Happy summer!

Hello,

I want to thank everyone, parents and students, for a good first year of our two year adventure. I've seen growth in many areas, socially and academically. I appreciate all of the support from home. It takes teamwork to get the most out of our children. Thank you for trusting me with your little ones. Communication between us will remain vital to their ongoing success in school this upcoming year. Please continue to call, text or email me anytime that you have a question or concern. My number is 841-2599.

As far as summer homework, I am asking that everyone continue reading, although I didn't give out a formal checklist or log this year. I'll put up a list of suggested books at the end of this entry. I am offering a new book from our September class book order to every student finishing three books or more over the summer. As far as math, I'm asking for an hour a week on IXL. I'm also currently setting up a Khan Academy Class site, details to follow soon.

We are planning on getting together a few times this summer.  Our first outing is planned for Wed, July 15 at Morse Mountain. This is a hiking/beach outing. We will meet at HBS at 8:00. It isn't necessary for all parents to attend, but it is not school sanctioned so we will need at least some parents to help drive/chaperone. I understand busy summer schedules, and based on past experience, I'm expecting between eight to twelve kids to show, which we probably can do with 3-4 cars, including mine.  We'll have another get together in August, probably the second or third Wednesday. (Send me your preference, and I'll choose the one with the most votes.)

I forgot to put out a "Best way to reach me during the summer" questionnaire. If the email I've used in the past will work fine, no worries. But if you'd rather I text, or use a different email to contact you, let me know. Otherwise, just check the blog.

This is the time of year that I tend to kick myself for all the things that we didn't accomplish. It is so nice to have another year to make up for my mistakes and prove to the kids that I work hard to improve as well. Feel free to chime in with what you would like to see more or less of. It won't hurt my feelings. I'm very open with the class about when I fall short of what I would like to have done. I emphasize that most people don't get too upset, because they can see my overall effort. Mistakes and shortcomings are much easier to excuse when the effort is there. I hope they take that lesson to heart. 

Thanks again for our first chapter together. Chapter two will be harder, and therefore more rewarding.

Have a great summer. See you soon. (Maybe at the library book sale.)

Mr. Shea

Building Day tomorrow

Hello,

I'm hoping for some Rube Goldberg machines tomorrow. We started working on them today, but didn't have the time that we will tomorrow. Come on in any time between 1:00 and 3:00 and see what we are up to. We got off to a very slow start today, and I blame myself. The idea is to build a small Rube Goldberg machine and then connect it to others. I had warned them that the connecting will be the most difficult part. Of course, that's what many of them rushed to do. Unfortunately, they didn't have much done except giant ramps. They forgot the initial step of building their own functioning machine first. I believe this question came out of my mouth, "Are you trying to connect your bunch of nothing to their bunch of nothing?" We'll try again tomorrow.

I haven't been able to change the superintendent's graduation speech over to a word document. I'm not going to retype it. I still have hope that I'll get help.

We have a retirement gathering tonight. Mary Kornegay is retiring after 30+ years as a school secretary. I'll miss her unique way of running the office. Joanne Olson is retiring from 3rd grade. She has been a voice of reason on our staff, and I'll miss her too. The final retiree is Kay Reddy. She works with the lower grades, so I don't have much interaction with her, but she has always been a friendly face at HBS.

I've got to run to the gathering, but I hope to see you tomorrow afternoon. Our room is a complete mess of marbles, wood, Legos, dominoes, Knex, and random pieces of wood. Tomorrow should be a lot of fun.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Graduation 2015

Hello,

I went to the Brunswick High graduation on Friday night. The graduating seniors were from my first class in Brunswick (Jordan Acres 2006). I hope all of those students realize how proud their old teachers are of them. We are happy to have been a small part of their rise to adulthood. I clapped for all of the kids, but I clapped more loudly and enthusiastically for my J.A. fourth graders.

I was impressed with the students speakers at the graduation, but my favorite speech was given by our superintendent, Paul Perzanoski. I meant to copy it here, but I can't seem to copy a PDF file onto this blog without paying for a conversion program. It was a good speech, but you'll have to wait for someone in the tech dept. to help me before you get a chance to read it.

It was nice to see many of you at the ice cream social tonight.

We will have our last homework club tomorrow.

We are working on building machines that combine simple machines all week long. Friday will be our building extravaganza day. The hope is to have some big Rube Goldberg machines all over the classroom. Parents are welcome to come at any time to see our works in progress.

I just finished reporting our class reading scores for the last trimester. We've had some MAJOR improvements. I told the kids that they deserve all the credit. Many of them have put in so much time with their reading this year, that their improvements were inevitable. Every single student improved. I am really looking forward to next year.

I've got a lot to say, but I've got a lot to do too.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Quidditch and Science

Hello,

What a great night.  I was thoroughly impressed with the gym set up and all of the scientific topics. Professional presenters alongside HBS students presenting their stuff... it was fantastic. Our class will play a major role in next year's fair. Mrs. Palopoli deserves major credit for her vision and hard work on this. I look forward to working with her next year.

Thanks to Ryleigh and Autumn for holding down our simple machines / amusement ride table. The constructions were eyecatchers. Now we all need to learn more of the science behind them.

The quidditch also went well.  Both teams, the Ducks and the Unicorns, were victorious in one match. I saw a lot of great hustle and sportsmanship from the kids.  Thank you to everyone who pitched in. A special thanks to our last minute snitch replacement, Bella Pols. She was fast (some thought too fast) and provided lots of drama on the field.

Field trip tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone who expressed interest in chaperoning. I took the first three, knowing that we would be meeting up with Peyton and her mom as well.  We'll break into small groups for the Maine State Museum and all get back together for the State House tour. Maybe we'll see the governor.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Quidditch and Science! What a combination!

Hello,

Tomorrow night is the big science night at HBS.  It will run from 6-8pm.  Some of our students will run a little build-it station with Knex kits.  They should draw some attention with our class Ferris wheel and roller coaster, all made from Knex, at our table.  The fifth grade has some great stations planned, as well as professional scientists with a variety of backgrounds.  Should be fun.

And we decided to add a little fiction to our science night. The Harry Potter Club is piggy backing off of science night for our quidditch match.  The Devious Ducks, dressed in orange, will take on the Pink Fluffy Unicorns, dressed in pink, on the quidditch pitch just outside the school.  We just had a last minute cancellation of our golden snitch, so if you know anyone really fast that wouldn't mind getting chased around the field for a few minutes, let me know. The plan is for two matches taking place from 6:30 to 7:00.

The class built some vehicles with wheels and axles this morning.  Our first try at putting random pieces of wood together.  They will get better and better at this over the next week plus.  Great learner mindset lessons! My favorites.

We built pulley systems this afternoon with our Lego kits.  These kits are more structured than free-form building, but a good way to learn the basics.

There is a bit of a summer cold thing going around.  Make sure to get plenty of rest to stay healthy.

See many of you tomorrow night.

Mr. Shea

A heartfelt letter from Dictator James

Greetings,

I came in on Friday afternoon to make these lands a better place.  I tore down the flag, ripped up the class laws, and took the burden of decision making off of the poor kids of the class. All they had to do was obey and their lives could have been so much easier.

Every twenty minutes we did some calisthenics to keep them lively and in good shape. We can't have laziness, or just a few pulling the weight for all.  They could have seen the benefits of my regime, if they only had the stamina.

For some strange reason, some of the kids defied me.  They actually dared to look me in the eye. I guess they didn't want the good life.

Those that fell in line were awarded jewels from my stash. My two henchmen, Elijah and Morgan, deserve special commendations here.  I thank them for their service.

Many citizens of our new land wrote beautiful poems, pledging their allegiance to me, their great leader. They drew up new flags to symbolize the great and swift changes that brought joy to their lives. I will cherish those. We never even got to design the monument of me that belonged in the middle of our land.

So I am choosing to move on. I am much beloved in many other lands. Let this Shea guy come back and deal with these ignorant fools. Someday soon, this Shea will give them more and more responsibility. Maybe then, they will look back and wish they would have obeyed. Their lives could have been easy, quieter, more stable.

I will not look back. Dictator James only moves forward.

Farewell peasants,

Dictator James

My opinion of the 5th grade Civil War reenactment.

Hello,

I had a request to clarify my position on the Civil War reenactment which, if the curriculum committee decisions hold true, will see its last go around at HBS next year.

I've been a long time supporter of the reenactment.  When I came to Jordan Acres, I was amazed at the amount of learning that took place during a few week's time. I was especially impressed with the effort and input from some of our more typically unenthusiastic learners. (I was just telling a story today of this boy who looked at me and said, "Mr. Shea, you don't get it. I don't work.") Everybody worked during this unit.  Everyone learned.  I met with some Longfellow teachers, very much opposed to the reenactment, and convinced them to give the unit a chance.  I told them how it was so much more than the ten minute reenactment that always made the front page of the paper.

The unit is an interactive one.  Students take on the role of soldiers of the time. They have a whole, new, pretend life. They learn about marching, camping, missing loved ones, sewing, cooking, writing home, battle strategies, propaganda, following orders, giving orders. They learn the causes of the war, the advantages and disadvantages of both sides.  They learn about being a leader, even if that isn't their role. They learn about being a team player.  I think that learning to be a part of a team is the most important, and I think some of them feel it for the first time.  They see that their actions, not only have direct consequences, but also affect their whole team, both positively and negatively. I think all of the teacher tweaking over the years has only made the unit stronger.

This isn't to say I didn't have my doubts about ten year olds holding wooden guns, pretending to kill each other.  I had major doubts.  I still do. I saw lots of behaviors that, in my opinion, should have banned certain children from taking part in Pickett's Charge. I expressed my concerns to the fifth grade teachers. I felt like there needed to be a line that couldn't be crossed, and if crossed, needed to have real consequences. I naively thought that if teachers were more strict about this, we would see less horseplay with the weapons.

I was very excited last year when I finally got my first chance at teaching the unit. I'm pretty sure that I've read more books on the Civil War than any other teacher in preparation for this unit.  I started during my first year at Jordan Acres. Even then, as a fourth grade teacher, I knew I would someday move up to teach this unit. I visited Gettysburg, Pennsylvania three times before taking it on. I envisioned bringing my class, after our studies, to the battlefield. I went on every tour that I could find, so I could lead a tour myself one day.

I was very honest, and very serious, with my students last year about the politics of the reenactment. I told them how there were lots of people who didn't believe that it was appropriate. I talked to them about the responsibility that was being placed in their hands. We were going to hand over wooden guns to them so they could recreate a battle scene. I explained to them how they weren't play toys, that they were replicas of objects made to kill people. I explained that if they misused these weapons, if they couldn't receive them with the seriousness that they were given, not only would they not participate in the reenactment, but they could ruin it for everyone else, possibly for years to come.  

I explained to them both sides of the argument, from "ten year olds can't handle it," to "this time is arguably the most pivotal time in our country's history, and what better way to learn it?"

Last year, I was very proud of my class and all that they learned. They created some really fantastic dioramas, learning about the contours of the land and how that affected the outcomes. I felt like my kids could explain so many things about the Civil War.  They could describe the hows and why's of several important battles, including Gettysburg. They learned about the big picture of the war and how and why it was still important to us.  And they did a pretty good job of learning to explain all of this to spectators of all ages.

I was much less impressed with how they handled the guns. Granted, most of us had camped out the night before, had survived the sub 40 degree night and were working on little sleep, but that wasn't the reason for what I witnessed.  Early in the day, my kids were clamoring for the guns.  I had to call them all together and remind them that the guns were not needed until the reenactment. At lunch time, I had to remind them again that guns were not needed until the reenactment. As usual, I was direct and honest with them.  I expressed my concern that they would want to hold guns while explaining their dioramas.  I reiterated that they weren't play things and that they were to be given out when it was time for them to be used.  I wish I could explain the look that I saw in some of their eyes. It was like I was holding back popsicles on a hot July day. It was the look of craving.

The reenactment wasn't until 1:00.  By 12:30 a number of my kids couldn't take it anymore and went to other fifth grade teachers to get their guns.   I didn't know any of this until I went to pass out our class guns. Half of my students already had them. I couldn't get any answers out of the glassy-eyed youngsters.  They had their popsicles and didn't really know how they had got them.

After the reenactment, after all of the clean up, back in the classroom, I got the story. The fifth grade teachers had believed a few of my kid's sob stories that they somehow had been forgotten when guns were being passed out.  I don't blame any of the other teachers at all. They were doing what they thought was right and what they thought I would have wanted. They had an army of kids telling them the same story.

So all of this leads to my current opinion of our reenactment.  I love the unit.  I wouldn't change a thing there. (Oh, yes, one change. I think kids should have ALL roles, even Abe reciting the Gettysburg Address. I think they could rise to the occasion. They have with all the other roles. Sorry Mr. S, you do a great job.)  I also wouldn't want to do anything to make it so other teachers couldn't teach this unit the way that they feel is best.  I've always been a vocal supporter of teachers teaching to their passions. That said, my passion is that my class not carry guns.

It all comes down to last year. Many students from the most mature class that I've ever taught, went behind my back, even after a unit learning about being a team and following orders. They got the guns early so that they could run around the field irresponsibly and pretend shoot each other. The guns are that shiny. That desirable.  The glassy eyed look from some of them who thought I might say that they couldn't do the charge was unforgettable. I couldn't figure out who got them first and who was responsible, so I let everyone take part. But it did sway my opinion on one part of our day.

That's the way I feel. I want our class to participate in the entire unit, but as far as the reenactment, I'd like to see our class carry stretchers, carry flags, even man the cannons (as odd as that sounds). The kids weren't ready for those guns.  Again, my opinion. I've never been scared to share it.

If you want to discuss your son or daughter's possible role in our Civil War unit next year, I'd love to sit down and discuss it.  If you want to be guaranteed that your son or daughter will carry a gun, I can't give that at this time.  If carrying a gun is that important to you, you all have the option of opting out of our loop.  Please believe me when I say that I definitely don't encourage that of anyone. I think that we are building something pretty great in our class and I'd rather discuss it. Each teacher in Brunswick fifth grade has always had to try to figure out how to teach to their beliefs in this most difficult unit. I'm trying to do that as well.

Make no mistake: I love teaching the Civil War. I love teaching about Gettysburg. Your child will learn it thoroughly. I plan on offering up a non school sanctioned trip to the battlefield in late June next year. Last year I led sixteen children and twelve adults around Devil's Den, Little Round Top, and across the field in the steps of General Pickett.  We camped for three nights on the grounds where Union and Confederate soldiers fought. For many kids, it was their first time out of New England. It was the highlight of our year, and although I don't like using the word, it was awesome.

So let me know where you stand.  I've been a staunch supporter of this for so long, I am willing to hear all viewpoints. I know we can find some common ground.

Thanks for reading. Sorry for all the changes in verb tenses.  My thoughts rambled from year to year as I was writing this.

Mr. Shea

Levers, levers, levers

Hello,

We started our study of levers.  We did some lifting of some books and even of each other.  We'll get into a more scientific study of levers tomorrow.  I feel like most students were noticing how important the placement of the fulcrum was in relation to the load or force, so that was a good start.

In music, students have finished their review of musical instrument choices for next year. I'm a proponent of trying out an instrument in fifth grade. A number of studies have shown a high correlation between success in school and learning music.  Many brain studies show that learning music helps "wire" the brain for easier future learning. I also think it helps teach responsibility as well as giving students a glimpse into the Jr. high world where they will need to organize their work and extra-curricular activities.

In gym, some students had some trouble with sportsmanship in the capture the flag game.  We've been playing that a lot at our afternoon recess and homework club and the sportsmanship is getting better all the time.  It's a fun game to learn the importance of losing graciously. They are getting it.

A few parents have been talking about the news in the Times Record that mentioned that next year would be the last year for the Civil War reenactment at HBS.  The social studies curriculum team is trying to get rid of subjects that are studied more than once over a four year span.  The Civil War is currently studied at the Jr. High and in fifth grade.  The current plan is to make the Revolutionary War more of a focus at the fifth grade level and leave the Civil War for BJHS.

Thanks for the Augusta field trip permission slips.  Get them in before the twelfth, please.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

sawing wood

Hello,

Well, the students got a chance to saw some wood this afternoon. This is part of our study of simple machines and how they work. We will pound a few nails tomorrow. These are two common uses of wedges.  Levers, pulleys, gears, inclined planes, wheels and axles, and screws to follow.

Students were introduced to Rube Goldberg Devices today.  See below for an example.



Their final project for our unit will be to create a Rube Goldberg. It can (and often should be) completely useless, but it should show a knowledge of combining the simple machines into something more complex.  We will have many lead up activities that will combine individual simple machines.  The final project will be an all day Rube Goldberg building extravaganza.  Parents will be encouraged to stop in at anytime during the day to see how things are progressing.

This is my favorite unit, because all mistakes are an opportunity to figure out. All successes can be built upon.

Our final read aloud of the year, The Power of Un, is also about an invention.  Nancy Etchemendy writes a fast-paced novel where her main character discovers a machine that allows him to travel back in time.  Our writing homework will be related to this in the upcoming days (including tonight).

Tests grades were pretty good for the Parallel and Perpendicular Lines test.  They should have been. Students only needed to know those types of lines to do well.  On to more geometry.

Classes are being made up for the upcoming year. Anyone wanting to opt their child out of the loop, should do so as soon as possible. I hope we can keep as many as possible together, but I also understand that I can't be a best fit for everyone. No hard feelings if you feel the need to opt out. We all want what is best for your child, and it is obviously your call. I'm available to discuss it, if that might help.

Homework club tomorrow night.  Quidditch practice on Friday.  Harry Potter Club will vote on the time and date of our big match at our lunch meeting tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Mr. Shea