playing telephone

I could not for the life of me figure out why this student had a U-shaped piece of pvc in her desk, and after telling her to put it away three times during the day I finally asked -- what are you doing with a U-shaped piece of pipe in your desk?!?!?

Then half the class ran over to a big cabinet drawer full of the white plastic mysteries, and showed me how they read to themselves holding the pipe like a telephone (although a much larger phone than any of these digital children have ever used!) -- their whispered voices went right into the pvc and around the bend to their ear so they could perfectly hear what and how they were reading. Amazing!

I certainly do not recommend using anything that has been attached underneath your sink, and I'm sure there are copyrighted name brand models in those educational supply catalogs, but this teacher had simply bought bright white 2" P-traps and let the kids start reading!

haiku! gesundheit...

only 5 more weeks and I'll have my credential! Well, I suppose I could fail my CPR class and that would hold things up a bit, but I've inflated the lungs on those dummies so many times they know what flavor of gum I chew...

3rd grade is a crack-up; I really do have to turn away sometimes to keep from laughing at the pouting lips or dramatic attempts at self-control when their world comes crashing down with a wrong answer (or when they have to go to the bathroom). I love the serious, concerned concentration faces too, especially when their fingers are moving rapidly adding up 6 x 7.

Did a good lesson with goldfish crackers and adding fractions, very few fish were eaten and/or pulverized before their time. Next up is Haiku, which I've never done or studied or understood (regrettably, I'm not a big poetry fan), and I'll be observed and probably videotaped for good ol' California's requirements.

Dang, just realized that means I need to lose 10 lbs by Thursday!

Solar System to Scale

Damn, this is one huuuuuuuuge universe we live in!

My class is studying the solar system, which I can't claim to be an expert in but love learning about-- I get so totally blown away and amazed by some of the fantastically un-mind-wrappable concepts and facts, and it's so cool to share things with students and see them be amazed as well. One of my students today was shocked to realize "we" were out in space, just like all the other planets. I asked her where she thought we were, and as the words "on the ground" came out I could see the light bulb flicker (and stay) on.

so I want to do one of those cool Solar System to Scale projects where the students can go outside and place (chalk? clay?) sun and planet models and see just how far apart everything really is -- any suggestions?

I did see that for most models, even the smallest, the nearest star is still apprx 4000 miles away! See what I mean? Wow!

B22

Why does C. act the way he does?

from my lecture notes: "repeated behavior (classroom disruptions, attention seeking) has a motivation (find it!) and reinforcement (stop it!)"

So when I have a student like C* with repeated attention-seeking behaviors, I need to find his motivation -- why is he doing it, what is he getting out of it? What is he seeing, and where does he see it, that tells him his behavior is ok?

*side note re part of the problem: his Mom uses this phrase, 30 seconds after meeting me for the first time, regarding her son -- "spawn of satan" -- should I be worried? should I be extra careful not to piss off his Dad?