Thursday, September 14, 2017 Inch&Miles, Place Value, Technology & Debate, Pooping in Space and Student Led Conferences

Is is really Thursday, and I am just updating the website now? We have been moving forward this week... Inch and Miles We continue to put forth progress in creating our pyramid slide presentations. The students should complete their presentations by early next week. Place Value -- 2017 version We continue to plug away with the place value process. Students are being challenged to understand the concept of how the value of a number increases by ten as it moves left on the number line (1's, 10's, 100's, 1000's, 10000's, etc..) and they decrease by ten as it moves to the right on the number line (1's, 1/10th's, 1/100th's, 1/1000th's, etc.....) Students have their first "real" test returned to them. They are to correct and analyze the problems that they missed on the test, have you sign the test result page and return this to me by Tuesday. Technology and Counterpoints Our reading during the day has focused on the concept of technology impact combined with the idea of counterpoints. So the phrases pros/cons are being discussed. We also have discussed idioms and different types of expressions. Feel free to throw out frequent idioms or point them out when you use them around the house. We have also had fun discussing how many people misuse the phrase "literally" versus figuratively. On a related note, we continue beta testing a language arts program that the district is considering purchasing. It is a humungous improvement from our now 12+-year-old adopted program. Today, the company, Wonders, sent a teacher out to teach a lesson using all of the tools available in the program. It is definitely modern, uses technology and has many collaborative situations built into the program. Therefore, if your kids tell you about "Mrs. Moore" teaching today, it was our guest lecturer. Science: Outerspace and the Challenges Living w/out gravity We had a spirited question and answer session regarding the challenges of our human digestive system when there is no gravity around. NASA's Space Poop Challenge How Stuff Works -- bathroom in space Goals and Studen Led Conferences Shortly, your son or daughter may approach you regarding goals you believe they need or for ideas. We will discuss it in class however sometimes they turn into the adults they love and whom they know will have opinions regarding the subject.
6 Characteristics of Top CEOs
Four Qualities that successful CEOs have
7 personality traits CEOs need
The schedule will come out later tonight.

Homework:

Reading and Reflection:

“At least” 30 minutes of reading Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening. Then complete the weekly reflection questions and reading journal. (video, type it out or handwrite it out)

Math:

Zearn.org and Eureka Math

Thursday evening: Take notes and complete Zearn.org Module 1 Lesson 12

Complete Module 1 Lesson 11 homework pages if not completed

in class.

IXLs Due Friday (“at least to 80” and GP = Graph Paper in math notebook):

Divide by powers of ten (5-J.1)	GP
Decimal division patterns over increasing place values (5-J.2)	GP
Convert decimals between standard and expanded form (5-G.5)
Equivalent decimals (5-G.6)

Brainpops (due on Friday -- movie and quizzes):

1. Information Privacy
2. Media Literacy Assignment
3. Ethics Assignment
4. Digital Compass Game

Is it Thursday already? 9/7/2017

Inch and Miles, Success and Character Education
We completed all 15 of the blocks to John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. Students began their first real group project today. They will be explaining in their own words what each of the 15 blocks means to them. They will also explain what some of Coach Wooden's quotes mean to them. 

Camp Survey and Plea for Donations..
We explain the little dance that we do where we can not explicitly say paying $300 is mandatory while also explaining that if we don't collect enough "donations," then we can not feasibly and realistically go to Outdoor Education Camp. I love bureaucracy and governmental solutions -- our legislators so often display transcending nuance crafting laws that I'm sure had the best intentions at some point. On a positive note related this issue, PFC does have some limited scholarships for families that would like donation assistance. Plus, the school is willing to set up any interest-free payment plan. In an ideal world, every student would attend this exceptional and life altering experience. So the school/PFC will work with you to make it happen!! We also make our case why you want to be a chaperone -- where the kids will remember you for a life time since for many kids you will be their first "mom" or "dad" in an away from home environment. Please do NOT send money in yet rather just send in your survey responses!!

Ms. Quon fits right in
If you son or daughter come home mentioning Ms. Quon, she is our student teacher through December. She is with us Monday-Friday. She is a local, and this is her first semester at teaching credential (technically + a summer session).

First the 30 minutes of reading + the Zearn.org 
We had a discussion about how to prioritize homework.  The reading every weeknight is a non-negotiable and just needs to happen. Then the Zearn.org is the basis of our math lessons, and then we bang out and work on our homework. Falling behind on Zearn means your son or daughter is allegedly working on a homework assignment figuratively blind since they have not yet had a chance with Zearn.org to interactively learn the lesson.  It is like attending a book club trying to answer questions about the book that you have not read yet. 

If you ever need more time on the IXLs, Brainpops, or the weekly journal, just reach out to me. While no one desires weekend homework, these are not as high priority as the reading minutes and the Zearn.org

Brainpop -- fixed for the kids but not for my account
All but one student has successfully logged into Brainpop. The have fixed the students' issues. I still can't see or change their passwords, so I'm hoping your son or daughter do not lose their passwords anytime soon. 

Place Value Lessons
Multiplying and Dividing by 10, 100, 1000 by moving back and forth through the place value chart seems to be working fine. The lesson on metric conversion is still a work in progress. So we will practice that some more. Tonight's lesson, #7, in Zearn.org is waaaay different than anything you were taught in elementary arithmetic.  It involves converting ones into tenths and/or converting tens into tenths. Heck, it involves converting tens into hundredths. It makes it easier for us to create number lines, find "mid-points" and determine when to round up or round down. Just like that, Eureka math has killed off: bunny hops when multiplying by 10,100 or 1000; killed off "look to the right, if it is four or less then you let it rest" when you round and killed off imperial measurements. Spoiler alert but your "Please Excuse Your Dear Aunt Sally" will eventually reach a similar demise. What has a higher kill rate? Eureka math or Games of Thrones? 

Weekly Reading Journal and Reflection Questions
Here is the video where I publically embarrass myself in the kickoff video. 

We met Ms. Quon, Brainpop not yet fixed, & more metrics

Circle Time:
We had a special circle time where we could get to know our student teacher, Ms. Quon. We also spent time sharing out how everyone tried to address the record heat days on Friday afternoon and Saturday. 

Brainpop Update 
Quickly, all the students who couldn't log in had their passwords reset to a common password. So everyone should be able to sign in and use Brainpop.
They told me that they fixed the teacher bug that I discovered, however, I can no longer sign into my classroom account. Therefore, I am unable to assign work nor see the user names of my students. 

Multiplying or dividing with 10s, 100s, 1,000s and the metric system
We are converting with metric length. Therefore, we are with transferring between millimeters, centimeters, and meters. 
We also had some fun taking competitive Kahoot.com quizzes regarding the metric system. We did a quiz where they worked independently, and then they did a quiz where they worked as a collaborative team.  I was so so proud of how the teams worked well together, supported each other and no one became upset or critique anyone when they got a question wrong. This class does a great job of helping each other. 

Homework -- 
It is a 20% shorter week for homework if you consider I only give homework on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. However, there are still four IXLs and four Brainpops due by Friday, therefore, the kids will need to organize and how they break down their responsibilities on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We discussed this as a class after lunch however they still should be strongly encouraged to not leave most of their IXLs/Brainpops until Thursday evening. 

8/31 Thursday -- It is a quick one folks!

Brainpop -- the saga continues 

Brainpop congratulated me on discovering a bug in their software. Currently, teachers are unable to change passwords of their students. Our situations are further complicated because teachers are never shown their student's passwords. So we have cases where students can't log in because they don't remember their password and I can't change it right now. They said they would get a programmer on this right away and tey will call or update me back once they fix the bug. 

If you child is positive that they know their password and they can't sign in at home -- try clearing out all Brainpop related "cookies." I did that for one student, and it did work!!!

Therefore, kids are getting an extension on the Brainpops this week. 

IXLs 
They are due tomorrow. 

Here is the link with the due dates and assignments for the entire year!!!

Weekly Friday Reading Journal + Reflection 
Remember students may either 1) Create a video response 2) Answer on-line or 3) Print up the document and write their answers. 

Here is the video link for the week.


As a reminder, the reading journal is a "soft" Friday deadline since they need to read for 30 minutes on Thursday as well. Therefore, just get it completed before the Monday morning of the next week. It is a reading journal and weekly reflection, so this can't authentically be "skipped" or "made up" after the fact (i.e., no one remembers what they read two weeks ago or what their goals were that week).



Stay cool....make sure they bring EXTRA water tomorrow -- it is going to be a record setting heat day!!

Wednesday 8/30 -- Brainpop Drama, Security Procedures, Math delayed by one day and Mr. Newell's Mindfulness

Brainpop Drama 
Please let me know if your child is having problems signing into Brain Pop at home, as I see issues on my end when resetting students passwords. Also, some students can't sign in even after Brainpop themselves emailed me that they corrected it. I'll be calling New York tomorrow morning while they have P.E. to get to the bottom of it. If your child has legitimately had Brainpop issues, please let me know about your issues. They will need to make it up however they should not stress about the Friday deadline. 

The new security procedures....
Thank you for your patience and support for the increased security changes made this year.  One of the security vulnerabilities that were addressed was the resolution to unwatched and unprotected students in the C and D Wing every morning between 8:10-8:25.  We appreciate all the families that have changed some long developed habits/traditions as we have created a safer community for the children. 

We are very pleased to report that student safety has improved. With the spirit of change and increased security, the teachers increased our teacher morning coverage by 50% (2 to 3) during the school arrival window of 8:10 to 8:25.  Most importantly prior the 8:25 bell teachers and administrators no longer discover students lingering in the C & D area outside our doors without supervision.  

As with any new practice, the implementation process has been a little bumpy, and there have been necessary tweaks & improvements. It is funny this week's language arts theme is "Trial and Error" where we are discussing being open to change course or opinions as we take in new information. Similarly, we are always looking to provide solutions to better our learning community.  Therefore if you have ideas to better protect the students during the 8:10-8:25 period, please let myself or administrators know. 

Brain Week + Beta Testing a new DUSD language arts program = less math time this week.
Therefore, the kids were not fibbing when they said I cxl'ed tonight's Zearn.org lesson. We didn't go over lesson #3 today in class, so I felt it was unfair to go forward without working with them. 

So what exactly is the homework as of Wednesday evening Mr. Hubbard?
I'm glad you asked. 
 ONE:   30+ minutes of reading every evening.  Thursday night -- the journal response or the video responses to self-reflection questions and their reading for the week.

TWO:  Thursday night -- watch Zearn.org lesson 4 


Due Friday:  The 4 IXLs 

Multiply numbers ending in zeroes (5-C.4)	GP
Multiply numbers ending in zeroes: word problems (5-C.5)	GP
G.3 Understanding decimals expressed in words
Model decimals and fractions (5-G.2)

Due Friday if technology possible:  The 3 Brainpops 

Speaking of Brain-Week:
Today the kids learned with Mr. Newell regarding Mindfulness. He shared with me the slide show the students used and learned from and it pretty amazing. I appreciate how Mr. Newell takes the time to update his presentation with new and relevant information that the kids will love. The kids were blessed to have his class today. 
Here is the link if you would like to check it out and you can even "quiz" your kids. 

Tomorrow and Friday will be more than a little hot; we can expect to have indoor recesses, and we also have P.E., Please remind your child to bring a water bottle and to stay hydrated.

Thank you for bringing such lovely kids to school each day!!

Mr. Hubbard

Happy week 2! 8/22/17

Let's catch up on the last two days...

Eclipse Day

At first, I thought the big guy upstairs was trolling us and we were going to have clouds cover the sky during the eclipse. Then around 9:50'ish the clouds cleared off and we could observe the eclipse. We looked at 10'ish, 10:15 (when it was 75% covered), 10:40 and then 11:15 when it was pretty much the regular sun again. Mrs. Cargo has a close friend that lost some site during the 1979 eclipse so I shared that story and we watched two different videos that had the kids keenly respectful of the power of our sun. So the kids stayed safe, looked at some history and we are all grateful for the Joshi family's glasses donation.

Circle Time
We spent time on both Monday afternoon and then this morning, doing circle time. I'm a big believer that to be the best teacher possible; you follow this saying, "People won't care how much you know until they know how much you care. " So we have used the time to share out about each other's weekends, discover what their favorite smells are, and learn what things they collect. Then I mix in some listening challenges, so the kids have an incentive to learn each other's names and also listen & learn about each other. We will do this once a week most of the year, and early in the year, we may even do it more than once a week. 
Ask you, child, what they shared that they collected, what scents do they love or enjoy and what they felt was memorable about their weekend. 

Reading "at least" 30 minutes every weeknight
We will discuss this on Thursday during the Back to School Night. I want to ease your responsibility from having to sign and return nightly the reading log. I also want the students to learn responsibility by choosing whatever they want to read and keeping up with the daily reading. They will then type or write out a paragraph on Thursday evening telling me what they read this week, what was interesting and sometimes I may ask them to write about something specific that they read. 

IXL and Brainpops
Every week the kids will get 3 to 5 IXLs and 2 to 4 Brainpops. I generally make ALL OF THEM due on Friday. However, kids should strategically work on them throughout the week. This will ensure that their Thursday evenings are not hellacious every week.  
Brainpops -- should be re-watched and quizzes retook until they earn "at least" an 8 out of 10 on the quiz.  Students created their user names and their passwords so they should know these and I asked them to write them down. 
IXLs -- should be worked on until they reach "at least" 80 points. If you feel your child should be challenged more, one of the easiest ways to work on their thoroughness and advanced math skills is to have them earn 100 points on each IXLs. Frequently the 92 points - 100 points are clearly advanced 5th grade or higher grade level arithmetic.  All students received a print out of their IXL user name and password. 

Eureka Math and Zearn Learning
That will begin on Monday next week. Watching Zearn will be a nightly expectation Monday-Thursday. 

Back to School Night!!
Thursday night!! The 4th and 5th grade is up first this year so 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. will be my presentation. If you have any questions, please email me ahead of time, and I will try my darndest to reply to them during the performance. Parking will be a challenge. On a positive side, there should be so many adults here at that time that the GATES should be flowing like a river and you should be able to access the C and D wing directly. 

 
Sheep Brains
Next Tuesday from 10:30-Noon'ish, our class, will be dissecting sheep brains. If you would like to help, we could use parental volunteers. 
Please complete this form and turn it into the office ASAP if you would like to help. 

We also need a volunteer to take home all the dissection materials, bleach them out and wipe them dry. They must be returned the next day since I am leading dissections each day that week. Every class is recruiting volunteers for the dissection days and also the cleanup duty. 
**We also could use some medical gloves donated to the class. The students and I all need medical gloves for the dissection process. 

I hope you can attend on Thursday evening!!

Kind regards,

Mr. Hubbard

Day four -- August 17, 2017

Solar Eclipse 
The famous solar eclipse will be this Monday morning. We were lucky to have the Joshi family donate glasses which ensures that everyone in our class can safely observe this historic event. Because we live in 2017 and everything and everyone can be sued, it does entail that I share with you an informational legal document. You ONLY return it if you would like your child to NOT participate in using the glasses and observing the eclipse. 


ClassCraft will begin tomorrow!
We have worked out our technology challenges, and the students will sign into Classcraft tomorrow. This does entail homework for you as well because parents do have the ability to give out "gold coins" during their time at home.  I will be asking for your ideas on back to school night regarding scenarios that you would like to see (making the bed, reading 30 minutes without giving you grief, completing challenging math, etc.).  It is 100% free, and you can install the app onto iPhones or Android phones. The kids are super fired up therefore, make sure to ask them to explain what it is all about.

Day Planners
I gave every student a day planner today.  We also spent about 40 minutes putting all of our holidays, significant school days, every collaboration Wednesday date, and field trip date into their day planner. So often you can now ask them when an important event is occurring.

Writing and Math
We did an end of year  4th-grade assessment that every 5th grader at DES is taking. The assessment will help give us a baseline regarding where all of the 130 students are. We have also begun writing on a daily basis. Yesterday they told me about their family and today they had to choose between being born with a third leg or being born with a third arm.

Homework???
That will begin next week, and I'll discuss this topic during Thursday's Back to School Night. Here it is in a rough nutshell:
1. 30 minutes of reading every Monday-Thursday evening. With no reading log.

2. Every Friday -- either a written letter (typed or handwritten) or a 2-minute video (left on Flipgrid) where the student explains in significant details what they chose to read over the four days that week.
3. 2 to 3 IXL math skills will be assigned.
4. 2 to 3 Brainpop movies + 80% or higher on the movie's quiz.
5. Every Monday-Thursday evening -- the student watches the Eureka math's Zearn.com lesson & practice before class. Then we use class time to work on the Eureka math homework.  Yes, you do not have to decipher or try and teach the new math strategies. Rather, you just proctor that your son/daughter completes that night's math lesson & activities (often they take 15 to 20 minutes to complete).
Throughout the week, though more challenging during shortened weeks, the students will be given the opportunity to complete the Zearn.com, IXL.com and the Brainpop.com assignments IN CLASS. Students that are focused will have little homework outside of the 30 minutes of reading while students that enjoy conversations with others or randomly surfing the internet will have more homework.

Day Two! 8/15/2017

Less talk about supplies and more time spent learning about each other!!

Gaming in class? Aka CLASSCRAFT
We did spend the morning discussing Classcraft. We are going to use Classcraft to both help offer parents feedback on how each student's day is going and also to have some fun. As a parent I appreciate how it allows you to limited hand out amounts of gold-coins at your discretion regarding homework @ home, studying @home and general overall effort towards learning while @ home. I am unsure if you can "take away" gold coins as a teacher can. We will find out together. Look for your parent invite in the next few days. In the meantime, ask your son or daughter to share what they learned about Classcraft today.
https://www.classcraft.com/#modal-iste-2017
https://help.classcraft.com/hc/en-us/articles/217901858-Inviting-parents-to-Classcraft


Getting to know each other time.....
We did the classic "Find someone who did ???? over the summer".  Then as an entire class, we shared out some of the similarities. Also, we began guessing who replied in what way to the day one survey titled, "This is me."  Students were then asked to answer six questions about themselves, and then we had a snowball fight!! I was attacked by 26 students all trying to bring me down with binder paper snowballs.

The Pyramid of Success
I value character, and I try to use the early part of the year to get to know each other and also make a point to discuss, write and reflect upon character issues. I use the book "Inch and Miles..The Journey to Success" written by the late John Wooden. Ask your son or daughter about 1. What is a success? 2. What is the pyramid of success? And then have them describe the four character attributes that we read about and discussed today: hard work, enthusiasm, friendship, and loyalty.

Get your head on straight
For the last year and a half, I have been using meditation in my class as a way to improve learning, specifically right after we return from our morning recess time. Numerous studies and many schools have found great success in teaching students basic breathing exercises, practice with focusing and learning to cut out the ever present stimuli in their life. We use the popular app/website called www.mindspace.com  The lessons are 100% secular, there are no references to religion, and there is absolutely no use of idols.   Much of the beginning lessons focus on observing our breathing patterns and challenging ourselves to turn our attention to how slowing our breathing and lasering our focus calms the body.  If you are skeptical, please feel sign up at www.mindspace.com. Both the website and the app will give you a free two-week trial and try the foundation lessons that we are doing at school. Also, feel free to discuss this with me if you have questions, suggestions or concerns.
Articles that discuss meditation:
The Atlantic Article
Slate's Article
Forbe's Article

I sent home a PG Movie permission slip; please consider signing it and returning it. Sometimes, especially on a Friday, we will watch part of a fun movie after lunch. The permission slip allows me to play most Pixar films and other kid particular movies.

Some people were having a challenge finding my Facebook page, so here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/mrhubbardsclassdotcom/
I like to post parent related articles there, and people are welcome to join or start a conversation regarding the articles.

I also need about ten more families to complete the survey:

Kind regards,
Mr. Hubbard

Day 1 is in the books....

It was a great day getting to know the newest group that I will spend the next 291 days forming a learning community. Yes, you have 291 days from your son or daughter becomes a middle schooler.

Supplies for days....

The first day often involves sleepy students with enthusiasm that sort of gets derailed as "we" as a class handles how to decipher all of the school supplies. We talk about what is donated and what is not given and how they may want to handle the items that they keep.  At this point, they want to keep a 3-ring binder, at least one folder, one math note book, one college ruled notebook and an envelope to hold their one to three pencils, one pen, one to two highlighters, and their markers if they choose to keep them. The extra notebooks (graphing and college ruled) may be left at home.

Items that we could still use donated to the class -- scissors. I have exactly six in my class so for art projects it would be great to have more scissors. Also, colored printing paper would be wicked awesome. Like I did tonight, in an ideal world I would send home important "please don't lose" form in a particular color. Then I could tell the parents, "hey, look for the orange colored handout in the backpack."

Long story, long....supplies take a lot longer than you imagine.

We did discuss eating in class, privileges versus rights,  using the restroom rules, changes to the bell schedule, and how to line up and go to lunch.  We also fleshed out my life and who "IS" Mr. Hubbard. Students are now well versed in my life, my likes/dislikes and where I came from.  We did do some dancing to Michael Jackon, invent some new handshakes, create some dance moves and have some movement. Finally, we did get onto the Chromebooks, joined my Google Classroom, and they answered an easy question. We also discussed our theme of "Today You, Tomorrow Me."

Please complete this quick survey, and it really does help me out. 

Also, if for some reason my brightly colored letter didn't make it home, here is my welcome message. 


Kind regards,
Mr. Hubbard

2017-2018 Is Upon Us!!

We are only five days away until our 180-school day journey begins.

This year's theme will be "Today You, Tomorrow Me!" If you have 8 minutes and you don't mind getting a case of the feels, give this a listen.  Listen to the story, "Today You, Tomorrow Me"  Or watch this part of the video (it is important to stat at 3:32):




If your child has me as their teacher this year, it will help me a ton if you could complete this form. I know you have already completed similar information for DUSD and then you had to write it on paper for the emergency forms; however, this helps me have my own readily available copy that I can save onto my hard drive. I greatly greatly appreciate you taking the 5 to 7 minutes to complete the form.

"Sleep Well to Think Well"
My son or daughter wants to know what they should do to be ready for Monday, what should I tell them?  If they haven't already, they should be going to sleep at their "typical" school bedtime. They should then also be having their alarm set for their "typical" school wake up time. If you have been napping on the importance of sleep in your child's life and your own, I will recommend watching this 12-minute video from PBS's NOVA

Anything else they should do?
They should come to school having a positive attitude towards learning, be willing to make mistakes and be kind.

My tale of "Mice and Pens"

As we get prepared for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year, I pulled up the 5th grade supply list for this year.
2017-2018 Supply List

Something seemed fishy right off the bat because I've been trying my best to repeal "erasable pens" for many years. I thought I finally had rustled up enough votes among my team that those hybrid pens would finally be removed from our list. Yet, there they were in the middle of the list.

A quick aside, my main problem with the erasable pen is my problem with almond milk, rice milk, cashew milk, etc..Those "phony" milk are NOT milk, they are nut water or something. Similarly, pen ink that "erases" is NOT pen ink.  Stay in your lane. Stop trying to be a pencil and stick to be the best pen that you can be.

We also began a few years back requesting or strongly suggesting a  "wireless-mouse." As our Chromebooks age, the mouse pad in the middle does NOT age gracefully. The closest thing to botox or plastic surgery for a Chromebook's mouse pad is the wireless mouse.

Other things that were requested for the upcoming school year that didn't make it onto the list:

colored paper -- having colored paper allows us to send home information that sticks out. 10 or 11 years have a habit of just shoving important paperwork into the Twilight Zone of their backpack.

Smaller three ring binder -- the 2-inch binder is just WAAAAAY too large for our young 10 and 11-year-olds.  A sensible 1-inch binder makes taking it out and lugging it back and forth every night much easier.

Scissors -- we have not asked for scissors in the last five years. Guess what happens to 30 scissors over five years? They become about eight small bland hardly working scissors that no kid wants to use. So we needed to replenish the classroom scissor cache.

Long story short, if your child is at Dublin Elementary School 5th grade for the 2017-2018 school year, click here to see the supply list that 5th grade intended to make public.  If you bought on-line, it will  be different from the changes we proposed. Please do not go out and purchase new things. We will make due with what we have.

Student Led Conferences.

Beginning next week we will start our student-led conferences. It is a magnificent time for the students to take the lead in their education and see that their choices are the driving forces in their success going forward.

A parent asked recently why we do student-led conferences when they do not have an opportunity to do them while in middle-school or high school. I'm confident that teachers in the upper grades would see the value in this however logistically it would challenging with all of the various classes a student takes in a given semester. Some high schools do demand a portfolio be created as criteria for graduation. I would make the argument that the self-driven collection would be a student-led evaluation/conference.

The meetings will run for 20 minutes. The students will create goals, specific areas they feel most confident in and areas that they want to focus their attention on growing. Parents and myself with have an opportunity to change or modify goals and engage in a great conversation.

I am using Google spreadsheet for parents to select a time for the student and his or her family to attend the conference. If the spot is open, then you place the student's name in the column that says."student name."  Please do not write over someone else's name and please let me know if your family can not make the meeting.  I created 41 spots for 28 students, with some early morning, some into the later evening and some after school ends. If you still can not find a time that works, please reach out to me and I can try to accommodate you. Also, you are free to bring younger siblings. They may hop onto a Chromebook, read a book or wait outside on the classroom bench.

On some rare occasions, parents have a hard time typing their name onto the Google sheet (especially with the popular iPhones). Therefore I strongly suggest using a desktop or laptop to view the link.
To protect student/family privacy, the link will come in a separate email from this posting.
I am enthusiastically waiting to meet every family!
Kind regards,
Mr. Hubbard

Monday, August 29, 2016

8:30-9:15 Circle Time

Introduce assistant teacher Ms. Walsh

Introduce each other to her

Tell us something about your weekend

9:15-10:00 Singing w/ Ms. Jones-Heinz

They did awesomely

10:00-10:15 Return the class to straighten things up and prepare for the remainder of the day

10:15-10:30 Run, Snack, and Play

10:30-10:45 Meditation (Lesson 9 of Course 1)

10:45-12:30 Rolling Out Eureka Math

Keep these two resources at your disposal:

• https://moodle.pleasantonusd.net/mod/page/view.php?id=16185
• http://www.oakdale.k12.ca.us/ENY_Math5_Modules

Notes from today regarding Eureka Math:

1. Green Book -- for class work and homework
2. The homework examples are on line...Youtube
3. The answers to the homework problems.
4. If you forget your book, all homework assignments are on-line, you may print them up. They have eliminated all excuses.

Add zero to every number

Count all the zero = the number of zeros in your answer. 10, 100 or 1000

When you multiply by 10, just add a zero at the end

12:30-12:40 GoNoodle and Birthday Celebration

12:40-1:20 Eat, Play and Get Oxygen to your head

1:20-2:00 Go over homework expectations and resources with Eureka Math

Tonight’s homework:

Module 1 and Lesson 1

Must do’s  1, 2, and 4

Should do’s 3 and 5

Superstars 6

Reading Log Fiction Week #2

30 minutes, complete front side & do activity on the backside

IXLs due on Friday

• Multiply numbers ending in zeroes (5-C.4)
• Multiply numbers ending in zeroes: word problems (5-C.5)
• Place values in decimal numbers (5-G.4)
• Model decimals and fractions (5-G.2)
• Understanding decimals expressed in words (5-G.3)

Day one in our 2016-2017 adventure

Today began the process of putting a learning community together. Therefore, we talked about some rules and procedures. We share a little about ourselves. I quizzed myself about the names. I know about 24 of the 28 students names already. I'll be at 100% by the close of the school day tomorrow. We also tried to make some sense of the supplies and clarify what do they keep and what because communal property.

We discussed the importance of reading.
We discussed why gum doesn't stay in your body beyond 24 to 72 hours.
We got up and running with "Would you rather?"

We ended the day discussing end of the day procedures, reminding them to give you homework and  practicing being released for the day.

Parent Homework

Homework Assignment #1:
If you can please complete this quick survey, I would greatly appreciate it.

I realize that you already completed this for our larger district information system. However, teachers do not have easy access to that information.  By you taking the 5 to 10 minutes to complete this survey it will help me when I need to text, email or call you since it will be in a Google file that I save on my phone, tablet, and standalone computer.

Click here to help me build up my classroom contact information.


Homework Assignment #2:

The school and my classroom will be using the web service called remind.com
If you could join my class, I can text you when I have new information. In fact, you will have the choice to receive the information as a text, a notice on a smartphone app or just as an email.
Please make sure to select the "role" of parent when signing up. 
Click here to join my remind classroom

Teaching the Teachers on August 11, 2016

As you begin today's class, it would be great if you would please complete this short quiz.

I will be showing the class answers up on the screen so they won't be 100% private.

Click here for the quiz

I'm back and where did I go?

If looks like I have left everyone, that is only partially true. I have been a writing machine. However, I moved much of my parent and student communication elsewhere.

For the students, I moved directly onto using Google Drive and Google emails.   Using these two mediums of communication allowed me to freely communicate with my students, include photos of them working throughout the class and gave us "security" of teaching in an enclosed/safe environment. I have always felt hesitant using complete names on this website since my students may not want their successes of a ten-year-old to show up in their Google search when they are twenty something years old.

For the parents, I moved onto Class Dojo and daily emails. The daily emails are the same safe environment like the one with the students. Class Dojo allows me to share immediate feedback with my students' parents regarding how my students are doing. It also allows me to share out photos with them in a safe environment where my photos can not be downloaded or saved. Class Dojo once again offers my students some safety from having their photos and work shared on the world wide web.

Another plus to using Class Dojo? It is a phone application as well. Not every parent is addicted to their email, therefore, having a phone application that cuts through the noise and gives an immediate phone notification has been extremely effective in reaching 100% of my students' parents.

For similar reasons as Class Dojo and the effectiveness of phone applications, I use Facebook to share resources and references regarding parenting, being a student and just items I find humorous.

So those are the reasons that my "official" website looks bleak and forgotten. However, I owe my parents and students more than that. As a big fan of Restaurant Impossible I have seen first hand numerous restaurants that serve amazing food and service however if the restaurant looks uninviting or rundown, it hurts the bottom line of the business. Therefore, I will be moving more of my Facebook posting onto here first, add some of my commentaries and then post it onto Facebook.

Student Council 2015 2016 Election

Click here to vote in the 2015-2016 Dublin Elementary Election