up the on deck books. It is great to see. I am hoping that our discussions will give us a good launching point for our reading for the rest of the year. It is fun to talk about and discuss books with people with differing or shared opinions. We all have our own unique perspective and it is great to hear students say, "Oh, I didn't notice that." or "I thought the same thing!" etc.
We did some map work today. Students paired up with large laminated maps of Maine that we got from AAA. I called out some coordinates like H-16 and students would try to find the town or city in Maine that was located in that section. We looked at the scale, legend and symbols as well. Students then went to their desk and drew an island. Tonight's homework is to think about their play dough island and sketch that out. What kind of symbols or shapes will they plan to use? Working with playdough is a lot different than drawing. They don't have to use tonight's plan as a blueprint, but some may want to go in that direction.
A couple more days before special services kick back in. I know that things should run more smoothly after that. I'll be contacting some of you about volunteer opportunities shortly. Thanks for your patience.
I went to the Parent Group meeting last night where parents were able to voice their concerns to the superintendent. There was a lot of talk about too many rules in the new school, too little communication between teachers and parents, and too strict security at the front. I appreciate that the superintendent faced the fire in an open forum. If you have any concerns about anything at all related to the school, please feel free to email or call me.
Have a great night,
Mr. Shea
Monday, October 17, 2011
I can't believe I forgot to give out the play dough recipes.
Hello,
Before I get into our day, I forgot to give out the play dough recipes so here is a cut and paste of the sheet that was supposed to go home tonight:
Dear Parents,
Traditional PlayDough Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups of baking soda
1 and a half cups of water
1 cup of corn starch
Directions:
2 cups of plain flour
2 cups of coloured water
1 Tbsp. of cooking oil
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup of salt
Directions:
Place all of the ingredients in a medium size or large pan. Cook slowly on medium-high and stir it until the playdough thickens. This recipe takes less than 10 minutes.
Okay, sorry about that. I think the kids will revolt if they don't get to make their islands this week. We will spend the next couple of days drawing maps of islands, creating map keys with symbols, talking about scale and reviewing our land forms. We will create our islands of play dough on Thursday and paint them on Friday. These will be graded. Certain land forms will be mandatory, but I'll leave a lot of room for creativity and free choice.
Homework notices went out today. A few students have been inconsistent passing in homework or reading logs. It is a note that needs to be signed. It is my attempt to get them to have a conversation with you about what is and isn't working in their homework rituals. We need to develop some good working habits now, so that future years will be easier.
Picture book week started today. The silent reading time had a terrific buzz of reading. It was definitely the most reading that I have seen during our silent reading time, and I didn't have to redirect anyone on what they were supposed to be doing. I hope we can make a habit of this. Students will be logging picture books read all week. You should have seen two come home in their backpack.
I had two impromptu meetings tonight, otherwise I would have gotten this out sooner. I will make a habit of getting the homework calendar done immediately after school so that it is available more quickly. I have to remind you, however, that this is not to be used by your child as a substitute for writing down their homework assignments in their assignment books. This calendar is for you to know what should be written in your child's assignment book, what they need to do each night and to help on those occasional "oops" nights.
All for now. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Before I get into our day, I forgot to give out the play dough recipes so here is a cut and paste of the sheet that was supposed to go home tonight:
Dear Parents,
We will be making islands in class this week to show off our knowledge of landforms. I am hoping that some of you will be able to donate your time and effort (and some household supplies) to provide our class with the necessary playdough. I am providing you with two different recipes. They both have their merits. Thank you for providing our class with a batch or two. Don’t worry about adding color. We will be painting our finished products. You may send your dough to school in Ziploc bags starting on Tuesday. We will begin our island making on Thursday.
Thanks in advance. I know it is a bit of a pain. I’ll be making some too.
Mr. Shea
Traditional PlayDough Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups of baking soda
1 and a half cups of water
1 cup of corn starch
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and boil over medium heat. Once doughy, remove from heat. Takes about ten minutes.
Cream of Tartar Playdough Recipe
Ingredients:2 cups of plain flour
2 cups of coloured water
1 Tbsp. of cooking oil
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup of salt
Directions:
Place all of the ingredients in a medium size or large pan. Cook slowly on medium-high and stir it until the playdough thickens. This recipe takes less than 10 minutes.
Okay, sorry about that. I think the kids will revolt if they don't get to make their islands this week. We will spend the next couple of days drawing maps of islands, creating map keys with symbols, talking about scale and reviewing our land forms. We will create our islands of play dough on Thursday and paint them on Friday. These will be graded. Certain land forms will be mandatory, but I'll leave a lot of room for creativity and free choice.
Homework notices went out today. A few students have been inconsistent passing in homework or reading logs. It is a note that needs to be signed. It is my attempt to get them to have a conversation with you about what is and isn't working in their homework rituals. We need to develop some good working habits now, so that future years will be easier.
Picture book week started today. The silent reading time had a terrific buzz of reading. It was definitely the most reading that I have seen during our silent reading time, and I didn't have to redirect anyone on what they were supposed to be doing. I hope we can make a habit of this. Students will be logging picture books read all week. You should have seen two come home in their backpack.
I had two impromptu meetings tonight, otherwise I would have gotten this out sooner. I will make a habit of getting the homework calendar done immediately after school so that it is available more quickly. I have to remind you, however, that this is not to be used by your child as a substitute for writing down their homework assignments in their assignment books. This calendar is for you to know what should be written in your child's assignment book, what they need to do each night and to help on those occasional "oops" nights.
All for now. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Back in the saddle
Hello,
It was nice to get our afternoon back. A few students got called out to do make-ups, but it sure felt good to have a little time for reading, writing and science. We are now going to try to wrap up some of the loose ends that are still dangling. Geography picture dictionaries need to get finished by tomorrow. Recipes for play dough will go home with the hope that we will get some brought in on Monday and Tuesday. The goal is to give students the chance to show off what they know by creating islands with multiple landforms. I realize that not every family will be able to, but I would appreciate it if you could help make a batch or two of the dough.
We did a pass it on writing game this morning to get our pencils moving across the paper. Students wrote a sentence of a story and then passed on the story to someone else. I was impressed with our first attempt at this. Often I have story "hijackers" who try to turn every story that passes their eyes into an intergalactic shoot out. That didn't happen. I also usually have a lot of bathroom humor or graphic violence. Also not a problem today. They did a good job coming up with topics, staying on topic, and interjecting the stories with some type of problem to make the story more interesting. Bravo! We'll do it again from time to time, and it is fun to see the improvement, but this was a very good launching point.
My math class got into rounding numbers to the nearest ten, hundred or thousand. I played a squirrel crossing a highway to illustrate this. On one side is the the next highest ten (or hundred or a thousand). On the other side is the nearest lower ten. Students had to decide whether the squirrel should round up, (continue to cross the road) or round down, (turn around and go back.) If the squirrel chooses wrong, he turns into roadkill. We took volunteers to play the signs on the side of the road holding up the nearest tens, hundreds or thousands. I only played the squirrel once before getting volunteers for that position. We only had one roadkill incident. Luckily the oncoming traffic was imaginary.
Math continues to be a bit of poking and prodding to see what they know. We are currently doing a combination of subtraction, time and rounding. We begin each day with Rocket Math which is an individualized program that I really like that measures when students have their facts down. Each student gets two minutes to study their facts and then takes their daily one minute test. Their goal is based on how fast they can write. They should be able to answer math facts (like 3 + 7) as fast as they can write. If not, then the fact isn't automatic yet. As they pass each test, the next one adds a few more facts. I handed out thirteen different tests today for my twenty math students. It is a bit more of a pain to grade, but I find that it is definitely worth the extra time. Multiplication Rocket math will start at the end of the month, regardless of where they are in their addition and subtraction facts. We will return to those after they have their multiplication facts down.
I can't believe that it is almost Friday. The week and the year are going too fast and I'm feeling inadequate. We have some work to do. I'm going to have to get them to buckle down to get to where we need to go.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
It was nice to get our afternoon back. A few students got called out to do make-ups, but it sure felt good to have a little time for reading, writing and science. We are now going to try to wrap up some of the loose ends that are still dangling. Geography picture dictionaries need to get finished by tomorrow. Recipes for play dough will go home with the hope that we will get some brought in on Monday and Tuesday. The goal is to give students the chance to show off what they know by creating islands with multiple landforms. I realize that not every family will be able to, but I would appreciate it if you could help make a batch or two of the dough.
We did a pass it on writing game this morning to get our pencils moving across the paper. Students wrote a sentence of a story and then passed on the story to someone else. I was impressed with our first attempt at this. Often I have story "hijackers" who try to turn every story that passes their eyes into an intergalactic shoot out. That didn't happen. I also usually have a lot of bathroom humor or graphic violence. Also not a problem today. They did a good job coming up with topics, staying on topic, and interjecting the stories with some type of problem to make the story more interesting. Bravo! We'll do it again from time to time, and it is fun to see the improvement, but this was a very good launching point.
My math class got into rounding numbers to the nearest ten, hundred or thousand. I played a squirrel crossing a highway to illustrate this. On one side is the the next highest ten (or hundred or a thousand). On the other side is the nearest lower ten. Students had to decide whether the squirrel should round up, (continue to cross the road) or round down, (turn around and go back.) If the squirrel chooses wrong, he turns into roadkill. We took volunteers to play the signs on the side of the road holding up the nearest tens, hundreds or thousands. I only played the squirrel once before getting volunteers for that position. We only had one roadkill incident. Luckily the oncoming traffic was imaginary.
Math continues to be a bit of poking and prodding to see what they know. We are currently doing a combination of subtraction, time and rounding. We begin each day with Rocket Math which is an individualized program that I really like that measures when students have their facts down. Each student gets two minutes to study their facts and then takes their daily one minute test. Their goal is based on how fast they can write. They should be able to answer math facts (like 3 + 7) as fast as they can write. If not, then the fact isn't automatic yet. As they pass each test, the next one adds a few more facts. I handed out thirteen different tests today for my twenty math students. It is a bit more of a pain to grade, but I find that it is definitely worth the extra time. Multiplication Rocket math will start at the end of the month, regardless of where they are in their addition and subtraction facts. We will return to those after they have their multiplication facts down.
I can't believe that it is almost Friday. The week and the year are going too fast and I'm feeling inadequate. We have some work to do. I'm going to have to get them to buckle down to get to where we need to go.
Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Testing is done! Well, sort of...
Hello,
We finished the math portion of our NECAPs this afternoon. I was able to squeeze in the school questionnaire right at the end of the day as well. The questionnaire is a portion of the test where the students answer what they do and how often they do it during a normal school day. There are no wrong or right answers, only opinions. By finishing this, we can attempt to have a more normalized day tomorrow with a full literacy block and science class. Unfortunately the rest of the school has seven more days of testing. Special education services won't kick back in until after next week. We will do our best to differentiate and challenge everyone, but we won't be back to our regular schedule, which the kids have hardly seen anyway, until the week of October 24.
We had our first staff meeting tonight. I have joined a scheduling committee to try to make our schedule fit the building a bit better and to try to give the younger students easier afternoons. We discussed the lunchroom and the playground. More changes for the better should be coming soon there as well.
Please don't panic if you don't see anything written in your child's assignment book tonight. We finished the questionnaire with about two minutes to spare. The kids got ready to go as I collected the books. It would be a good night for them to get in their reading log minutes. Other than that, the only homework is for specific math classes.
We got a new student today. I hope your child can tell you something about her. At the very least, they should be able to tell you her name and where she is from.
I read a story called The Character in the Book by Kaethe Zemach this morning. I am trying to get them to embrace all of the freedom that they have during writing time to create whatever they want, like zany characters with ridiculous quirks that live in faraway places. I'm anxious to get back to our regular schedule so they can get their free reading and writing times in.
All for now. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
We finished the math portion of our NECAPs this afternoon. I was able to squeeze in the school questionnaire right at the end of the day as well. The questionnaire is a portion of the test where the students answer what they do and how often they do it during a normal school day. There are no wrong or right answers, only opinions. By finishing this, we can attempt to have a more normalized day tomorrow with a full literacy block and science class. Unfortunately the rest of the school has seven more days of testing. Special education services won't kick back in until after next week. We will do our best to differentiate and challenge everyone, but we won't be back to our regular schedule, which the kids have hardly seen anyway, until the week of October 24.
We had our first staff meeting tonight. I have joined a scheduling committee to try to make our schedule fit the building a bit better and to try to give the younger students easier afternoons. We discussed the lunchroom and the playground. More changes for the better should be coming soon there as well.
Please don't panic if you don't see anything written in your child's assignment book tonight. We finished the questionnaire with about two minutes to spare. The kids got ready to go as I collected the books. It would be a good night for them to get in their reading log minutes. Other than that, the only homework is for specific math classes.
We got a new student today. I hope your child can tell you something about her. At the very least, they should be able to tell you her name and where she is from.
I read a story called The Character in the Book by Kaethe Zemach this morning. I am trying to get them to embrace all of the freedom that they have during writing time to create whatever they want, like zany characters with ridiculous quirks that live in faraway places. I'm anxious to get back to our regular schedule so they can get their free reading and writing times in.
All for now. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A couple more days of testing
Hello,
I'm ready to get back on track, but we have a couple more days of testing to get through. I think the kids are giving their best effort. I'm just trying to get them to see that what they call their best effort, can be better. Our testing time is a full ninety minutes. Most students can easily finish in forty-five. I would really love to see them take advantage of that extra time to read through all of the questions slowly, just to make sure they didn't miss anything and to see that their answer makes sense. Some have made some big improvements with this over the past five testing days. Some would rather finish quickly. We'll keep working on it.
I read quite a bit of Rafe Esquith's There Are No Shortcuts this weekend. Rafe is a California teacher and the author of one of my favorite books on teaching, called Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire. I agree with him on a lot of issues, including that our teaching time per day is too short, and that our teaching year is too short. I feel like I don't have time to teach everything that I need to teach. Starting off the year with assessment after assessment doesn't help either. I don't know the answer, but am starting to think that I need to offer some optional instruction times either before or after school. When you add in the fact that many students are behind the norm already, school will never get better for them until they can catch up. I'm throwing this out there to see the reaction. So give me some feedback.
I plan on following quite a bit of Mr. Esquith's classroom responsibilities plan. I run a similar program during my government unit, but he takes it to another level. We will elect a president, senators, representatives and a sheriff. Judges will be appointed. We will draft a constitution. I've done all of this in the past, in what is generally a very popular unit, but this year the jobs will be paid. (Fake money, of course, but students will be able to buy real priveleges and items with it.) I'm excited about it already. I'll start that in November, but stay tuned for further details.
I've got to run to a dinner. Best turn out so far for reading logs. Way to go folks!
All for now,
Mr. Shea
I'm ready to get back on track, but we have a couple more days of testing to get through. I think the kids are giving their best effort. I'm just trying to get them to see that what they call their best effort, can be better. Our testing time is a full ninety minutes. Most students can easily finish in forty-five. I would really love to see them take advantage of that extra time to read through all of the questions slowly, just to make sure they didn't miss anything and to see that their answer makes sense. Some have made some big improvements with this over the past five testing days. Some would rather finish quickly. We'll keep working on it.
I read quite a bit of Rafe Esquith's There Are No Shortcuts this weekend. Rafe is a California teacher and the author of one of my favorite books on teaching, called Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire. I agree with him on a lot of issues, including that our teaching time per day is too short, and that our teaching year is too short. I feel like I don't have time to teach everything that I need to teach. Starting off the year with assessment after assessment doesn't help either. I don't know the answer, but am starting to think that I need to offer some optional instruction times either before or after school. When you add in the fact that many students are behind the norm already, school will never get better for them until they can catch up. I'm throwing this out there to see the reaction. So give me some feedback.
I plan on following quite a bit of Mr. Esquith's classroom responsibilities plan. I run a similar program during my government unit, but he takes it to another level. We will elect a president, senators, representatives and a sheriff. Judges will be appointed. We will draft a constitution. I've done all of this in the past, in what is generally a very popular unit, but this year the jobs will be paid. (Fake money, of course, but students will be able to buy real priveleges and items with it.) I'm excited about it already. I'll start that in November, but stay tuned for further details.
I've got to run to a dinner. Best turn out so far for reading logs. Way to go folks!
All for now,
Mr. Shea
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Have a good mini-break
Hello,
I wanted to remind you that Friday is a no school day. It is a furlough day for the staff. As long as we were going to get unpaid days off, I would rather have had it during the summer.
Monday is also a no school day, in observance of Columbus Day. I've asked the class to ask their parents about Columbus. I tried to provide them with some different perspectives. Now I want them to hear your opinion.
The first day of the math test is always a tough one. Unlike the reading, kids tend to decide whether they "get" the question or not rather quickly, and then either rush through it or take their best guess. I think we'll see the same jump in their ability to check their work over the next couple of days, as we did during the reading tests.
I hope everyone has a good mini-break.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
I wanted to remind you that Friday is a no school day. It is a furlough day for the staff. As long as we were going to get unpaid days off, I would rather have had it during the summer.
Monday is also a no school day, in observance of Columbus Day. I've asked the class to ask their parents about Columbus. I tried to provide them with some different perspectives. Now I want them to hear your opinion.
The first day of the math test is always a tough one. Unlike the reading, kids tend to decide whether they "get" the question or not rather quickly, and then either rush through it or take their best guess. I think we'll see the same jump in their ability to check their work over the next couple of days, as we did during the reading tests.
I hope everyone has a good mini-break.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Schadenfreude?
"What in the world is the teacher wasting everyone's time teaching them a German word? Doesn't he know that were in the middle of testing?"
That is what I imagine some of you might have been saying last night. The word, schadenfreude, was highlighted in the picture book that I read to them titled That's Not Funny by Adrian Johnson. The main character is a boy who laughs at the misfortune of others. At the end of the story, a mishap occurs and he ends up being sat on by an elephant. He didn't think it was so funny then. The postscript of the book explains that we don't have a word for this in the English language. Pronounced "shah-den-froy-duh," it is laughing or taking delight in the bad luck of others. This is one of those books where the postscript is essential in making the book worthy of reading. Otherwise it is just a book where a little boy gets his comeuppance. I thought it would be nice, light reading for the class after another hard day of testing. The little lesson at the end intrigued enough of them for me to give them a quick assignment to show me that they understood the word. I got some funny stories. They understand.
I read the last few pages of Morning Girl by Michael Dorris today along with some excerpts from the journal of Christopher Columbus. Columbus gives his initial impressions of the native Taino that he met: "... it seemed to me that they were a people very poor in everything... They should be good and intelligent servants, for I see that they say very quickly everything that is said to them; and I believe that they would become Christians very easily, for it seems to me that they have no religion... I will take six of them (back to Europe) to your highness when I depart, in order that they may learn to speak (our language)."
Morning Girl is written from a Taino girl's perspective. She thinks the white men that come to visit are "fat" and "dressed silly." They stare at her "like babies: wide eyed, with their mouths open."
These excerpts are just part of what I read this morning. It sparked some lively conversation. Some students were calling Columbus a jerk. I reminded them of our tribes yesterday. It must have been extremely difficult for both "tribes" - in this case the Europeans and Taino. I asked the class to look at all the incorrect assumptions that both sides were making. I drew some more parallels to yesterday. I think some were making the connections, many will take another day.
We'll read Encounter by Jane Yolen tomorrow. It is a picture book. It is also a "guessed at" history from the Taino's perspective. Which brings me to another lesson: Who gets to write history? I touched on that a bit today, but am hoping that there are so many hands in the air tomorrow wanting to give their two cents, that we may have to leave that for another day.
Harry Potter Book Club started today. I opened it up to all classes, but capped it at 30 kids. I had 43 kids two years ago and it was just too much. We split the group and met twice a week. We needed twice the after school meetings. I won't do that again. Thirty is enough. If we have some drop outs, we'll add some from the waiting list. Today's meeting took place during lunch time. I handed out a Sorting Quiz to help sort them into a house. If they don't like the results of the quiz, I will give them a one time chance to be sorted by the Sorting Hat on my IPhone app. But then, it's whatever the hat says, goes.
Some activities that the kids seemed enthusiastic to do this year include: quill making, Quidditch, movie watching, wand making, Harry Potter Jeopardy Challenges and tea leaf reading.
Wow, it's late. I'll stop.
Good night.
Mr. Shea
That is what I imagine some of you might have been saying last night. The word, schadenfreude, was highlighted in the picture book that I read to them titled That's Not Funny by Adrian Johnson. The main character is a boy who laughs at the misfortune of others. At the end of the story, a mishap occurs and he ends up being sat on by an elephant. He didn't think it was so funny then. The postscript of the book explains that we don't have a word for this in the English language. Pronounced "shah-den-froy-duh," it is laughing or taking delight in the bad luck of others. This is one of those books where the postscript is essential in making the book worthy of reading. Otherwise it is just a book where a little boy gets his comeuppance. I thought it would be nice, light reading for the class after another hard day of testing. The little lesson at the end intrigued enough of them for me to give them a quick assignment to show me that they understood the word. I got some funny stories. They understand.
I read the last few pages of Morning Girl by Michael Dorris today along with some excerpts from the journal of Christopher Columbus. Columbus gives his initial impressions of the native Taino that he met: "... it seemed to me that they were a people very poor in everything... They should be good and intelligent servants, for I see that they say very quickly everything that is said to them; and I believe that they would become Christians very easily, for it seems to me that they have no religion... I will take six of them (back to Europe) to your highness when I depart, in order that they may learn to speak (our language)."
Morning Girl is written from a Taino girl's perspective. She thinks the white men that come to visit are "fat" and "dressed silly." They stare at her "like babies: wide eyed, with their mouths open."
These excerpts are just part of what I read this morning. It sparked some lively conversation. Some students were calling Columbus a jerk. I reminded them of our tribes yesterday. It must have been extremely difficult for both "tribes" - in this case the Europeans and Taino. I asked the class to look at all the incorrect assumptions that both sides were making. I drew some more parallels to yesterday. I think some were making the connections, many will take another day.
We'll read Encounter by Jane Yolen tomorrow. It is a picture book. It is also a "guessed at" history from the Taino's perspective. Which brings me to another lesson: Who gets to write history? I touched on that a bit today, but am hoping that there are so many hands in the air tomorrow wanting to give their two cents, that we may have to leave that for another day.
Harry Potter Book Club started today. I opened it up to all classes, but capped it at 30 kids. I had 43 kids two years ago and it was just too much. We split the group and met twice a week. We needed twice the after school meetings. I won't do that again. Thirty is enough. If we have some drop outs, we'll add some from the waiting list. Today's meeting took place during lunch time. I handed out a Sorting Quiz to help sort them into a house. If they don't like the results of the quiz, I will give them a one time chance to be sorted by the Sorting Hat on my IPhone app. But then, it's whatever the hat says, goes.
Some activities that the kids seemed enthusiastic to do this year include: quill making, Quidditch, movie watching, wand making, Harry Potter Jeopardy Challenges and tea leaf reading.
Wow, it's late. I'll stop.
Good night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
We got outside for ten minutes today!
Hello,
The effort on the NECAPs was strong today. I appreciate some of the talks that I assume went on at home. No questions skipped. Students were ready for me when I came by to collect them. They took some pride in saying, "I checked everything." Bravo. Great improvement in just one day.
We did a fun activity this morning that ties into our mini-study of Christopher Columbus. I separated the class into four "tribes." The Bambams, the Funfuns, the Haphaps, and the Jubjubs (not fruminous) each had their own language and goals. The initial point of all of this is to see if people can communicate when they have totally different languages. You can ask your child for the details. Two of the tribes were all about fun and happiness. Their goals were to get members of the other tribes to do different actions that would mean that they wanted to be friends. The other two tribes had goals that were a little less admirable. The Bambams were trying to get people to touch the sink, which obviously was a sign that somebody was agreeing to do all of your cleaning for you. The Jubjubs were trying to get classmates to touch their feet, which was a sign that the person felt beneath you and was willing to be your servant. All goals were kept secret from the other tribes, but each tribe knew that the others also had goals.
As expected, there was a ridiculous amount of gesturing and frustration. It was fantastic. In the end The Funfuns and Haphaps were much more willing to go along with the requests of the other two tribes because they were less suspicious of their intentions. These two tribes had a lot more trouble getting others to go along with their requests, however. The Bambams and and Jubjubs were much more suspicious and tended to ignore other tribes requests.
We discussed this a bit, but I don't think all of it will sink in until I can relate it to the Europeans and Native Americans. They had different languages, different expectations, and very different suspicions. I'm sure the kids aren't going to like to see that Columbus wrote in his journal that the people of the "Indies" would make "good and intelligent servants." But I'm hoping I can put this in a little better context by pointing out the culture that Columbus came from. He thought like a European. He wasn't a "bad" one. He did and thought what most any European would have done and thought at the time. He didn't believe that the Natives had language. He believed they didn't have religion. He believed that they were very poor.
Every tribe in class today thought the others were behaving ridiculously. They made a lot of assumptions. Columbus also made a lot of assumptions. Columbus thought that they were basically agreeing to become slaves by their actions. Kind of like today.
I thought this activity up two years ago, and I've expanded on it a bit. I like it and I think it works. They understand a bit better how ridiculous those first few meetings of new cultures must have been. Some kids will still dislike Columbus quite a bit for what he did, and I can't blame them too much for that, but I think I can present it in a balanced way by showing them that his thoughts and actions were a product of his culture. No one in the Bambams thought any of their own tribesmembers were out of line today. Their new servants might think differently.
I have more to say, but I'll update you tomorrow on where we go from here. Half of the connections that I made here, we haven't done in class yet. So you might hold off talking to your child much beyond asking what tribe they were in and what they thought of it. It will all come together in the next two days.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Steve
The effort on the NECAPs was strong today. I appreciate some of the talks that I assume went on at home. No questions skipped. Students were ready for me when I came by to collect them. They took some pride in saying, "I checked everything." Bravo. Great improvement in just one day.
We did a fun activity this morning that ties into our mini-study of Christopher Columbus. I separated the class into four "tribes." The Bambams, the Funfuns, the Haphaps, and the Jubjubs (not fruminous) each had their own language and goals. The initial point of all of this is to see if people can communicate when they have totally different languages. You can ask your child for the details. Two of the tribes were all about fun and happiness. Their goals were to get members of the other tribes to do different actions that would mean that they wanted to be friends. The other two tribes had goals that were a little less admirable. The Bambams were trying to get people to touch the sink, which obviously was a sign that somebody was agreeing to do all of your cleaning for you. The Jubjubs were trying to get classmates to touch their feet, which was a sign that the person felt beneath you and was willing to be your servant. All goals were kept secret from the other tribes, but each tribe knew that the others also had goals.
As expected, there was a ridiculous amount of gesturing and frustration. It was fantastic. In the end The Funfuns and Haphaps were much more willing to go along with the requests of the other two tribes because they were less suspicious of their intentions. These two tribes had a lot more trouble getting others to go along with their requests, however. The Bambams and and Jubjubs were much more suspicious and tended to ignore other tribes requests.
We discussed this a bit, but I don't think all of it will sink in until I can relate it to the Europeans and Native Americans. They had different languages, different expectations, and very different suspicions. I'm sure the kids aren't going to like to see that Columbus wrote in his journal that the people of the "Indies" would make "good and intelligent servants." But I'm hoping I can put this in a little better context by pointing out the culture that Columbus came from. He thought like a European. He wasn't a "bad" one. He did and thought what most any European would have done and thought at the time. He didn't believe that the Natives had language. He believed they didn't have religion. He believed that they were very poor.
Every tribe in class today thought the others were behaving ridiculously. They made a lot of assumptions. Columbus also made a lot of assumptions. Columbus thought that they were basically agreeing to become slaves by their actions. Kind of like today.
I thought this activity up two years ago, and I've expanded on it a bit. I like it and I think it works. They understand a bit better how ridiculous those first few meetings of new cultures must have been. Some kids will still dislike Columbus quite a bit for what he did, and I can't blame them too much for that, but I think I can present it in a balanced way by showing them that his thoughts and actions were a product of his culture. No one in the Bambams thought any of their own tribesmembers were out of line today. Their new servants might think differently.
I have more to say, but I'll update you tomorrow on where we go from here. Half of the connections that I made here, we haven't done in class yet. So you might hold off talking to your child much beyond asking what tribe they were in and what they thought of it. It will all come together in the next two days.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Steve
Monday, October 3, 2011
NECAP testing day one
Hello,
I thought the class did fairly well on their first day of NECAP testing. They still need a little more practice on what checking their work means. Four times I had this conversation:
Student: I'm done.
Me: Did you check your work, make sure everything made sense, finish everything?
Student: Yes.
Me: (after perusing the handed in booklet) What about this one?
Student: Oh, I guess I didn't see that one.
Me: (to myself) AAAAUUUUGH!!
I don't think that they are all lying to me when they say that they have checked their work. I don't think that many of them know what it means to check their work. We'll go over that a lot this year. Then again, and there is no way around this, some are just lazy. The test isn't overly exciting for them and they don't feel like it is important. You can see why they might want to finish ASAP. Unfortunately it is important to the teachers and the school. What is most frustrating about it is that it makes it so the test doesn't necessarily register what they know, but rather how poor their test taking skills are. So the test may say that a student is weak in say, parts of speech, when really the student just skips portions of the test in their haste to get it done.
The teachers agreed to go light on the homework this week. My math class has their first weekly challenge of the year. It is meant to be challenging and is not due until the end of the week. The idea is that they should be pecking away at it all week. They can ask me questions about it all week. They are not graded on whether or not they got the right answer, but by how hard they worked on it. I think that it is important to give them some problems that are unfamiliar. American children rank high in how quickly they give up when they see something unfamiliar. So please don't help your children on these. Let them struggle. Let them come in with their questions. As long as they can show the work of their attempts, they will get the highest marks. At the end of every week we will discuss the different strategies that we found out. This weeks challenge are Numbrix puzzles from Parade magazine in the Sunday paper. We did about 25% of the first one in class. Let's see if they can finish the rest.
These testing days don't leave a whole lot of time for work. Our afternoons for the next six days will include a special and a ninety minute test. My day of teaching is practically over at 11:15. Not my favorite days, to say the least.
Thank you for signing the reading logs this week. We are down to five "forgetful ones."
All for now. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
I thought the class did fairly well on their first day of NECAP testing. They still need a little more practice on what checking their work means. Four times I had this conversation:
Student: I'm done.
Me: Did you check your work, make sure everything made sense, finish everything?
Student: Yes.
Me: (after perusing the handed in booklet) What about this one?
Student: Oh, I guess I didn't see that one.
Me: (to myself) AAAAUUUUGH!!
I don't think that they are all lying to me when they say that they have checked their work. I don't think that many of them know what it means to check their work. We'll go over that a lot this year. Then again, and there is no way around this, some are just lazy. The test isn't overly exciting for them and they don't feel like it is important. You can see why they might want to finish ASAP. Unfortunately it is important to the teachers and the school. What is most frustrating about it is that it makes it so the test doesn't necessarily register what they know, but rather how poor their test taking skills are. So the test may say that a student is weak in say, parts of speech, when really the student just skips portions of the test in their haste to get it done.
The teachers agreed to go light on the homework this week. My math class has their first weekly challenge of the year. It is meant to be challenging and is not due until the end of the week. The idea is that they should be pecking away at it all week. They can ask me questions about it all week. They are not graded on whether or not they got the right answer, but by how hard they worked on it. I think that it is important to give them some problems that are unfamiliar. American children rank high in how quickly they give up when they see something unfamiliar. So please don't help your children on these. Let them struggle. Let them come in with their questions. As long as they can show the work of their attempts, they will get the highest marks. At the end of every week we will discuss the different strategies that we found out. This weeks challenge are Numbrix puzzles from Parade magazine in the Sunday paper. We did about 25% of the first one in class. Let's see if they can finish the rest.
These testing days don't leave a whole lot of time for work. Our afternoons for the next six days will include a special and a ninety minute test. My day of teaching is practically over at 11:15. Not my favorite days, to say the least.
Thank you for signing the reading logs this week. We are down to five "forgetful ones."
All for now. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
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