Professional Development: Project Community

This year, we have 5 required Professional Development days.  Today was one of those days.  Instead of sitting in a room being lectured all day, we spent our day in the community around our school.  Every member of our staff loaded up on two buses and we set off to explore.  If any of you watched 60 minutes last night, the town where I teach was featured.  We started out by visiting the museum that used to be the town bank.  There was a lot of interesting history in that tiny museum.  From there, we visited with the mayor and listened to plans they have in the works to revitalize the town.  We also found out that we are a part of NCSTEP which is a grant program to revitalize "dying" towns.  It all sounds very promising.  We also visited a few businesses that are doing quite well... the 60 minutes report made it seem like the ENTIRE town was living in complete poverty.

Trailer Park from Google Earth

A picture I found online
of the trailer park.

From there, we visited the trailer park where the majority of our students live.  That was an eye-opening experience.  When we first pulled in, there were kids playing in the streets, but they disappeared after seeing school buses. :)  This is not an area I would EVER go alone, but it was nice getting to see where my students live.  I was even able to see students from last year that are at the middle school now.  THAT was great! :)  While we were there, we knocked on doors giving out information about our school and Common Core.  Basically, we wanted the community to know that we care... which we do.  You can't work in an area like this unless you care a great deal.  From there, we supported our community by having a catered lunch (a local catering company hosted us), and then drove around seeing more areas where our students live.  It was a really great day of visiting the community and bonding with our staff, and it was much more educational and important than sitting and listening to a boring speaker all day.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Oh What A Feelin'!! :)

You know that feeling you get when a lesson goes really well and the students really catch on to what you're teaching?  I had that feeling today!  My Matter Unit might be the death of me, but my students are doing REALLY well! :)

Yesterday, we poured different amounts of water into Solo cups and labeled each cup with it's mass.  We put them in the freezer and today, we determined their mass again to see if it changed.  More than half the class predicted that the frozen water would have a larger mass.  They were blown away when they saw that it didn't change! :)

After the water, I determined the mass of a ball of Play-Doh.  I manipulated it into a "bowl" and asked them if they thought the mass would change.  There were more this time that said it wouldn't change.  I even had responses like, "It will be the same because you're not taking anything away."  WOOOOOOOT!!!  I was jumping for joy on the inside when I read responses like those! :)

Next, we did an assessment probe called "Cookie Crumbles".  After this assessment, I still had a few students who didn't quite catch on, so what did I do?  Pulled out a box of Ritz Crackers and found the mass of one cracker (3 grams).  I asked the students to write what they think will happen when I break the cracker up into pieces and weigh it again.  FINALLY, every student got it!!  It was amazing!  It was great!!! We all went to lunch in a great mood!! :)  By the way, if your school doesn't have the NSTA Formative Assessment Probe books, you should make a request... They're great! :)

Tomorrow, we're going to have a Candy Bar Lab.  We are going to observe the qualitative and quantitative properties of fun size Snickers, Milk Way, and 3 Musketeers.  It should be fun! :)

Tomorrow is also the last day of Red Ribbon Week for us.  The kids (and teachers) are dressing up for their future career, so, naturally, I will be wearing my Polamalu jersey. :)

Everyone have a great weekend!  We have Friday and Monday teacher workdays! Woot! :)

Oobleck in 5th Grade? Why Not!

Today, we made Oobleck to go along with our unit on matter.  It didn't exactly fit in, but I thought it would be a fun activity.  And now that I think about it, it did fit in!  I made the students think about the properties of liquids and solids, and determine which properties the Oobleck possessed.  The students also made qualitative observations (even though they don't realize they did).  :)  A little note:  if you see a recipe online that says 1 part cornstarch to 1 part water, it's WRONG!!!  None of their Ooblecks worked, but I made a BIG batch using a whole box of cornstarch and 1 1/2 cups of water.  It turned out perfect and they were all able to observe/feel my batch.  It was fun... and messy.  (Since I was putting  my hands in it, I didn't put any food coloring in.)  :)

Y'all, I have literally cried over planning this unit.  It was added to the NC Essential Standards this year, and there is very little across the internet on a 5th grade level.  The hardest part about planning has been finding a way for students to discover quantitative and qualitative properties.  I have used practically every resource I've found.  I just hope it turns out well.  I don't think I would be so stressed out if I were just planning for my class, but I'm planning the unit for the entire grade level.  It's just been rough, but we're half-way there! :)  Tomorrow, we are going to use balances to see how weight changes when you remove parts.  (we're using rice)  I've had to beg and plead to borrow enough balances from the lower grades.  5th grade got rid of them a few years ago.  Dumb.  Later on in the week, we are going to weigh water before it is frozen and then after it's frozen to show that weight doesn't change.  On Thursday, we're going to observe the qualitative and quantitative properties of fun-size candy bars.  That should really be fun, and I'll let them eat the candy bars when we're finished. :)  But that will be a surprise!!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Class Friendship Bracelet

After speaking with my guidance counselor, we've decided to keep going with encouraging my students to say kind words and be a good friend.  She gave me the idea of having a class friendship bracelet.  (I don't remember where she got the idea.)  Basically, I will start out the day wearing the friendship bracelet, and when I see a student being a good friend or saying kind words, I will give the bracelet to that student to wear.  When that students sees someone being kind, etc, they will pass the bracelet to another student.  I'm hoping this will continue to improve my classroom climate.  The constant awareness of what it means to be a good classmate and friend has seemed to help a little bit.  Cross your fingers, y'all! :)

You're probably wondering about why I chose to make the bracelet out of elastic...  Well, if you haven't heard about them, Birchbox sells these great hair ties called Twistbands.  I received one in my Birchbox about 6 months ago and wear it on my wrist every day incase I need to pull my hair up.  All the kids are interested in it and have asked about it, so I figured it would be a great bracelet for them.  So, I went to Hobby Lobby and found some elastic that was very close to my hair tie.  I decided to put the orange glass charm on there to dress it up a bit.  AND to add a bit of CLEMSON to the bracelet. :)  (PS I think it's about time I order some new hair ties... that one is looking ratty!)

I will update on its effectiveness! :)

October Update

Yep... I'm still kicking.  I feel completely separated from blog world.  Those of you that are able to blog and teach deserve an award!  21st Century tutoring, clubs, planning, and cleaning keep me absolutely exhausted.

Overall, things are going pretty well.  Right now, my main challenge is trying to get my class to stop fighting with each other.  THAT'S really exhausting.  We are taking baby steps in the right direction, but sometimes it feels like we take giant steps backward.  If you have any suggestions for improving my classroom climate, my ears are open.  I'm reading The Best Halloween Ever right now, but I'm thinking of reading The Hundred Dresses next.  Have any of you read it?  Good choice?  I just ordered The Name Jar... it looks good, but I'm not sure it will have the effect I want.  Suggestions?

We just finished our Forces and Motion unit, and started Matter today.  We began with a cool experiment showing the changing states of matter.  The kids thought it was great!  We have several experiments as we briefly touch on the Water Cycle (more in depth once we get to weather).

Thursday, we are going on a field trip to see the Slim Goodbody Bodyology Show.  It's supposed to be pretty neat!  Since we are adding Human Body to the curriculum this year, we thought this would be a perfect field trip... even though we won't hit human body until the spring.  At least they will have some background knowledge at that point.  I'm going to add a video below if you're interested.

I hope everyone is well!

The Little Things

Today, I saw something that absolutely warmed my heart.  There is a student who has severe physical disabilities.  The last two years, he has finally improved to where he can walk, for the most part, without a walker.  Today, at recess, two of my students were playing basketball with him.  The only thing he can do is dribble, but they were being so incredibly sweet.  They would shoot the ball but let him dribble it.  At one point, one boy said, "Come get it, little guy!"  I had the biggest smile on my face.  I know if any parents were watching from their cars, they probably thought I was the biggest dork.  :)  That's ok, though.

Tomorrow, we are having a 5th grade dance until 4:00 to help raise money for our field trip fund.  Immediately after, I'm driving home to SC!! Woot!  My oldest brother just moved from San Diego to King George, VA, so he is driving home, too.  We're going to try to get tickets to the Clemson game!  I'm super excited! :)  My students (some now Clemson fans) are so jealous!  I'm going to be sure to take lots of pictures for them!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Go Tigers!!