Family

Mrs. Suder sent me these pictures today. She is an aid in our lifeskills classroom. Her message said, "You've got some wonderful kids in your class."

I agree. I have twenty-three of them.

Thank you, Mrs. Suder!

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

A special thank you goes out to Mrs. Alderman, Mrs. Elshire, Mrs. Zimmer, Mrs. Reasoner, and Mrs. Arbuckle (blast from the past!) who all came in for today's big Spring Party. Kindness rocks were made, bingo was played, and a great time was had by all.

Everybody have a fantastic spring break! I will see you in April!

Eat or Be Eaten

Yesterday in science, the kids played a game called "Eat or Be Eaten." They had to create food chains by matching up lines of predators and prey. It was really fun, and it ties in with the activities we will be doing when the kids come back from Spring Break. The creatures are coming!

Posted On "Tuesday"

Here's my intended post from yesterday. Sorry I never got around to posting it last night.

Yesterday I was owned in chess by a fifth grader during indoor recess. It actually did make my indoor recess time much better, because I really loathe indoor recess time.

We talked about wildlife adaptations. We learned about why a hawk might live in New York City, and the fact that when an animal lives in a certain area, it always turns out that the entire food chain of animals lives in that same area.

In reading, we read the first part of a story about trash, and one sass-mouthed girl who lives in the barrio and does her small part to take care of it.

Lastly, we talked about the proper use of quotation marks, and we also talked about how they are often improperly used. Here are a few funny examples I actually showed the class today from a blog called Unnecessary "Quotes".







I hope everyone has a very "good" Wednesday today.

The Quiche Equation

As I told the kids in math this morning, I was very busy last night making quiches for the staff breakfast this morning. That not only explains why I didn't end up doing a blog post yesterday, but it also proposed an interesting question for my math class.

The preparation time for quiche is fifteen minutes, and the baking time is 30 minutes. I asked them how long they thought I expected to be making quiche. Of course, they responded with 45 minutes. So then I asked them why I actually ended up spending 2 hours and 45 minutes last night making quiche. (It's ridiculously easy, just in case you've never made it.)

I got all kinds of answers, and all of them either were, or could have been, factors into what took so long. The chopping, preheating the oven, taking everything out, putting everything away, the fact that I made seven of them, and therefor had to take two baking cycles to complete them all...they all went into the time it took.

This brought me to my next proposed question, which comes from Math Blogger (and high school math teacher) Dan Meyer. Which line should you get into at the grocery store if you are in a hurry?

This led to a great discussion among the class. The check out times would make the line of the carts with fewer items make some people want to get behind the cart with nineteen items, while some people said that the one with only eleven items total made that the faster line. Discussion came up about coupons, chatty cashiers, forgotten items where someone had to run back and get eggs, and an item that just wouldn't ring up.

This stemmed from a conversation where we had calculated how long it would take two competitors to complete a triathlon. We can show who should win on paper, but there are a lot of other things that go into it. Not everything has an exact solution. In fact, very few things in life do. It was kind of fun to go there with the kids this morning, all of whom are very trained to be able to find out an exact answer using mathematics. But as you and I both know, you have to understand that there are always x-factors. 

Leapfrogging

Profoundest apologies that I will not have the kids' report card comments by the end of the day today. Sorry about that. I found myself getting a little too detailed for my own good.

This is for the week AFTER spring break, by the way. It's Wellness Week at Woodbrook from April 9-13, 2018. More information will follow, I'm sure.

MONDAY….is NEON Day   

TUESDAY….is BLUE and GOLD Day

WEDNESDAY….is TIE-DYE Day 

THURSDAY….is JERSEY Day

I will be out at the end of the day today, but I will try to give any updates when I get home later on this evening.

Thanks!

Even Our Weather Problems Are First World

Well, we did get a bunch of snow after all, didn't we? I was kind of convinced that it wouldn't happen. Five years ago, we had a snow day on this day. It's true, believe it or not. My Facebook feed popped up with the fact that I said it was going to be a snow day! It's not really as crazy as it sounds, any more than the fact that we have very warm days after September 20--it all evens itself out.

I hope everyone is safe and sound. Come on, it's one more excuse to feel as if you're enduring some sort of hardship while staying inside. It didn't even stick to the roads!

The Un-Selfies

Students, parents, and teachers- Unfortunately I received the below email from Gleaners. Looks like the weather is not going to cooperate. Really bummed because we had 35 students that wanted to go as well as 28 willing parent volunteers. I love that we had so many interested. I don't think we will be able to reschedule since we booked this 6 months in advance and Gleaner's fills months in advance. My family has volunteered in the food pantry and I hope that if you get the chance, that you will try to volunteer there some other time. Thanks.  
Tina Fleming

Hello,

Due to forecasted inclement weather, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana will be closed on Saturday, March 24^th.

Please inform all of your volunteers that we have cancelled the volunteer sessions for this weekend.  We are sorry for the inconvenience, but the safety of our volunteers, clients and staff is our main priority and we want to give everyone enough time to spread the word!

Bummer! This is one of my favorite things of the year! Well, I at least wanted to shout out Sam, Taiylor, Ava, Wyatt, Rafael, Evelyn, Kiarra, Alex, and Connor for being un-selfies and volunteering tomorrow. Plus their awesome parents, who were also going along with us. You people make the world a better place.

We need to figure out something like that to do this summer.

You'll Get Them Soon Enough!

Parents: Just as an FYI, you will notice when report cards are published tomorrow that they do not have comments on them. I am going to do typed-up comments that the kids will receive on Monday to take home with them.

Can't believe we are already in the final quarter! They are really going into overtime to try to pull the kids away from us before we even get the chance to teach them everything this year. Come on, people! It comes soon enough!

Disappointment on a Thursday Afternoon

Unfortunately, our day did not end on a high note. During the third grade musical, I had group of students who were all sitting together who were laughing loudly and making fun of the third grade soloist. There were multiple outbursts, and Mrs. Callahan and Mrs. Sommers had to get involved because I was sitting behind two other talkative students at the time. Also unfortunately, the kids went to recess right after the musical, and came back in right before getting on the bus. We will have to wait until tomorrow before I am able to discuss this with those kids, but the kids should know that this type of behavior is absolutely unbecoming of a fifth grader, and especially a 5-1 student. I told them that I was completely embarrassed and that I will talk with them tomorrow. I told them that I would try to speak with those kids alone, because it is not something that everyone was doing--but it was a significant enough portion of them that I felt the need to say something about it on here.

Before that, we had a pretty decent day. We had Math lessons on interest and tipping and taxes, we did an introductory lesson on prepositions and prepositional phrases, and we read more of the Flashback Four's trip to the Titanic.

Have a good evening.

Neighbors

Students know that I have a letter from Mister Rogers framed in my classroom. It's one of my most prized possessions. I've read that he would personally respond to every letter he received. I know that it's true.

Doggone it, he just made this world a better place and nothing else.

Adventures in Interest Rates

Today, we talked abbreviations of people's titles, more Constitution, finished an adventure with Abraham Lincoln and started one about the Titanic, confirmed that the students know what an adjective does, learned lessons about tipping, taxes, and interest in Math, and I know there was a lot more than that, but it's late.

I hope to see everyone at Gleaners on Saturday!

Talk soon.

Playing Catch-Up

I realized early on today that my students do not know their parts of speech as well as they should. This isn't something a fifth grade teacher really wants to realize in the last half of March, so we are going to be doing some more work on that very soon, because I'm not going to feel great about sending them on to sixth grade not knowing what kind of word describes a noun.

Other than that, we spent much of the day identifying things that needed to be handed in, working on things like vocabulary, the Constitution, and stuff like that. In math, we caught up on Math Boxes while I got some things finished and touched base with a couple of kids about stuff they needed to work on.

Okay, it's been a long day, and it's time for me to head out. Happy Tuesday!

Point and Counterpoint

It hit me today that next Saturday is the volunteer day at Gleaners. If you think you and your child might be able to make it, please let me know ASAP and I'll get your information to Mrs. Fleming.

This week, we will have a project on the Constitution, a spelling test, and we will be working toward wrapping up chapter 7 in Math. In Language Arts, we will be talking about indirect objects, prepositions and prepositional phrases, and of course we will continue on with our reading.

My heart is a little worn out after watching Purdue and Butler and Michigan State today, but I hope you have all had a great weekend. Plus we had some incredible weather today, so there's a lot to be thankful for right now.

And now, as if my bracket wasn't busted enough, UNC was just beaten. Why am I always surprised by stuff like this?

Not Everything Has a Name

I worked with Tripp Zanetis way back in the days of ancient history--the late 1990's and the early 2000's--at Camp Tecumseh. He was one of those children who came up through being a camper, became a Counselor in Leadership Training, a Daycamp Staff member, and then eventually a part of the resident staff. By that time, I was large and in charge of the resident staff as a summer camp administrator.

What was always impressive about him from the time he was a kid was how collected and calm he always seemed to be. By the time I left, he was working as a firefighter in Carmel. All I knew is that I was happy to know someone who worked in Carmel (even though I do not believe I ever saw him) when I first moved here.

Today I found out a few things. He became a fire marshal for the FDNY after the 911 attack. He was then deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. He had to have been about 20 at the time, and had done more substantial stuff with his life than I had at 26.

He graduated from Stanford Law School. At the time of his death, he was a member of the 106th Rescue Wing of the New York National Guard.

Is there a word for the weird feeling of sadness that comes from the loss of something that hadn't affected you for years and years, but in the back of your mind, you must have known that the world was a better place because of someone's presence? That's what's going through my mind today. I know that his family and friends have to be feeling an incredible loss today.

I know that he made Carmel a great place before it was a place I was ever going to work, and I know he made camp a great place as well. As I said, he must have left a gaping hole in the lives of the people who knew him day to day.

Lucky Class

Today, Area 51 received a visit from one of my favorite people--my sister, Mindy.

She brought a couple of books with her to read, and she let the kids choose which one they wanted her to read. Before they came back in from recess, I told her that I knew for a fact that they would choose the one with the gorilla on the front. Of course, they had to prove me wrong and choose the other one, which was a hilarious book about the origin story of rock, paper, scissors.

She then answered questions about her favorite subjects in school, her sports, her job, and everything else about herself and us as brother and sister. Then she even hung out with us until the end of the day, and sang our Friday song with us.

What a great way to end a fast and eventful week.

He Positions and Shoots

This week has gone really fast and it's been so weird.

Tomorrow we will have our spelling test. The kids have either finished or are finishing their memoirs, we've learned about direct objects ad nauseum, we're still learning all about the Constitution, and we are working hard and hammering down on the couple weeks before spring break.

Oh yeah, plus we filled out our brackets today. There's nothing like the last minute--literally.

Talk soon!

Letters to a Young Mathematician

Well, today marked a few losses in life. The mother of a colleague died. Michael Fleisher died. And Stephen Hawking died.

Of course, Stephen Hawking is the most well-known of the deceased. The world's most famous astrophysicist dying isn't something that happens every day. The victim of a motor-neuron disease since 1963, he has lived a full life and continued to be one of the thinkers most responsible for a whole bunch of theories that I cannot even pretend to comprehend.

Rest in peace, Dr. Hawking.

You probably have never ever heard of Michael Fleisher, but he was a comic book artist. This hit me today, especially for his cover to a comic book (which way-predates me, for the record) of The Spectre.

I had thought of this very cover recently because I kind of wished someone with the power of the Spectre on this cover would have been around when the guy was shooting the kids in Florida and the police officer in Lebanon. I know it's dorky, but it was kind of ironic that he died so soon after those events.

Today was Pi Day. We worked on pi-related problems in math. I was happy that the kids seemed to cooperate for the most part while I had a sub for a meeting over at Clay. All in all, it was a pretty solid day.

Other than people dying. That part stinks.

The Age of Persuasion

Today we have been talking direct objects. If your child seems to have a hard time with this, I would suggest having them watch this video. It also contains something we will be talking about in the near future, indirect objects. So they may get a little bit of a preview into what we will tackle next.



We are also talking persuasion. In our crab books, we are reading some persuasive essays. The important thing is the distinction between persuasive essays or writing and straight-up non-fiction writing. It's kind of hard to find the non-fiction stuff in today's world, and students need to have a good understanding what the difference is and how to spot it.

In Math, we talked about making healthy choices (it was seriously the name of the lesson provided by the curriculum!) using unit rates--along with the prices of horseradish and ginger.  We're also talking angles. Each lesson in the foreseeable future will have two components, because I have discovered kind of a gap between what they have the kids do at the middle school in sixth grade and what we do in sixth grade math here.

During our Social Studies time this afternoon, we are taking a beginner's look at the U.S. Constitution. It's an important thing to say the least, because you never know, we may have some future Supreme Court Justices in 5-1. Even if not, it's important to know your rights. 

For What It's Worth

I have to admit that this was probably Monday as usual.

We started a new chapter in Math, a new unit in Health (Science, technically), and we talked about direct objects. We had a new spelling list also.

The day was a blur for me, but that could be because of the daylight savings time thing. I think that's the lamest excuse in the world, but it's all I can think of! Hope you all had a good day today.

More to come, I'm sure. 

Having Your Cake and Eating It Too

Last week, I had an experience that illustrates one of the things I love about being a teacher.

I was tutoring a ninth grader in math. We were doing quadratic equations, and if you remember doing quadratic equations, you will know that most of them end up with two possible answers, which indicate the x-intercepts of the parabola.

He started telling me about this thing his teacher told him about. Like if there was a cat in a box with a little bottle of poison, you wouldn't know if it was alive or dead. I interrupted, "You mean Schrödinger's Cat."

He said, "Yeah! That's it. That shows how there can be two possible explanations for each problem."

I told him that I always thought that the cat story was just a mental exercise.

He went crazy.

Since he was a fourth grader, this kid had never once educationally had a one-up on me. He was jumping around, shouting "I just schooled Mr. Carter!"

He loved it, and he assumed I hated it. I didn't, though. I love it when I learn stuff from occurrences like this one.

Honestly, it has been in the back of my mind ever since. I know it's dorky, but it's one of the things I love about my job. It makes me feel like a better teacher.

Yes, it's beyond the scope of fifth grade, but somehow it makes me feel better about my position in teaching elementary school. My mind is stronger, and so is his. It's definitely a win-win.

Incredibility Gap

Hello, everybody! Hope your weekend is going well and that everyone is having an easy time having lost an hour.

I am still grading my way through Friday, but I have to say the Math tests looked really good!

This week, we will have a spelling list as usual, so homework will be as usual. The kids' memoirs are due on Friday, though. Some already have them finished, but I will be trying to get everyone caught up by Wednesday or so, because this week is the end of the third quarter (how did that happen!?).

Broken City

We have been working hard on our memoirs in class. The kids are doing a combination of typing up their finished project and doing a comic version of it. I'm really pleased with what I've seen so far. I was relieved to find out that our quarter does not end tomorrow--I thought it was tomorrow, but turns out it's not until next Friday!

We also discussed the Battle at Yorktown today, which brought the American Revolution to an end. Tomorrow, we will finally put a button on it with the Treaty of Paris.

I hope everyone has a great evening. This week went by fast!

Another Meeting Down

The big news for today is that we will have a spelling test and a math exam (my math class only) on Friday.

We got through another day today unscathed, all is normal in 5-1 right now, and I will be at Woodbrook for the entire day tomorrow.

We are over the hump this week, and more news will surely follow.

While the Cat's Away, the Mice Will Play

Sorry for the late post tonight, but here were the highlights from today:

• The kids performed a play today about a ghost town (formerly a boomtown) called Rhyolite. They did this with the sub while I was away at a meeting, and my understanding is that it didn't go all that well, actually. We will review it tomorrow and look at it from a different point of view. When the cat's away, the mice will play.
• Tomorrow afternoon, I will be gone after lunch. I will leave much more work-intensive lesson plans for the substitute this time!  

There will be more to come for sure; I'm just exhausted right now. Talk soon. 

Just Wait Til It Changes

Hello there, everyone.

We had a pretty good day today, I have to say. We got a few things done. As promised, I'm giving a series of exit slips this week, and I may just try to utilize more of these in the coming months.

We will have a Math Exam on Friday, and a study guide will go out by Wednesday--hopefully tomorrow. It's kind of hard to have a full-on test when our unit was interrupted by a week because of ISTEP.

I hope you all have a great week. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Ashley

Happy Birthday, Ashley!

Ashley is one of the most unsinkably happy girls in 5-1. She is the perfect combination of outgoing, confident, and kind. She is friendly to everyone, and doesn't put up with anyone's garbage. She knows she deserves better than that, and she gets it without ever losing the smile from her face.

She is a natural leader. She's a soccer player who can more than hold her own on the basketball court. She can knock the boys around without a single speck of what makes her a lady. She is a consummate finalist in silent ball.

Her talents are not just in the arenas, though. She always has her hand up with an answer. When she's right, it's no biggie. In fact, when she's wrong, it's no biggie either. (A teacher's dream!)

Ashley, you're one of my favorite people. I certainly hope you had a fantastic birthday. You definitely deserve it!

March Forth!

This week we have to dive right back into our non-ISTEP schedule, complete with homework. Don't worry; it's not too much. We'll just be back to the previously scheduled normal.

We are going to try to wrap up our memoirs this week--in time for the end of the term, I'm hoping. I love how quiet the kids have been while we've been working on them. Always a good sign.

We will also be trying to end the Revolutionary War this week, which may be easier said than done. Don't worry, though. Instead of another big test, I'm going to give them a series of exit slips to get through the Treaty of Paris.

I will be out of the building (almost done!) twice this week--mid-day on Tuesday (I'll be at Clay, but back before the afternoon), and then at the end of the day on Wednesday (at Carmel Middle).

That's the week at a glance. And don't worry, Ashley, I didn't forget your birthday. It will be up by day's end!

There's Something Kind of Fantastic About That, Isn't There?

Today in class, we took a hard-earned day of respite with a movie day watching The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I was pleased to find out that most of the kids had never seen it, and even more with how much everyone was into it. I heard them picking up on subtleties in this movie that I haven't heard in years past.

One thing we've spoken about in class, through everything from memoirs to the writings of Dan Gutman, is themes. I love how much this class appreciates threads that run across subject matters and works and just plain coincidences.

Stuff like this makes even a movie day feel like a pretty educational experience. 

Overshadowed By the Rebound

I was really impressed with the amount of time the kids put into their testing this morning. It was a 37 (I think) minute test, and almost everyone used more than thirty minutes of it.

Tomorrow is the kids' reward--movie day! They have earned this one in the past few weeks, rife with twists and turns in the schedule, substitutes coming and going, and great reports. Yes, we hit a snag or two earlier this week, but it's been overshadowed by the rebound.