We began the day with an end of the year 4th grade assessment that all our 5th graders are taking so we can get first snapshot of where we are after the 2 month break.
As they worked on that I went around, checked in with everyone and verified that they had mom or dad sign off on their 30 minutes of reading. I also collected those that returned the survey. Thanks for either completing the paper form and a special thanks that did the online survey. A somewhat funny & useful aside, I had three different couples complete the survey where both the husband and wife answer the questions independent of each other.It was great to read on the last question about “give me some adjectives that best describe their child,” in all three cases they gave unique positive adjectives.It proves how mom & dad each have unique relationships with their kids and each experience their child in a special way. As a teacher it was great to have the additional adjectives.
One of our early community building activities is reading from a picture book written by UCLA great John Wooden.He created the pyramid of success as a foundational teaching point while coaching UCLA. So every day we will discover two more of the 15 pillars of the pyramid and then have a class discussion and then time to write about that day’s two pillars. Today’s two were 1. Hard Work and 2. Enthusiasm. In the end they will make a Google Slide show artistically showing which each of the pillars means to them. They will also collaborate to make a pyramid of success poster. As we go through them, if you have time ask them to describe what they believe the pillars mean (e.g. what do you think enthusiasm means? Have you seen it home or in school?)
We tried getting 100% of everyone onto the new computer user names&passwords. We are now down to 3 of 27 can not get on. We anticipate by tomorrow to be at 100%! Then we will begin due much of daily writing and reflections using technology. It has been rough teaching Amish style the last two days.
The students also completed a pop-quiz. Not really, because the quiz was about myself, however they did an amazing job of remembering facts about myself. My preference for eating dark chocolate is clearly in the minority when it comes to the palettes of 10 and 11 years.
We also read as a class and discussed two magazine articles. The first one was a Time magazine article about how numerous schools have found success teaching and using meditation during the school day. This is not the exact article however it does explain some of the studies referenced in our article today. I then did a simple practice meditation that I was taught. Don’t worry I’m not getting new-age nor am I soon going to ask them for $2,500 so I can give them their own unique transcendental meditation mantra. It is a simple non denominational breathing exercise that takes 2 to 3 minutes top to complete and relax your blood pressure and bring your breathing back into normal range.
The 2nd article was from Mental Floss magazine. If you would like to learn about a lot of interesting things, increase your small talk abilities, then this is the magazine. In their back to school timed issue they talked about how school in the 1800’s and early 1900’s were more draconian than they are today.One over the top principal even went sybermetrics on his applied punishments and had documented the number of times he whipped, hit, slapped, used a ruler and pulled ears.The stories, in today’s modern world, seem way over the top and the kids got a good laugh and it is easy to remain grateful for being born in the early 2000’s.
They did their first free write in class -- 20 minutes -- no stopping and just writing and being creative. You are going to be trapped on a deserted island, who would you choose to bring with you. Some kids flourished in the open ended sessions, some couldn’t start writing and some begged to take it home and finished writing this evening. We will circle back onto these, add and edit and share these out.
We ended the day discussing the 50 states and capitals exam that happens in May 2016.It is an arduous challenge to memorize all 100 things. So students are encouraged to spend 5 minutes per week so when May comes, it will super easy to be successful.We also watched a great modern song that they could listen to that will help them memorize them.
Here is my website’s page with helpful links and you can download the actual maps that will be used.
Homework due tomorrow:
Due by Friday a free-write - it can be typed or written out. The subject? Tell me about your family. They should work on it a minimum of 20 minutes or 1 full page, whatever comes first. Students may exceed the one page. They are not to worry about their spelling or grammar. I’m just concerned with the content. It must be non-fiction and it can be however they wish to describe or define their family.
Please sign your student’s day planner once they have read 30 minutes.
A more normal homework schedule will begin on August 31st.
If you have questions or topics that you would like me to cover in Back To School night please let me know. It is Thursday, September 3rd and 5th grade is at 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Kind regards,
Mr. Hubbard
