Back In Time

Just thought I would give you small glimpse of what we did way back on the first week of school. We did different science experiments each day. It started off fun and hasn't stopped yet!!!

Picture Day

Everyone looks so nice today. I think we should have a dress for success day at least once a month. The students are so amazing when they come in all snazzied up. They are more focused, polite, and courteous. Not that they aren't when they are dressed down, but even I feel a little nicer when I spiffy up with a tie. If you ordered a class picture today, it should be back in a few weeks.Don't worry if your child isn't posed right in the class photo at the bottom. That is not the one you purchased. That is me getting a quick shot for the blog. :)

Diamond Del

I sure hope your kids come home talking about all of the amazing things we do in our class every day. Today, they should have plenty to talk about after our Diamond Del adventure. The students mined for rocks and minerals and learned how to classify them. It was a great hands-on learning experience. We also learned that Diamond Del and his sidekick Joe, in the pictures below, were alum of our great WHES. One student said, "I feel like we are famous school." Indeed we are. Del and Joe have been friends since they were 5 and have been mining for students for over 18 years. What a great experience this was for our students!  

Creepy Crawlies

As if we did not have enough fun yesterday texting to the Promethean board, some creepy crawly friends arrived for us in the mail. As part of our end of the year study on animals, ecosystems, adaptations, etc, we observe some of our friends called Arthropods. Click the link there to learn more. Millipedes and "Pill Bugs" were on hand...literally as you can see. The kids were a little freaked out at first, but soon all the millipedes had names and were were walking all over your children. It was great!

We also observed an insect called a Bessbug. Click on the link to see more. You all may be a bit more familiar with this guy. I remember seeing lots of him on the dairy farm near where I grew up. These creatures were a little more intimidating to "get to know." There were a few brave souls though. I must admit, this was one of those teaching moments where I had to act like the brave one, but inside I was a weeee bit afraid of getting pinched myself!

ActivExpressions Debut

Today we learned how to use the interactive devices that I told you about yesterday. The kids were more excited than I thought. They all thought I had given them a smart phone. After the excitement settled a bit, I used the devices to have students text me information about their research they had completed on the Amazon Ecosystem this morning as we read The Magic Tree House book "Afternoon on the Amazon." All of their answers are then quickly displayed on the board opening up class discussion and allowing me to assess their understanding of the lesson. Of course, the kids new how to use them before I could show them anything about them. Don't you wish we never had to read the instructions on stuff like this? I was up here til almost 5 getting them set up yesterday. It was totally worth it!!!

Interactive Classroom

I love how techy my class has become this year. Check out the latest tool we are gonna try out tomorrow. These devices are called ActivExpressions. They allow students to text their answers to the board. The kids are gone flip!!! I'll try to get a video of us using them tomorrow.