Civil War reenactment tomorrow

Hello,

I hope your child made it home without getting soaked.  It was really coming down at the end of the day.  It was a bit of a scramble in our class due to dismissal being over five minutes sooner than usual. I didn't bother to yell out the homework when were all shocked by the early announcements. So don't get too worried when you hear that there isn't any homework.

Tomorrow is Civil War day at the school, so we won't have much in-class instruction time anyway. Math class is cancelled. We'll watch the fifth grade assembly in the gym at 9:30. After that, the fifth graders go to their stations outside, and we'll walk around to learn about many different facets of the war and the time period.  The reenactment is scheduled for 1:00. It makes for a long day, so I hope everyone is dressed to be outside for most of the day.  That would include sunscreen and comfortable shoes.

Our latest geometry test went well. I announced the scores at the end of the class, but didn't have time to pass them back or go over them.  That will have to wait until Monday.  Nearly everyone scored over 25 out of 30 possible points.

We started our force and motion unit yesterday.  Your child should be able to tell you quite a bit about friction. We introduced our first simple machine, the wedge, this afternoon. We used some plastic knives on clay, but tomorrow we'll get more serious and pound some nails and saw some boards. Good stuff. We're on our way to building a series of simple machines into something more complicated.

Quidditch practice tomorrow night.  It will also be Peyton's last day, so we'll try to send her off in style.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Felt like Monday all day

Hello,

I thought it was Monday for much of the day.  I was surprised by no P.E. in the morning and then surprised by an art class in the afternoon.  Now I need to wrap my head around tomorrow being Wednesday.  Friday is also throwing a wrench into all of this with it being our big Civil War day. Our kids will have to pay close attention to see what roles they may want to play next year when it is their turn to teach the school about that important part of our history.

International studies filming is done.  Let me know if you would like to view your child's team video. We're going to have a little quiz tomorrow on some basics of their individual country.  I felt like many students focused on their small role in the video and didn't learn what made their country unique, or at least different from ours.

I was happy to see so many people out for the Memorial Day Parade.  I marched behind Abe Lincoln, our own Mr. Sullivan, to support both the teacher and the president. Several teachers dressed as Union soldiers to support him.

Big thanks to Mrs. Dolley for making tonight's homework club possible.  I had a meeting right after school and missed a chunk of it.  Her flexibility and time made it so I didn't need to cancel.  She said that they all got down to work and behaved like angels. They must have got it all out of them with me during the day.  Thank you Jess.

I have to run to a lobster bake.  First of the season.  I love out of state company that forces us to splurge.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Filming has begun

Hello,

I learned about Finland today thanks to the Finnish broadcasting team of Jack, Luke and Sid.  The Mongolian broadcasters Dylan, Hunter and Kipp took over our video production site a few minutes later to teach us about Mongolia. The presentations had some original and funny moments.  It is tough to go first, but we thank them and hope to learn from their experiences. More filming to follow tomorrow.

We took our angles math test today.  Only a few scored below 20 out of 25, but I was still disappointed.  I felt like this was a test that we could all ace.  Careless mistakes included reading the wrong set of numbers on a protractor, skipping questions, incorrectly labeling angles, measuring the wrong angles and forgetting how many degrees is in a full turn.  Ugh.  Our math tests, while much better than early in the year, still point out more about our lack of focus than our math abilities.

Spelling test tomorrow.  I've added a consequence to any flunked tests. Some kids don't care about learning new words, but they do care about recess. We'll see if I can motivate them this way.

I failed to get Quidditch practice permission slips out this week, so we'll go for next Friday.  Look for those slips tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Mr. Shea

International News

Hello,

I'm hoping to start videoing our international news teams tomorrow.  France, Finland, Morocco, Turkey, Argentina and Mongolia are the countries represented. I was disappointed to have to disqualify the New Zealand news team for consistent poor decisions. Their team has been split up to help out with some of the other countries. I am hoping to be able to show our news casts as early as next week.

My math class will take their angles test tomorrow.  We've gone ahead quite a bit from angles, so were backing up and using this as a review of some geometry basics before we forge ahead again. I realized too late today that their two-sided homework was only one-sided.  Lucky them, I guess.

Our next two days will be heavy on the international studies work.  We need to power through these videos to get to my favorite unit: simple machines.  Get the Legos out!

Ask your child about their writing.  They should have a Harris Burdick story or a poem or two appearing shortly, depending on what they are working on.  We need to finish some products!  This starting something new everyday thing is stopping now.  It is a great strategy to never have to edit or revise, but it is so fourth grade. We're nearly fifth graders now. Step it up, ten year olds!.

My wife is home from the NYC Stationery Show.  I wrote that to prove that I knew the difference between stationary and stationery.

I'll end on that high note.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

What do we eat?

Hello,

In our international studies unit, students are researching foreign countries and how they differ from our country.  One of the topics that came up today, due to some pictures that I projected of families standing in front of a week's worth of food, was how different that diets are around the world.  The kids noticed more store bought goods in America, more beer and wine in Germany, more bread in Italy, more vegetables and fruits in Mexico, etc. Tonight's homework is related to these observations. Everyone in the class is supposed log everything that they eat and drink for the next 24 hours.  Then we'll be able to compare what we eat to the rest of the world.

Our field trip to the Augusta State House and the Maine State Museum is scheduled for June 12. More details to follow. I'm sure to have a lot of parents wanting to volunteer.  First come, first serve.

I've got to cut this short tonight.  My wife is in NYC and I need to relieve the dogsitter.

Thanks for reading.

Mr. Shea

Bike/Walk to school tomorrow

Hello,

We just got done with Harry Potter club.  We will finish watching movie 2 during lunch times next week.  Our first Quidditch practice is next Friday after school. Polish your broomsticks.

We started our international studies research this afternoon.  It is really nice having Pat in to help during these days with laptop use.  Lots of little hiccups require adult attention.  Be sure to ask your child what country that their team is focusing on.  Chosen countries include France, Turkey, Finland, Morocco, New Zealand, Argentina and Mongolia.

Lots of good math today.  We have been using peg boards and rubber bands.  More fun learning tomorrow.

Bike/walk to school tomorrow.

Bobcat 5k and mile fun run on Saturday.  We're hoping for a good turnout.

Have a good night.

Steve

Early Release tomorrow

Hello,

I don't have much time because I'm running off to the all school band concert.  Seeing 5th graders up to seniors playing all together is very impressive.  It is great to see the improvement.

I wanted to remind you all that tomorrow, Wednesday, is an early release day.  I don't remember seeing a note go home on this one.

We will be starting our international studies unit tomorrow.  I'm asking that every kid get a chance to watch the news tonight.  More details to follow.

Sorry, gotta run.

Mr. Shea

Biome Museum Grand Opening

Hello,

After many delays, the museum opened.  One member of each biome team stayed with their display, available for questions while the other students roamed around to learn about many of our planet's biomes.  There are some impressive poster/diorama displays.  I'll finish my review of all of them tomorrow.

If any parents want to see what their children are up to, you are welcome to stop by during the last half hour of the day tomorrow.  We have art until 2:30, but from 2:35 to 3:05, I'm sure that they wouldn't mind some visitors.  Let me know if you plan on coming at sshea@brunswick.k12.me.us.

I was very impressed with the get well cards that everyone wrote for Derrick.  I dropped him off at his house on Sunday.  I don't think many kids thought that I would ever hear what was written to their friend, but Derrick proudly read them aloud while I was there.  I never realized how boring my math class is or how lucky that kids are who get to miss school with a burst appendix.  Hmmm.  Very eye-opening.

I hope some of you plan on running the Bobcat 5K this weekend.  I haven't been running due to my back, but I'm going to give it my best try.  I figure that I made it last year without training, I can hurt myself again this year.  I really hope not to pull my calf like I did on the home stretch last year.  I also hope that the runner directly in front of me, isn't a mother of one of my students pushing a stroller. I thought it would look bad if I went all out trying to beat her.  (I still couldn't have, but it is a good excuse.) Actually, I have played a few capture the flag games in homework club. That should be training enough to top most of the strollers.

The school book fair is going strong.  Everyone in the class is getting a six dollar voucher from our parent group to use for a book.  Very nice of them.  Thanks so much! We will visit the fair with our vouchers tomorrow after math. (boring math, of course.)

I'm off to a baseball game.  I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day.

Thanks for reading,

Mr. Shea

Nice weather = ants in the pants

Hello,

I blame it on the weather, but maybe it is due to the fact that there wasn't any MEA testing today. Quite a lively bunch though. Even during read aloud, The Cay by Theodore Taylor, they were a rambunctious group. Timothy and Phil-eep are caught in a big hurricane and I needed to keep redirecting our focus so others could hear the story.  It isn't because they aren't interested. It is that sometimes they get a little too interested and want to provide visuals or commentary to the story, without sharing in a respectful manner. Better too much energy than not enough, I always say though.

We wrote get well cards to our classmate Derrick this afternoon.  I think he will enjoy reading them. He is recovering from a burst appendix. We're not sure when he will be back, but we wish him a speedy recovery.

I think that most biome museum projects are ready to roll. I plan on opening up the museum tomorrow afternoon.  If it the children choose, we may open it up for parents on Monday.

We started writing stories based on The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg.  Ask your child what their plans are for their story.

We were out on the playground for math.  We drew parallel lines, perpendicular lines, and different angles and shapes.  I'm hoping this nice weather allows for more of that to start the day.

This has seemed like an extremely long week.  We'll wrap it up tomorrow with a class full of docents.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Wednesday thoughts

Hello,

We are finished with our six hours of allotted testing time.  Many kids were able to finish.  Ten kids still have work to do, but we'll have to wait and see when computers are available since third grade starts their tests tomorrow.  We had an unfortunate system malfunction this morning which cost us about a half hour of time. Students were very glad later in the afternoon to find that most of their work had been saved. Some had visions of losing their prior work, but no one had to redo any more than one question.  I think three or four more kids would have completed their testing if not for that break down.

Tomorrow should see things get back to normal.  Students may get pulled to finish testing at any time, but we'll go on with our regular schedule regardless.  We'll have math class in the morning, and lots of biome work otherwise.  I'm hoping to have our biome museums up and running on Friday. Most of the dioramas are finished and many of the accompanying posters are in production.

The book sale was set up in the lobby this morning.  Kids will get a preview tomorrow and then a chance to purchase on Friday and most of next week.

Harry Potter club has been meeting at lunch time all week.  We'll finally finish the movie tomorrow. We had some discussion about a fifth grade club. I didn't do that last year, (sabbatical) but maybe we will for next year.

We've had lots of absences since April break.  We need to end on a strong note, so let's get healthy and stay healthy. These beautiful days are rough ones to have to deal with sicknesses.  I hope we can get everyone back on their feet soon.

Have a good night,

Mr. Shea

MEA testing Monday

Hello,

I got a little frustrated watching the testing today. It was due to a lack of effort. I know that I don't put any pressure on my class when it comes to these tests, but I want them to try their best. I feel like I make myself clear on that point.

Today, I had a student finish a one hour test in less than three minutes.  I immediately went up to them and the student looked me in the eye and said that they had done their best.  They even went as far to say that they had checked their answers. Their words were untrue and their actions were not acceptable. I was very disappointed.

I know a lot of this testing has been a political hot topic. Are kids tested too much?  How else can we tell if teachers are doing their jobs? If we give different tests, how can we compare teachers? Districts are trying to figure out all of this.  How much should test scores be a part of teacher evaluations is a big question with no easy answer. Many districts in the United States tie test scores with teacher pay. Oh, that would have made for a really bad day for me today.

I tried to take the long view. I wasn't happy with a few student performances.  So, some kids had a rough Monday and just couldn't/didn't focus on the tasks at hand. Oh well. Not easy to take, but none of us would want to be judged based on our worst day.

Tomorrow will give us another chance.  I need to see more effort, but if not, then I at least need them to be more forthcoming.  Take some responsibility for their actions. The dishonesty hurts more than the lethargy. No test questions for that.

I'm not a teach to the test kind of guy. I feel like if I do my job, my kids will do just fine on these things. But just like a teacher not being able to teach someone who doesn't want to learn, a test can't measure the abilities of someone who doesn't show what they know.


I don't have any answers here.  It was just a rough day.  Tomorrow we'll get another chance. We'll do better.

Thanks for reading,

Mr. Shea