Almost Done

We are almost done with our years at Woodbrook. We have some exciting things to still do. Wednesday we will be going to the Monon Center for a end of the year party!! We will be having a Talent Show on Friday ( sorry to all those old Woodbrook students who wish to come and watch, we are in the midst of renovation)!!!! For the Talent Show each class has a representitive who that class voted for.
5th grade is going to 6th grade and will be visiting over summer to get lockers, schedules and much more!! Sadly that isn't the subject of this report, so I am finished talking about that.
New Subject: Today Mr. Carter's class had gym today and a indoor recess because of the bad weather. We are all so sad.:(
Well I have a huge Math test to take so I have got to go!! Over and out.

Writer: Helper:
Maria Megan

The Hands of Giants

Forgot to write about our new class pet, a new turtle. At first I was a little scared about how Barton might react to this new turtle, but the first thing he did to him was cover him up, like the little one was his son.

His name is Roberto, named by George (who caught him) after Roberto Clemente, the greatest baseball player ever to live. Does this kid know how to get on my good side or what?

Thus far, Roberto and Barton have made 5-1 a very popular place. Now we just have to get his feeding times under control, and get a screen over his tank (hey, we used to have one of those...). The kids like to put their hands in the tank, which is freaking Roberto out.

School of Fish

What a successful bake sale we had yesterday at the choir program! We made about $350 for Relay for Life. A huge thanks to Mrs. Rigsbee, Mrs. Gatte, and all of the parents who sent in baked goods to be sold at the sale.

The book report is due tomorrow, so make sure your kids are all putting on the...uh..."finishing touches", which I'm sure is all they still need.

We've been talking a lot about personal responsibility in class recently. Caring for the classroom, trying to work things out on their own, etc. I asked who had seen the movie Finding Nemo, and asked what happened when Nemo got sucked into the filter. Everyone rushed to help him out, but then the black and white striped fish with the torn fin said, "Nope. Let him figure it out for himself." I related this to the way they need to view school. I teach them how to do it, and then they do it. However, I can't do it for them. I asked them what Nemo would have learned if they'd all pulled him out of the filter. The kids all agreed: nothing.

And I hope that after having had me, pushing them along and pulling them along, that they will have learned something. And I know already that they have.

Miracle Miles

The following is an open letter that I e-mailed to my local circle of influence today. I altered the names slightly to prevent stalkers from being a bunch of creepy lurkers.

Hey, Guys--

Just a reminder about Relay for Life coming up June 7-June 8, 10am to 10am. Several of you have already signed up, and I thank you for that.

Here's an update on what's going on for Team Woodbrook:

1.) It looks like we've met our capacity for the team members. They've started cutting us off at 20, but that doesn't mean you can't still register for Team Woodbrook! It looks like Eric F. had to start a new team (and I thank him for that). It's simply called "Woodbrook". As far as I'm concerned, I consider us to be one big team, and nothing about our team changes. Keep joining, and if you need to start a new team, just make it Woodbrook II or something like that.

2.) About on-site fundraising: SH is heading that one up. We're going to sell pulled pork sandwiches in the late afternoon/evening. I personally think this is awesome.

3.) Mrs. G and Mrs. R are holding a bake sale at WB Wednesday night (moms and dads of kids in my class, you know this already), and so that takes care of pre-event fundraising. But if you'd like to make a donation, I'm not going to stop you! You can make a check out to the American Cancer Society and either bring it into the school, or mail it to me at 4311 E 116th St, Carmel IN, 46033.

4.) I'm working with the kids on ideas for an activity during the Relay. As Carmel Relay continues to grow, we're starting to focus on this as being a big community event, beyond just the relay itself. The kids have had all kinds of awesome ideas, and I think we're going to go with the funniest one: dropping stuff off the top of the stadium and trying to land it in the target. Tell me we won't have any takers on that one. I still have to talk to the Logistics Committee on that one, though. Also, we're thinking about having "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" again this year, as last year it was a pretty major hit.

5.) For members of my class and their folks: So far, I've had five students sign up to help with the distribution of the Luminaria bags around the track from about 6:30-8:00. These tough guys are Michael C., George P., Nick S., Jack E., and Andy R. I'm sure we'll get a few more, but I wanted to give everyone the FYI just in case your kid is on that list and you're not planning on being there at that time.

6.) We're supposed to keep someone on the track for the whole 24 hours, with the exception of three of the hours. From 4:00-5:00 Saturday night is the Fight Back Ceremony, from 9:00-10:00 Saturday night is the Luminaria Ceremony, and there's one other time that I forget right now. The first lap after the Opening Ceremony (this might be the phantom hour) is the Survivor's Lap, so any cancer survivors out there, you might want to make sure you're there during that one.

If you'd like to sign up, please visit this site and sign right up. If you have any problems, let me know.

I'm really looking forward to this year's Relay for Life. Come on out and join the team and join the fun!

Best,
Jeff

All In a Year's Work

The book report project, which is rather involved, is due next Friday. Make sure your child is working on this at home. I'm actually toying with the idea of changing the due date to the following Monday, but that will take some doing. I'm pretty sure the grades are going to need to be in by the end of that week, and I'll be hard pressed to find the time to get them all graded during that week. I'll figure something out, but have them try to aim for Friday.

You know these kids; they're very social. I don't mean this in a bad way, but I'm working hard to keep them really busy up until the end of the school year. It's amazing how much they're growing up. If you look at the pictures of them from camp, they look like babies when you compare them with how they look now. They're growing up like crazy.

Baking Money the Old Fashioned Way

In response to a comment left on the blog yesterday (and again, I apologize for the lack of updates), we are actually shifting away from the car wash idea. We have decided to go with a bake sale at the choir show next Wednesday. It will be going on before and after, I'm pretty sure. Mrs. Gatte and Mrs. Rigsbee have set this up for the team, and I've very grateful.

If you have any questions, give them a call (they're in the directory, don't want to publish their numbers online!).

The kids have a book report project that you should have seen come home yesterday. It's due next Friday, May 16. Ask for it!