Etch 'n Sketch Reflections

It's the week before break, and I'm exhausted. This is my post for the week. Mindfulness thought for the week: Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can. --John Wesley

I would say quiet is the best way that I would describe the week. I don't really feel like I can say that very often. All of my lessons went pretty much as planned, and tomorrow is already Friday, so I'm going to mark this one down as a win. Of course, now that I've put this into words, there is a chance that tomorrow will end up completely cattywampus (I'm knocking on wood at this very moment). In science, the students have been learning about the atmosphere this week. The unit we are in focuses on how Earth's systems (the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere) interact with each other. On Monday, we learned how the geosphere and hydrosphere interact in order to create wind in the atmosphere through the uneven heating of the surface. On Tuesday, the students learned about the different layers of the atmosphere by sorting informational tiles based on a resource they could use. We then used those informational tiles to develop models of the atmosphere o...

I wish for simpler times. I wish that my 5th grade students (and all students, really) could simply have the same 5th grade experiences that I had. It was just a completely different time, even though, to me, it just doesn't seem like that long ago. What I would call a "normal" childhood when I was in 5th grade would probably be considered a rarity now in many places. But that is just not the way that things are now. I think that the amount of mental health education that we do now, which is obviously incredibly important, seemed non-existent when I was in 5th grade. These are the times we live in. 20 years ago I was a senior in high school, and it was 20 years ago that the Columbine shootings happened. These shootings were, by my recollection, the first time that an example of school violence held the nation's attention. It just seemed so far away, though, like it couldn't happen around here. I don't know for sure, as I was still pretty much a kid at that ti...

When I think back to my years in 3rd grade, one occasional writing activity we would do was to write acrostic poems. Seeing as how this is Thanksgiving, the day dedicated to paying extra attention to what we are thankful for, I thought I would write an acrostic poem. The Office--I just finished the series today, and I am thankful for the hours of laughter! Holidays--having these days to surround myself with family and relaxation. Awesome colleagues--they have really helped my transition to 5th grade. New podcast episodes--they help to keep my before and after school commute enjoyable. Kindness--it goes such a long way. Friends--especially on dart night! Unbelievable students--they keep me on my toes! Love from my family--on the hard days, I know they are there for me! New school years--they are always full of excitement and new opportunities. Every student (yes, even the challenging ones)--they offer me the chance to get better at what I do. School--I love my job! Saturday...

I am feeling like this was the theme for this week, and I am defining as "teacher exhaustion due to student-friendship stress disorder." Common symptoms of student-friendship stress disorder are uncontrollable crying, irrational jumping to conclusions, and sudden unwillingness to talk to a friend about what is bothering you. Student-friendship stress disorder typically occurs due to a lack of empathy between friends, a reliance on a signal friend for all of your attention, or jealousy when a friend's circle of friendship begins to grow. Case Study 1: Student A is crying in class. Student B rushes over to console student A and to ask what is wrong. Student A does not respond. The case study manager, CSM, (also known as "teacher") intervenes and offers student A the opportunity to take a break for a moment to discuss the matter. Student A does not wish to discuss the matter but takes a break to remove attention from herself. After a short while, the CSM finds an ...

Wrapping up the first quarter also meant wrapping up the first unit on ecosystems. Our unit for the second quarter deals with the Earth's 4 spheres: the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The geosphere relates to the earth (soil, rocks, minerals, etc.), the biosphere is made up of all living things, hydrosphere is all the water, and the atmosphere is all things air. We are learning about how all 4 spheres work together in order to make Earth the wonderful place that it is, and we are investigating the different ways that the spheres interact. It will be nice because our first unit on ecosystems will provide the students with a lot of background knowledge for the biosphere studies of the unit. I've got a great set of short, engaging YouTube videos from the Crash Course Kids series that really help provide the students with a solid base of the concepts, and then we will be working on some projects related to each sphere. Throw in some occasional Kahoots and Quizle...

Just like that, the first quarter of school is done. It also brought about the end of our ecosystem unit. On top of it all, it was a very long week! I have been fighting a cold all week, so that is going to lead me to a rather abbreviated blog post for this week. Here goes! Monday: Students created and played review games to study for the ecosystem test! Students also began to take home the eco-columns. Tuesday: As a class, we completed a study guide, and students played review games with new groups (to test out the different games :-) Wednesday: Another round with the study guide to close up any misunderstandings/answer questions from the students and another round of review games; grades posted in the grade book for quarter reports. Today: TEST DAY! I haven't graded them yet, but from just working my way around the classroom during the test it looks like they did well. FUN TIP! If you type up your own tests, insert the students' names into the test, such as "________...