Hello,
It was a strange day. I had two afterschool meetings so there was no Lego Club. We had our last session with Arts are Elementary instructor Judy Segal. (www.judysegal.com) That was one hour of writing and sharing our works on birds. I think you will be impressed with some of the work. The poems will be displayed around the school shortly. Thank you to Judy for working with our kids and giving them an additional art experience.
This afternoon we gathered in the gym for the school variety show. I was pleasantly surprised with the varied abilities of the performers. It was fun and a great showcase for our performers. You may want to check it out tomorrow night (Friday) at 6:30. I had it incorrectly listed on my calendar so I hope you didn't come by tonight.
These activities cut into our day, but we still had time for math, reading and writing. Our math class is hard at work on word problems. Our regular Bowdoin volunteer is as surprised as I am at the level of word problem that they are trying to solve. I wrote one on the board today, and took a second to let the kids know that I never thought that I'd be making up a problem so hard for fourth graders. It is such a step up from what they have ever had before. I'll make sure I make up more of my own word problems in future homeworks to try to build this gap between where we are and where they want them to go. Know that it is okay for your child to struggle and come in and say I could get past this point.
My hoop team went down last night, ending my season. Probably a good thing for my hip. I was very gimpy today. No one challenged me to a race though. (hint)
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Recorder concert success
Hello,
The morning recorder concert was a great success. It is quite remarkable how far they have come in a few weeks. Bravo to them for the patience and perseverance that it takes to improve. It was an impressive performance by the entire grade.
Unfortunately for us, today's concert out trumped math and P.E class. This afternoon we were treated to some tales from Hawaii. One of our classmates just spent a bit of time there. The class was as riveted as I was listening to his tales of giant waves and stacks of pancakes.
We spent some time in the computer lab building bar graphs and then we were back to our research. I got my first, "When do we know that we are done our research?" question. Tomorrow will be a good time to address that with the whole class.
We wrote some crazy stories and shared most of them. I think we'll whittle it down to a final four craziest stories and see who the class believes wrote the craziest story. I wrote one as well. I'll read it to them tomorrow, but not be part of the voting process. I'd get votes just from the kiss up factor. That's no good.
I almost forgot... No Lego Club tomorrow. I have a parent - teacher conference. The meeting times aren't set by me. Sorry for the inconvenience and late notice.
Have a great night,
Mr. Shea
The morning recorder concert was a great success. It is quite remarkable how far they have come in a few weeks. Bravo to them for the patience and perseverance that it takes to improve. It was an impressive performance by the entire grade.
Unfortunately for us, today's concert out trumped math and P.E class. This afternoon we were treated to some tales from Hawaii. One of our classmates just spent a bit of time there. The class was as riveted as I was listening to his tales of giant waves and stacks of pancakes.
We spent some time in the computer lab building bar graphs and then we were back to our research. I got my first, "When do we know that we are done our research?" question. Tomorrow will be a good time to address that with the whole class.
We wrote some crazy stories and shared most of them. I think we'll whittle it down to a final four craziest stories and see who the class believes wrote the craziest story. I wrote one as well. I'll read it to them tomorrow, but not be part of the voting process. I'd get votes just from the kiss up factor. That's no good.
I almost forgot... No Lego Club tomorrow. I have a parent - teacher conference. The meeting times aren't set by me. Sorry for the inconvenience and late notice.
Have a great night,
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Quick blog
Hello,
I'm sorry, but I need to be quick tonight. We worked on bar graphs from our class polling. Tomorrow we will go into the computer lab to work on a computer generated graph. The music concert is tomorrow as well (10:30). I hope everyone remembers their recorders. We had lunch buddies today. Everyone ate with their second grade partners. I was impressed with the seasonal paragraphs. Their paragraphing is really coming along.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
I'm sorry, but I need to be quick tonight. We worked on bar graphs from our class polling. Tomorrow we will go into the computer lab to work on a computer generated graph. The music concert is tomorrow as well (10:30). I hope everyone remembers their recorders. We had lunch buddies today. Everyone ate with their second grade partners. I was impressed with the seasonal paragraphs. Their paragraphing is really coming along.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Monday, March 25, 2013
Some math talk
Hello,
These Math in Focus tests are difficult. They contain problems that make you think about what you know. They expose anyone with a shaky understanding of the concepts. For example, in our current chapter a student may understand how to figure out the average of a group of numbers, but that doesn't show mastery of the concept. Students must be able to work backward and forward with a given set of data. In these tests, the average is often given and the students need to find the total. I like many of the questions. Students can't learn "the pattern" of the worksheet and then get by without totally understanding what they are doing.
Careless mistakes are going to happen from time to time. They are unavoidable. Unfortunately, there are enough truly difficult questions on each of these math tests to make it so students cannot afford many careless errors.
My math class had a rough go on this latest test. I was just notified by email that it may become our school policy not to let any of the math tests go home. I felt like I needed the tests to go home so that you could see what types of questions they are being asked and how they are handling them. I hope you will go over it with your child. We have already done that in class, but as you all know, the best education happens when we are all together. Our kids have to learn that while careless mistakes may happen, there are many things that they can do to make them much less frequent. I have sent that message, but when it comes from home as well, it is much more likely to get through. Please have a conversation with your child about the test and the strategies that they will use to do better next time.
I wrote the percentage grade out of 100 on these tests as well. The grading system on these tests and our new report cards is still unfamiliar, but I don't want that to make poor grades more acceptable. 16/25 or a PM shouldn't be any more digestable than a 64% or an F. I am as up front as possible with the class. Patience and attention to detail separates the great from the good. On a difficult test, like the one we just took, it separated the passing grades from the failing grades.
Like always, I take my share of blame for the test results. Tests show all of us where we can do better. I can pinpoint a couple of the class weaknesses. In problems that give the average of a set of numbers up front, a third of the class continues to mistake the average as a sum. That one third of students changes from day to day, however. We will continue to work on it. The second problem, and this is the biggest one, is that most of the class still believes that they should be able to solve word problems in their head because they always have been able to. I've told them that those days are over. ESPECIALLY ON TESTS!!!! Drawing a picture is a great strategy. Using smaller numbers in the problem is a great strategy. Rewriting what you know is a great strategy. Rereading the problem after writing down an answer is a great strategy. They should be attacking these word problems like a good reader attacks a paragraph when they know that there will be a comprehension test later: word by word, sentence by sentence, reading for understanding, predicting, verifying.
I am recruiting your help. I know many of you like to check your child's homework and I appreciate that. From now on, before looking at it, please ask, "Do your answers make sense?" Just like in writing class, we should never be the first one to read what they have written. We have to hold them to this standard. They have to know what "self-check" means. It is the difference between doing really well and doing... less well. I can call it laziness, but it is hard to put too much blame on them when it is obviously a learned behavior. It is time we teach them something else. I've got some consequences in mind if it comes to that. We'll learn what motivates them. The difference between an M or a PM on a report card doesn't seem to.
This chapter was all about median, mean, mode, range and a little probability. It was the first chapter that we've done where all of the concepts came easy to them. We'll take another week or so to see if they really got it or not.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
These Math in Focus tests are difficult. They contain problems that make you think about what you know. They expose anyone with a shaky understanding of the concepts. For example, in our current chapter a student may understand how to figure out the average of a group of numbers, but that doesn't show mastery of the concept. Students must be able to work backward and forward with a given set of data. In these tests, the average is often given and the students need to find the total. I like many of the questions. Students can't learn "the pattern" of the worksheet and then get by without totally understanding what they are doing.
Careless mistakes are going to happen from time to time. They are unavoidable. Unfortunately, there are enough truly difficult questions on each of these math tests to make it so students cannot afford many careless errors.
My math class had a rough go on this latest test. I was just notified by email that it may become our school policy not to let any of the math tests go home. I felt like I needed the tests to go home so that you could see what types of questions they are being asked and how they are handling them. I hope you will go over it with your child. We have already done that in class, but as you all know, the best education happens when we are all together. Our kids have to learn that while careless mistakes may happen, there are many things that they can do to make them much less frequent. I have sent that message, but when it comes from home as well, it is much more likely to get through. Please have a conversation with your child about the test and the strategies that they will use to do better next time.
I wrote the percentage grade out of 100 on these tests as well. The grading system on these tests and our new report cards is still unfamiliar, but I don't want that to make poor grades more acceptable. 16/25 or a PM shouldn't be any more digestable than a 64% or an F. I am as up front as possible with the class. Patience and attention to detail separates the great from the good. On a difficult test, like the one we just took, it separated the passing grades from the failing grades.
Like always, I take my share of blame for the test results. Tests show all of us where we can do better. I can pinpoint a couple of the class weaknesses. In problems that give the average of a set of numbers up front, a third of the class continues to mistake the average as a sum. That one third of students changes from day to day, however. We will continue to work on it. The second problem, and this is the biggest one, is that most of the class still believes that they should be able to solve word problems in their head because they always have been able to. I've told them that those days are over. ESPECIALLY ON TESTS!!!! Drawing a picture is a great strategy. Using smaller numbers in the problem is a great strategy. Rewriting what you know is a great strategy. Rereading the problem after writing down an answer is a great strategy. They should be attacking these word problems like a good reader attacks a paragraph when they know that there will be a comprehension test later: word by word, sentence by sentence, reading for understanding, predicting, verifying.
I am recruiting your help. I know many of you like to check your child's homework and I appreciate that. From now on, before looking at it, please ask, "Do your answers make sense?" Just like in writing class, we should never be the first one to read what they have written. We have to hold them to this standard. They have to know what "self-check" means. It is the difference between doing really well and doing... less well. I can call it laziness, but it is hard to put too much blame on them when it is obviously a learned behavior. It is time we teach them something else. I've got some consequences in mind if it comes to that. We'll learn what motivates them. The difference between an M or a PM on a report card doesn't seem to.
This chapter was all about median, mean, mode, range and a little probability. It was the first chapter that we've done where all of the concepts came easy to them. We'll take another week or so to see if they really got it or not.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Research time
Hello,
We got into the computer lab for the first time in quite a while to begin research on our biomes. Students were introduced to terms like bibliography and plagiarism. We talked about how to take notes in a way that makes it so when it is time to write your paper, you wouldn't copy the same exact wording as the resource that you found your information. This is going to take time and practice, but I felt like they got the general gist.
We had Arts are Elementary session III this morning after math. Artist in residence, Judy Segal, led the class in poetry writing. The theme remained birds. Students got to write final drafts of their work with gel pens and then accent the poems with feathers and drawings. I was impressed with the thoughtfulness of the language of their creations.
Our current read aloud, The Power of Un, by Nancy Etchemendy is the basis for tonight's homework. The main character in the story, Gib Finney, is given an unner, an unusual machine that allows the user to go back in time and undo something that happened. Will Gib go back and undo something from his past? Or will he just go back to relive happier times? Those questions are the ones that I posed to your children. Tonight they are to write about their decision. If they could go back and relive a moment or a day, would it be to enjoy an occasion over again, or to undo something that could have gone better? I look forward to reading their thoughts.
Harry Potter meets after school tomorrow for the second movie. Popcorn and juice will be served. It is completely optional for members. Current members have about two weeks to finish book three. I don't anticipate getting to book four this year. Maybe we'll have a fifth grade club take over where we leave off. I purchased some large trifolds last night so we can have an actual outside wall to our common room. Students will have to give the password to the portraits to be let in. We'll need to figure out how to have our paintings talk, but I'm envisioning some cutouts for heads. Any volunteers to be the Gryffindor Fat Lady?
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
We got into the computer lab for the first time in quite a while to begin research on our biomes. Students were introduced to terms like bibliography and plagiarism. We talked about how to take notes in a way that makes it so when it is time to write your paper, you wouldn't copy the same exact wording as the resource that you found your information. This is going to take time and practice, but I felt like they got the general gist.
We had Arts are Elementary session III this morning after math. Artist in residence, Judy Segal, led the class in poetry writing. The theme remained birds. Students got to write final drafts of their work with gel pens and then accent the poems with feathers and drawings. I was impressed with the thoughtfulness of the language of their creations.
Our current read aloud, The Power of Un, by Nancy Etchemendy is the basis for tonight's homework. The main character in the story, Gib Finney, is given an unner, an unusual machine that allows the user to go back in time and undo something that happened. Will Gib go back and undo something from his past? Or will he just go back to relive happier times? Those questions are the ones that I posed to your children. Tonight they are to write about their decision. If they could go back and relive a moment or a day, would it be to enjoy an occasion over again, or to undo something that could have gone better? I look forward to reading their thoughts.
Harry Potter meets after school tomorrow for the second movie. Popcorn and juice will be served. It is completely optional for members. Current members have about two weeks to finish book three. I don't anticipate getting to book four this year. Maybe we'll have a fifth grade club take over where we leave off. I purchased some large trifolds last night so we can have an actual outside wall to our common room. Students will have to give the password to the portraits to be let in. We'll need to figure out how to have our paintings talk, but I'm envisioning some cutouts for heads. Any volunteers to be the Gryffindor Fat Lady?
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Boys vs. Girls
Hello,
We had a mini debate this afternoon. The kids were getting pretty worked up, but it was all in good fun. The girls were trying to argue that boys are better. The boys were trying to argue that girls are better. They got mixed up in their words a few times, probably because the words felt so odd coming out of their mouths, but they did a good job. The girls argued that all of our presidents have been men, most of our greatest inventions were created by men, boys are braver and more daring, boys are strong. The boys argued that girls are better readers and writers, girls play less video games, women worked the factories in WWII, and since there are more girls in the world, they must be better at surviving. At the end of it all, the girls won the debate. The girls were happy they won. The boys claimed that this only proved that they were better.
We did this ridiculous debate for a few reasons. We have been talking about persuasion and are starting to write persuasive papers. I want them to write about things that they feel strongly about. The girl-boy debate was difficult for them because they didn't feel strongly for their side. A few of them tried hard not to let the facts get in the way of a good argument, and they were applauded for their effort, but set straight. It was an entertaining exercise, but we'll see what they got out of it in the weeks to come.
I hope everyone enjoyed the snow day. Hopefully this will be my last roof shoveling of the year.
The Dr. Seussathon tally is as follows: The People 61, Team Thunder 48, and The Starbellies 25. Two days to go. I'm not sure anyone wants stars upon thars at this time.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
We had a mini debate this afternoon. The kids were getting pretty worked up, but it was all in good fun. The girls were trying to argue that boys are better. The boys were trying to argue that girls are better. They got mixed up in their words a few times, probably because the words felt so odd coming out of their mouths, but they did a good job. The girls argued that all of our presidents have been men, most of our greatest inventions were created by men, boys are braver and more daring, boys are strong. The boys argued that girls are better readers and writers, girls play less video games, women worked the factories in WWII, and since there are more girls in the world, they must be better at surviving. At the end of it all, the girls won the debate. The girls were happy they won. The boys claimed that this only proved that they were better.
We did this ridiculous debate for a few reasons. We have been talking about persuasion and are starting to write persuasive papers. I want them to write about things that they feel strongly about. The girl-boy debate was difficult for them because they didn't feel strongly for their side. A few of them tried hard not to let the facts get in the way of a good argument, and they were applauded for their effort, but set straight. It was an entertaining exercise, but we'll see what they got out of it in the weeks to come.
I hope everyone enjoyed the snow day. Hopefully this will be my last roof shoveling of the year.
The Dr. Seussathon tally is as follows: The People 61, Team Thunder 48, and The Starbellies 25. Two days to go. I'm not sure anyone wants stars upon thars at this time.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Monday, March 18, 2013
The blog is back
Hello,
Thanks to all of you for coming in and meeting with me. Our conferences are very important, but please don't limit yourself to those designated times. I'm available for meetings on most every night. If you ever have a comment or question that needs to be expressed, just come on in.
We got into some persuasive writing today. Tonight's homework is to write a paragraph that attempts to convince someone of something. We talked a lot about persuasion in class and wrote an example on the white board. I heard a lot of their personal favorite forms of persuasion, especially when dealing with parents. The "pester them until you get it" strategy was very popular. Promising good behavior, acting cute, embarrassing them with a tantrum, and playing one parent off another were also strategies that they said have seen some success. I was impressed how they were able to talk about it, but I was particularly amazed at how quickly they shift strategies when one isn't working. Student after student expressed how versatile they were when one strategy wasn't working. They talked like master teachers: "You have to constantly assess the performance of your strategy and be ready to jump ship at a moments notice." Wow!
Looks like there is a lot of snow on the horizon. I'm hoping that we have school tomorrow, but the forecast doesn't look good.
We had a class session with our school counselor, Mrs. Farrand, last week. I wanted to mention it because they watch a video on personal space. It is an uncomfortable topic. A note went home, but if you have any questions, please ask your son or daughter or me anytime.
Our artist in residence, Judy Segal, from Arts are Elementary will be spending two more days with us this week. We learned about Maine birds in the first session and painted them with acrylics in session two. Session three promises a focus on poetry. The last session is a mystery to me.
Our math classes are going to focus on bar modeling over the next couple of weeks. My class has a mean, median, mode assessment tomorrow and then we'll begin. Fractions are on the horizon.
I was very sad to hear that two pieces of furniture that our art teacher, Ms. Moll, had turned into works of art had to leave the building. Many of you probably saw the small couch that she had painted waterlillies on in the style of Monet. It was in the front lobby for quite a while. That piece, as well as the "Starry Night" chair, were deemed fire hazards in the latest building inspection walk through. My personal opinion is that when we someday change over to Kindles, it will be based on the fire department's decision that the books are too dangerous.
On that note, I thank you for reading.
Mr. Shea
Thanks to all of you for coming in and meeting with me. Our conferences are very important, but please don't limit yourself to those designated times. I'm available for meetings on most every night. If you ever have a comment or question that needs to be expressed, just come on in.
We got into some persuasive writing today. Tonight's homework is to write a paragraph that attempts to convince someone of something. We talked a lot about persuasion in class and wrote an example on the white board. I heard a lot of their personal favorite forms of persuasion, especially when dealing with parents. The "pester them until you get it" strategy was very popular. Promising good behavior, acting cute, embarrassing them with a tantrum, and playing one parent off another were also strategies that they said have seen some success. I was impressed how they were able to talk about it, but I was particularly amazed at how quickly they shift strategies when one isn't working. Student after student expressed how versatile they were when one strategy wasn't working. They talked like master teachers: "You have to constantly assess the performance of your strategy and be ready to jump ship at a moments notice." Wow!
Looks like there is a lot of snow on the horizon. I'm hoping that we have school tomorrow, but the forecast doesn't look good.
We had a class session with our school counselor, Mrs. Farrand, last week. I wanted to mention it because they watch a video on personal space. It is an uncomfortable topic. A note went home, but if you have any questions, please ask your son or daughter or me anytime.
Our artist in residence, Judy Segal, from Arts are Elementary will be spending two more days with us this week. We learned about Maine birds in the first session and painted them with acrylics in session two. Session three promises a focus on poetry. The last session is a mystery to me.
Our math classes are going to focus on bar modeling over the next couple of weeks. My class has a mean, median, mode assessment tomorrow and then we'll begin. Fractions are on the horizon.
I was very sad to hear that two pieces of furniture that our art teacher, Ms. Moll, had turned into works of art had to leave the building. Many of you probably saw the small couch that she had painted waterlillies on in the style of Monet. It was in the front lobby for quite a while. That piece, as well as the "Starry Night" chair, were deemed fire hazards in the latest building inspection walk through. My personal opinion is that when we someday change over to Kindles, it will be based on the fire department's decision that the books are too dangerous.
On that note, I thank you for reading.
Mr. Shea
Monday, March 11, 2013
Sorry no blog
Hello,
I'm sorry to say that this week's schedule isn't going to leave me with anytime to type this up. I'm continuing to do report cards tonight. I have conferences in the morning tomorrow. After homework club, I have more conferences. Wednesday I have conferences after school right up to the 6:30 charity basketball game with the Harlem Superstars at the high school. Mr. Dwyer, Mr. Levy and I plan on suiting up for the losing team. Conferences will start back up Thursday morning, followed by school, Lego Club and more conferences. By Friday, I'll only have six left to do, so maybe I'll write up a weekly recap then. Maybe I'll fall asleep at the keyboard.
Thanks for understanding. I look forward to talking to you all this week.
Mr. Shea
I'm sorry to say that this week's schedule isn't going to leave me with anytime to type this up. I'm continuing to do report cards tonight. I have conferences in the morning tomorrow. After homework club, I have more conferences. Wednesday I have conferences after school right up to the 6:30 charity basketball game with the Harlem Superstars at the high school. Mr. Dwyer, Mr. Levy and I plan on suiting up for the losing team. Conferences will start back up Thursday morning, followed by school, Lego Club and more conferences. By Friday, I'll only have six left to do, so maybe I'll write up a weekly recap then. Maybe I'll fall asleep at the keyboard.
Thanks for understanding. I look forward to talking to you all this week.
Mr. Shea
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Tea party
Hello,
It was quite an occasion. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama made time out of their busy schedules to visit our tea party. They weren't disappointed to see that William Shakespeare, Anne Frank, John F. Kennedy, Rosa Parks, Leonardo Da Vinci, Daniel Boone, Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin, King Tut, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman, Abe Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth, Ferdinand Magellen, Helen Keller, Neil Armstrong and Sacajawea all came back to the land of the living for this special occasion.
The shindig started off with individual introductions. The stars gave an oath to stay in character and to not pretend to be anyone else, especially young children. Francis Xavier Sarsparilla served up some fabulous drinks and munchies with some great help from several classroom parents. Drinks included blueberry juice, mango juice, peach juice and pineapple juice. Munchies came from all corners of the world and included dragon fruit, smoked mackerel, snow pea crisps, ugli fruit, gingersnaps, dried blueberries, plaintain chips, pockys, beet chips, whoopie pies, seaweed and sweet potato chips. The guests were very adventuresome in trying new foods and I hope they will let you know what they thought of many of the items.
The celebrities mingled, discovering new people and new foods. At the end of the party, each celebrity got up in front of the class. The other party goers then explained some of the interesting things that they had learned about that individual. It went well and I deemed it a success. We finished with a round of applause for each other and then set about getting ready to go home. I hope they can tell you a few things that they learned. I was pleased.
Thank you to everyone for helping. The kids were dressed to impress and I know that a lot of that doesn't happen with support from home. You'll be able to see their biography posters as you come into the room for conferences next week. One parent took some pictures for me, so maybe I'll put those up on the big screen.
Spelling test tomorrow. And then I have a weekend of figuring grades and filling in report cards. I think I am up to 15 confirmed conference times now. Feel free to email if your son/daughter mail carrying system is bogged down. You may have a confirmed date and not even know it.
Thanks for reading. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
It was quite an occasion. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama made time out of their busy schedules to visit our tea party. They weren't disappointed to see that William Shakespeare, Anne Frank, John F. Kennedy, Rosa Parks, Leonardo Da Vinci, Daniel Boone, Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin, King Tut, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman, Abe Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth, Ferdinand Magellen, Helen Keller, Neil Armstrong and Sacajawea all came back to the land of the living for this special occasion.
The shindig started off with individual introductions. The stars gave an oath to stay in character and to not pretend to be anyone else, especially young children. Francis Xavier Sarsparilla served up some fabulous drinks and munchies with some great help from several classroom parents. Drinks included blueberry juice, mango juice, peach juice and pineapple juice. Munchies came from all corners of the world and included dragon fruit, smoked mackerel, snow pea crisps, ugli fruit, gingersnaps, dried blueberries, plaintain chips, pockys, beet chips, whoopie pies, seaweed and sweet potato chips. The guests were very adventuresome in trying new foods and I hope they will let you know what they thought of many of the items.
The celebrities mingled, discovering new people and new foods. At the end of the party, each celebrity got up in front of the class. The other party goers then explained some of the interesting things that they had learned about that individual. It went well and I deemed it a success. We finished with a round of applause for each other and then set about getting ready to go home. I hope they can tell you a few things that they learned. I was pleased.
Thank you to everyone for helping. The kids were dressed to impress and I know that a lot of that doesn't happen with support from home. You'll be able to see their biography posters as you come into the room for conferences next week. One parent took some pictures for me, so maybe I'll put those up on the big screen.
Spelling test tomorrow. And then I have a weekend of figuring grades and filling in report cards. I think I am up to 15 confirmed conference times now. Feel free to email if your son/daughter mail carrying system is bogged down. You may have a confirmed date and not even know it.
Thanks for reading. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Guest P.E. teacher
Hello,
I got to try out a new job today. Minutes before our class went to the gym for physical education, I was asked if I could run the gym class for the day. I was happy to hear that they were near the beginning of a basketball unit. We focused on pivoting, dribbling, pivoting, passing, ball faking and pivoting. Some of the kids were disappointed that I didn't let them play a game at the end, but they seriously need more work on their pivoting. I'm sure some of them will be happy to see Ms. D back next week, but I had fun.
Our tea party is tomorrow. Four people need to pass in their biography posters. Five students need to pass in their information sheet. Those are the tickets to the party. I'm looking to see everyone in their costumes. We will start getting dressed for the party at 1:00. I expect we will be ready to go sometime before 1:30.
We hosted a Bowdoin College student this afternoon. Felix is a sophomore from New York. He observed our class from noon to dismissal. He said he was impressed with their ability to focus on their reading while I tested a student one on one. I will let the class know tomorrow that they did a good job representing themselves and the school. The class really took to Felix. We invited him to drop in anytime he'd like.
I am very impressed with all that Bowdoin is doing to get their students into public classrooms. I'd love to see some of these bright minds get into education. We need people with their level of intelligence as educators and administrators. Even if they don't enter our field, I think their visits are ridiculously important. The realities of public education need to be understood by all of our citizens. It is much easier to criticize, underfund, or ignore the system, when it is just a faceless entity. The relationship we have with Bowdoin is a victory for all sides.
I'm off to go shopping for the tea party. I'll try to get as exotic foods as possible. It is supposed to be a complete learning experience tomorrow afternoon. Meet new people. Taste new foods. Feel free to stop by anytime after 1:00 if you'd like to help out or just take pictures. In past years, I've had parents help draw mustaches, cut up smoked fish, open coconuts, videotape, make paper skirts, serve drinks, etc.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
I got to try out a new job today. Minutes before our class went to the gym for physical education, I was asked if I could run the gym class for the day. I was happy to hear that they were near the beginning of a basketball unit. We focused on pivoting, dribbling, pivoting, passing, ball faking and pivoting. Some of the kids were disappointed that I didn't let them play a game at the end, but they seriously need more work on their pivoting. I'm sure some of them will be happy to see Ms. D back next week, but I had fun.
Our tea party is tomorrow. Four people need to pass in their biography posters. Five students need to pass in their information sheet. Those are the tickets to the party. I'm looking to see everyone in their costumes. We will start getting dressed for the party at 1:00. I expect we will be ready to go sometime before 1:30.
We hosted a Bowdoin College student this afternoon. Felix is a sophomore from New York. He observed our class from noon to dismissal. He said he was impressed with their ability to focus on their reading while I tested a student one on one. I will let the class know tomorrow that they did a good job representing themselves and the school. The class really took to Felix. We invited him to drop in anytime he'd like.
I am very impressed with all that Bowdoin is doing to get their students into public classrooms. I'd love to see some of these bright minds get into education. We need people with their level of intelligence as educators and administrators. Even if they don't enter our field, I think their visits are ridiculously important. The realities of public education need to be understood by all of our citizens. It is much easier to criticize, underfund, or ignore the system, when it is just a faceless entity. The relationship we have with Bowdoin is a victory for all sides.
I'm off to go shopping for the tea party. I'll try to get as exotic foods as possible. It is supposed to be a complete learning experience tomorrow afternoon. Meet new people. Taste new foods. Feel free to stop by anytime after 1:00 if you'd like to help out or just take pictures. In past years, I've had parents help draw mustaches, cut up smoked fish, open coconuts, videotape, make paper skirts, serve drinks, etc.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Arts are Elementary on the horizon
Hello,
Our annual visit by an artist starts next week. The Arts are Elementary program is sponsoring a residency with local artist Judy Segal. Fourth graders will get a chance to learn about Maine birds, learn how to paint them and then get to write poems about them. Their finished works will then be displayed throughout HBS. Each class will have four sessions with Judy. Our first session is scheduled for next Monday. Coincidentally, it is at the time that Mrs. Smith and I had planned to start switching classes, so that will get pushed back two weeks. Volunteer opportunities are still available for this residency. Look for an information sheet going home tomorrow.
Thank you to everyone requesting conference times. I have twelve of twenty scheduled. Those twelve had confirmation notices go home today. I hope to see the other eight requests tomorrow.
We are studying averages in math. Yesterday we worked with chips. I'd get them to put chips in a number of piles and then would ask for the average (or mean) number of chips in each pile. The students would redistribute the chips to make the piles even to find their answer. Many quickly saw the correlation between averaging and dividing.
Today we did the same activities with money, but it was much more of a struggle. It was fascinating to see how many students focused on getting each pile to have the exact number and type of coins, rather than like totals. For example, if I asked them to make three piles of coins: 6c, 10c and 32c, and then asked them what the average of the three piles was, they had a very difficult time finding the answer. The day before, with regular chips that all look alike, they found the answer in no time. They just evened out the piles. Today they got hung up on the exact coins. ("But I only have one quarter, I can't give each pile one quarter." or "This pile has two nickels, but those have a dime, so I've got to switch out the nickels to make it even." Odd. Unexpected. Interesting. We didn't get to as much as I thought we would as I kept simplifying the problems to get them to see that the coins didn't matter, the totals did. They got better and better as we went. They are quick learners. We'll get back at it tomorrow.
Students wrote paragraphs on other student's topic sentences today. They are doing much better with this. The margin laziness is still getting under my skin, but we'll fix that like we fix most things around here: consequences. (Cue wicked laughter.)
I'm looking forward to the conferences. Thanks for expressing to your children that education is important. Let's keep their future possibilities as wide as possible.
Thanks,
Steve
Our annual visit by an artist starts next week. The Arts are Elementary program is sponsoring a residency with local artist Judy Segal. Fourth graders will get a chance to learn about Maine birds, learn how to paint them and then get to write poems about them. Their finished works will then be displayed throughout HBS. Each class will have four sessions with Judy. Our first session is scheduled for next Monday. Coincidentally, it is at the time that Mrs. Smith and I had planned to start switching classes, so that will get pushed back two weeks. Volunteer opportunities are still available for this residency. Look for an information sheet going home tomorrow.
Thank you to everyone requesting conference times. I have twelve of twenty scheduled. Those twelve had confirmation notices go home today. I hope to see the other eight requests tomorrow.
We are studying averages in math. Yesterday we worked with chips. I'd get them to put chips in a number of piles and then would ask for the average (or mean) number of chips in each pile. The students would redistribute the chips to make the piles even to find their answer. Many quickly saw the correlation between averaging and dividing.
Today we did the same activities with money, but it was much more of a struggle. It was fascinating to see how many students focused on getting each pile to have the exact number and type of coins, rather than like totals. For example, if I asked them to make three piles of coins: 6c, 10c and 32c, and then asked them what the average of the three piles was, they had a very difficult time finding the answer. The day before, with regular chips that all look alike, they found the answer in no time. They just evened out the piles. Today they got hung up on the exact coins. ("But I only have one quarter, I can't give each pile one quarter." or "This pile has two nickels, but those have a dime, so I've got to switch out the nickels to make it even." Odd. Unexpected. Interesting. We didn't get to as much as I thought we would as I kept simplifying the problems to get them to see that the coins didn't matter, the totals did. They got better and better as we went. They are quick learners. We'll get back at it tomorrow.
Students wrote paragraphs on other student's topic sentences today. They are doing much better with this. The margin laziness is still getting under my skin, but we'll fix that like we fix most things around here: consequences. (Cue wicked laughter.)
I'm looking forward to the conferences. Thanks for expressing to your children that education is important. Let's keep their future possibilities as wide as possible.
Thanks,
Steve
Monday, March 4, 2013
Conference slips went home
Hello,
Please fill in your top choices for times for a conference and I'll get a confirmation back to you tomorrow.
Trimesters are new for us. The mad testing scramble at the end of the grading period is not new. We've been working hard at paragraphing. March is a big learning month in education. There aren't a lot of breaks and they aren't looking ahead to summer yet.
The lights just went out on me. Third time tonight. I can't write my blog and keep the lights on because the motion detector doesn't detect any motion. In fact, there isn't much that I do here after school that keeps the lights on. Correcting papers is no good. Writing out my plans - also no good. I can't stand that there isn't a setting to keep the lights on. Especially in the winter, I am completely left in the dark many times a night. I have to get up and go to the corner where the motion detector is and wave my arms. It is quite a pain. I need one of those perpetual motion things like the head bobbing, drinking bird to sit in front of that detector. And no, we aren't allowed to bring in our own lamps.
We will be having our biography tea party on Thursday afternoon. Student are to play the role of their characters for the entire duration of the tea party. They will have to introduce themselves to the whole class and tell why they are famous, but other than that, I'm hoping the learning will come in small conversations.
We started averaging in math. Chapter five should go by quickly: Data and Probability. Outside of mean, median and mode, most of the chapter will be review.
Have a good night. I need to leave before I throw something at that motion detector.
Mr. Shea
Please fill in your top choices for times for a conference and I'll get a confirmation back to you tomorrow.
Trimesters are new for us. The mad testing scramble at the end of the grading period is not new. We've been working hard at paragraphing. March is a big learning month in education. There aren't a lot of breaks and they aren't looking ahead to summer yet.
The lights just went out on me. Third time tonight. I can't write my blog and keep the lights on because the motion detector doesn't detect any motion. In fact, there isn't much that I do here after school that keeps the lights on. Correcting papers is no good. Writing out my plans - also no good. I can't stand that there isn't a setting to keep the lights on. Especially in the winter, I am completely left in the dark many times a night. I have to get up and go to the corner where the motion detector is and wave my arms. It is quite a pain. I need one of those perpetual motion things like the head bobbing, drinking bird to sit in front of that detector. And no, we aren't allowed to bring in our own lamps.
We will be having our biography tea party on Thursday afternoon. Student are to play the role of their characters for the entire duration of the tea party. They will have to introduce themselves to the whole class and tell why they are famous, but other than that, I'm hoping the learning will come in small conversations.
We started averaging in math. Chapter five should go by quickly: Data and Probability. Outside of mean, median and mode, most of the chapter will be review.
Have a good night. I need to leave before I throw something at that motion detector.
Mr. Shea
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)