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
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
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
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Time for spring
Hello,
If we have no more snow days then the kids will get out on the 14th of June. One more snow day and they'll have to come back for Monday the 17th. It's like a three for one raw deal. One more snow day costs the kids three days of summer vacation. So I'm hoping we've seen the end of big snow.
Auditions for the Stowe School Variety Show are after school tomorrow. Acts should take approximately two minutes. A parent or guardian must come to auditions and rehearsals. The actual show is scheduled for Friday, March 29.
We have been working hard on our paragraphing. I know some students got frustrated today cutting and pasting sentences to fit inside margins. I will have them do the activity again if they have trouble writing with margins.
I read the tall tale of John Henry, famous railroad worker, this afternoon. I gave them some questions to answer afterwards, checking on vocabulary. Tomorrow they will have stories to read where they can go back and look to and answer comprehension questions. Report cards are two weeks away, so the testing is upon us.
We have to set up conferences for the week of March 11-15. Most teachers are making Friday the 15th an all day conference day. I'll offer some afterschool and before school times earlier in the week as well. I'll send home a sheet on Monday where you can give me your preferences.
We had a visitor from Bowdoin College, Matthew, observe our classroom for the half day yesterday. I wish he got to see a little more instructing, but I think he got a sense of our class and school routines. He watched my math class go over homework and take a quiz. He then got to see our class start a basketball unit with Ms. D'Agostino in the gym. It being a half day, I pointed out how little academic instructional time that the students got, even though the day counts as a full day. As long as the kids eat lunch, the day counts as one of our 175 school days.
Sorry I didn't get the blog done yesterday. The fourth grade teachers met and then we got out of here to beat the storm.
Thanks for understanding. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
If we have no more snow days then the kids will get out on the 14th of June. One more snow day and they'll have to come back for Monday the 17th. It's like a three for one raw deal. One more snow day costs the kids three days of summer vacation. So I'm hoping we've seen the end of big snow.
Auditions for the Stowe School Variety Show are after school tomorrow. Acts should take approximately two minutes. A parent or guardian must come to auditions and rehearsals. The actual show is scheduled for Friday, March 29.
We have been working hard on our paragraphing. I know some students got frustrated today cutting and pasting sentences to fit inside margins. I will have them do the activity again if they have trouble writing with margins.
I read the tall tale of John Henry, famous railroad worker, this afternoon. I gave them some questions to answer afterwards, checking on vocabulary. Tomorrow they will have stories to read where they can go back and look to and answer comprehension questions. Report cards are two weeks away, so the testing is upon us.
We have to set up conferences for the week of March 11-15. Most teachers are making Friday the 15th an all day conference day. I'll offer some afterschool and before school times earlier in the week as well. I'll send home a sheet on Monday where you can give me your preferences.
We had a visitor from Bowdoin College, Matthew, observe our classroom for the half day yesterday. I wish he got to see a little more instructing, but I think he got a sense of our class and school routines. He watched my math class go over homework and take a quiz. He then got to see our class start a basketball unit with Ms. D'Agostino in the gym. It being a half day, I pointed out how little academic instructional time that the students got, even though the day counts as a full day. As long as the kids eat lunch, the day counts as one of our 175 school days.
Sorry I didn't get the blog done yesterday. The fourth grade teachers met and then we got out of here to beat the storm.
Thanks for understanding. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Half day tomorrow
Hello,
I just checked the forecast. It looks like the snow will hold off long enough for us to get in our half day tomorrow. Don't forget that it is an early release day. Students will be released at 1:00.
Paragraphing went well today. Tonight's assignment is to write another one. The topic sentences were good from last night's homework. Most people got three or more supporting sentences down. A few forgot a concluding sentence, but the main issue was the margins. I'll try something new tomorrow to get them going on that. It seems like an easy thing to remember, but they are still struggling. I'm getting a lot of "Oh yeah!" If they can write a paragraph tonight with the first sentence indented, proper margins, topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence, they won't have any homework (outside of reading) from me tomorrow. I already graded the papers of the ten kids who stayed for homework club. Three out of ten were celebrating. Seven of ten still have work to do.
We spent some time today looking ahead to next week's tea party. The kids will get into character in the afternoon as their biography subjects. I will serve up some unique foods and beverages and they will mingle, teaching and learning as they enjoy each other's company. It will probably be next Wednesday or Thursday. I'll let you know by the end of the week. I usually can use some adult help for the serving.
My brain seemed to turn to mush this afternoon. After just one week away from school and I feel out of shape for the rigors of the day. I'm exhausted and am going home.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
I just checked the forecast. It looks like the snow will hold off long enough for us to get in our half day tomorrow. Don't forget that it is an early release day. Students will be released at 1:00.
Paragraphing went well today. Tonight's assignment is to write another one. The topic sentences were good from last night's homework. Most people got three or more supporting sentences down. A few forgot a concluding sentence, but the main issue was the margins. I'll try something new tomorrow to get them going on that. It seems like an easy thing to remember, but they are still struggling. I'm getting a lot of "Oh yeah!" If they can write a paragraph tonight with the first sentence indented, proper margins, topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentence, they won't have any homework (outside of reading) from me tomorrow. I already graded the papers of the ten kids who stayed for homework club. Three out of ten were celebrating. Seven of ten still have work to do.
We spent some time today looking ahead to next week's tea party. The kids will get into character in the afternoon as their biography subjects. I will serve up some unique foods and beverages and they will mingle, teaching and learning as they enjoy each other's company. It will probably be next Wednesday or Thursday. I'll let you know by the end of the week. I usually can use some adult help for the serving.
My brain seemed to turn to mush this afternoon. After just one week away from school and I feel out of shape for the rigors of the day. I'm exhausted and am going home.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Monday, February 25, 2013
We're back!
Hello,
Despite being a no special day, today seemed to fly by. I think most of us were ready to get the train rolling again. I heard from many kids that they were glad to be back, which was nice to hear (and not the usual.)
We jumped right in to proper paragraphing. Students will be writing research reports on the biome of their choice. (Back in our day we called them habitats.) Some of the main biomes that we will be studying are desert, rain forest, tundra, temperate forest, deciduous forest, tropical ocean, temperate ocean, chaparral, rivers, etc. I modeled writing a sample paragraph about the rain forest and then everyone tried on their own. I was impressed with the results. Therefore, tonight's homework is to write another paragraph on any subject they wish. It must have a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence.
I bought a bunch of books over break. It is a small addiction for me. Ask your son or daughter if any of the new books caught their eye. I have more to unveil tomorrow.
Fourth grade teachers met tonight and I demonstrated using Lego's to help teach the simple machine units. I think I have everyone on board, which I think will be good for everyone involved. I'm sure lots of kids will be excited to learn this way.
I need to get home to get on my roof and shovel. Have a great night. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Despite being a no special day, today seemed to fly by. I think most of us were ready to get the train rolling again. I heard from many kids that they were glad to be back, which was nice to hear (and not the usual.)
We jumped right in to proper paragraphing. Students will be writing research reports on the biome of their choice. (Back in our day we called them habitats.) Some of the main biomes that we will be studying are desert, rain forest, tundra, temperate forest, deciduous forest, tropical ocean, temperate ocean, chaparral, rivers, etc. I modeled writing a sample paragraph about the rain forest and then everyone tried on their own. I was impressed with the results. Therefore, tonight's homework is to write another paragraph on any subject they wish. It must have a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence.
I bought a bunch of books over break. It is a small addiction for me. Ask your son or daughter if any of the new books caught their eye. I have more to unveil tomorrow.
Fourth grade teachers met tonight and I demonstrated using Lego's to help teach the simple machine units. I think I have everyone on board, which I think will be good for everyone involved. I'm sure lots of kids will be excited to learn this way.
I need to get home to get on my roof and shovel. Have a great night. Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Happy Valentine's Day
Hello,
I saw some impressive President's Day homework. It did shed some light on an area that I need to spend some time on. Calendar knowledge seems to be a class weakness. The statement that President's Day falls on the third Monday of February really meant nothing to many students. I asked what was the earliest day in February that the holiday could fall on. It didn't take long to understand how lost they were. I asked how early in the month the first Monday in February could fall. I couldn't find a access point in their prior knowledge to build on, so I handed out calendars, about two students per calendar. I asked them to flip through and tell me what day the first Monday of February fell on. I got many answers, many impossible, including Sunday. (No, the first Monday in February can't be on a Sunday.) It was surprising, but also nice to find these gaps in their knowledge. We'll be doing some calendar work these next few weeks.
Valentine's Day was nice. The class exchanged valentines at 2:40. I allowed them to eat two pieces of their candy. 90% of the valentines given out included something sweet. At 2:55 I played a few songs and said that they were welcome to dance. They had a little conga line going and then a kick line started. The amount of energy that seemed to surge into their bodies was a little scary. At 3:05, we got out our assignment books. Tonight's topic that I want them to learn something about: sugar.
Tomorrow is walk / bike to school day. Hopefully they will not have a breakfast of more sugar, but if so, I think the walk to school and the early morning school assembly that will focus on exercise will do them good.
I hope everyone has a great February vacation. This year is whipping by. I know I see a lot of you picking up your kids from Lego club or Homework club, but please don't hesitate to catch my ear if you have any concern or questions about your child's education. Today's calendar discovery came out of left field for me. I have to be more of a detective than ever before to uncover some of the holes in their education. Please speak up if you see an area that needs some reinforcement.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
I saw some impressive President's Day homework. It did shed some light on an area that I need to spend some time on. Calendar knowledge seems to be a class weakness. The statement that President's Day falls on the third Monday of February really meant nothing to many students. I asked what was the earliest day in February that the holiday could fall on. It didn't take long to understand how lost they were. I asked how early in the month the first Monday in February could fall. I couldn't find a access point in their prior knowledge to build on, so I handed out calendars, about two students per calendar. I asked them to flip through and tell me what day the first Monday of February fell on. I got many answers, many impossible, including Sunday. (No, the first Monday in February can't be on a Sunday.) It was surprising, but also nice to find these gaps in their knowledge. We'll be doing some calendar work these next few weeks.
Valentine's Day was nice. The class exchanged valentines at 2:40. I allowed them to eat two pieces of their candy. 90% of the valentines given out included something sweet. At 2:55 I played a few songs and said that they were welcome to dance. They had a little conga line going and then a kick line started. The amount of energy that seemed to surge into their bodies was a little scary. At 3:05, we got out our assignment books. Tonight's topic that I want them to learn something about: sugar.
Tomorrow is walk / bike to school day. Hopefully they will not have a breakfast of more sugar, but if so, I think the walk to school and the early morning school assembly that will focus on exercise will do them good.
I hope everyone has a great February vacation. This year is whipping by. I know I see a lot of you picking up your kids from Lego club or Homework club, but please don't hesitate to catch my ear if you have any concern or questions about your child's education. Today's calendar discovery came out of left field for me. I have to be more of a detective than ever before to uncover some of the holes in their education. Please speak up if you see an area that needs some reinforcement.
Thanks for reading.
Mr. Shea
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