Mr. Hubbard's Class: dublin "dublin elementary" sharks "shark pride"

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Wednesday, May 7, 2014, Week 36 and Day 160

What another blessed two days. You have bestowed upon me more generous teacher appreciation gifts this week. I have a healthy wonderful blueberry plant which I am committed to keeping alive. Plus today I received a great collection of healthy yummy snacks while also PFC put on an amazing diverse healthy salad bar lunch. I am so grateful to work for such a beautiful learning community.

What have we been working on the last two school days? Primarily project based learning. We still manage to throw in some time for a quick math lesson, review and 15 to 20 minutes of Scootpad. Yet, the remaining time is spent on completing projects related to our Troll Article, Johnny Tremain, social studies summaries, Dead President project and finally a “super secret” project. This has entailed working with the kids regarding prioritizing, staying focused, understanding how utilize their time, researching and reading through their work on our class Language Arts website.

As a teacher the increase in projects is quite a paradigm change. Rather than being in the front of the class, I need to sit in the back so I can see the websites the students are choosing to work on. Then I handle individual questions and teach in one on one scenarios unique to each student. Frequently I feel like Lucky at the chocolate factory with questions and teachable moments coming in faster than I help students solve them.

Tomorrow we will once again work on the projects + reading that are due on Friday. If you can ask students when they get home how they are coming along with their projects (social studies reading + summaries, Dead President Project, the Johnny Tremain on-line comprehension questions, the Troll & Bullying writing, the secret project and finally their graphing work) that would be highly appreciated. My main goal is to help make them more self-aware and conscientious regarding how to plan and attack “projects” rather complete “daily” handouts and/or assignments.

Finally we have been taking time every day this week to share and discuss about how wonderful it is to have moms in the world!!! Tuesday’s discussion with the class seemed to lack enthusiasm for the subject and some of the kids shared out how they weren’t feeling the need to do much this week. I watched Kevin Durant’s NBA acceptance speech on Tuesday night and how he went out of his way to thank his mom and called his mom “you’re the real MVP!” and I knew I had to share this with the class. The five minute video is him thanking his entire family but he begins to discuss his mom slightly after the 2 minute mark.

Thank you for a great teacher week,

Mr. Hubbard

“[Kids] don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.”

Jim Henson

Homework:

Math

Various (X,Y) graphing and art will be the rest of the week’s homework

The Weekly Non-Fiction Reading/Writing is due on Thursday

Social Studies:

All the summaries from last week typed into the class websites by Wednesday.

Read pages 99-110 and be prepared to type the summaries into the class website on Friday.

Dead President 4th part is due on Friday.

States and Capital Tests study

Click here to see the list of activities at the end of the year.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Thursday, April 17, 2014, Week 34 and Day 146

We started the day by discussing with the students their pros/cons regarding their first SBAC experience. I was mostly worried about how they felt emotionally from the experience. The kids felt that Scootpad did a great job of helping them be prepared for the grammar and language arts section. Many students were shocked by the overall lack of questions however we discussed that this could be a reflection of it only being a practice year? If you have time please ask your son/daughter about their thoughts regarding their first taste of common core testing.

Having finished our Lewis and Clark section, we are working on our closing project related to the Corp of Discovery. The students are each going to choose the 10 most significant events that occurred on their trip. They will then in a few sentences explain why this is one of the 10 most important events. Then they will find where on the map the event occurred. This is asking to do some research from our book and online resources to figure out where they think events occurred and then be able to put it as a point on the map.

We are still working on our fractions and common core type questions. We finally completed our fractions test. Beginning tomorrow those that did not reach 80% will have an opportunity to review and practice fractions more. Others will have a chance to challenge themselves with some of the geometry concepts.

One thing to keep in mind is that I pulled the fraction questions from our newest bank of common core questions that we have in Oars. Some of these questions are unique from questions they have been asked before and it also makes it apparent that I need to evolve my game and show the fraction information in a way that will help them apply the concepts of fractions as they are now going to be assessed.

For example: They may be given a fraction of 2 / 3 then the students are asked to choose scenarios that are really equal to 2 / 3.

Three students only have two apples to share and they must share them equally.

Or Timmy only could read 40 minutes out of the minimum 60 minutes requested of him.

Or 2 divided by 3

So every student will receive a paper copy of the test and their results. All students that finished below 80% will receive an opportunity to retake the test. Students that have been working hard should not lose hope. We are all learning and changing as the “game” is evolving. So I’ll continue growing & improving and they too will continue growing and improving. Provided the determination and perseverance is there, everything will work out.

Regarding our math going forward for the rest of the year, 5th geometry is on the plate. Common Core puts a big emphasis on -- volume (with the assumption that area has to be a pre-known mastered skill) and graphing with X,Y coordinates.

So we began reviewing some basic geometry concepts, watched some Khanacademy, Brainpops and tomorrow we will continue practicing volume.

The discussion on volume also led into a great science discussion. We discussed volume versus mass when purchasing certain items (potato chips or bread versus purchasing milk or soda). This led to a discussion on density. This led to a discussion on density being greater in “regular” soda than “diet” soda. Then we hypothesized, like scientist, what would happen if we tossed unopened Dr. Pepper, Dr. Pepper 10 and Diet Dr. Pepper into a pool. Would all three sodas float to three different levels? Then we asked what would happen if we opened up the can under water? Kids were debating and defending their answers. I’m hoping someone with a pool and maybe a waterproof Go Pro will find out for us.

As discussed in the Tuesday email -- please have your kids continue practicing the 50 states & capitals. Also their homework should be focused on reading for enjoyment, math and on the Dead President report. See below for links that will help with studying the states/capitals, instructions for the Dead President report and tomorrow’s math homework.

Help make PFC some money. How? Check out the on-line auction at www.dublinpfc.org

I’m taking a winner out to Vals for lunch.

Mr. Franklin and I are going to play some kids 2 on 3 in basketball.

May 2nd, just 2 days prior to “May the 4th be with you” Day -- the DES guys (Mr. Franklin, Mr. Holbach and myself) are hosting a Star Wars and Beer (rootbeer that is) viewing in C-5.

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They're either speaking or preparing to speak.