In kindergarten...

We all learned how to share. Well, let me tell ya! My fourth graders know how to share. Too bad they are sharing their germs. This teacher has been sick for almost 2 weeks straight with a stomach bug, sore throat that turned into a mild case of pneumonia. Looks like my classroom is going to get a nice scrub down tomorrow. Hello cold season!

On a plus side, the kids have handled the subs pretty well and I keep getting "We wish you well" notes. They are so sweet. We just finished reading, "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume. I love that book! I am so glad I didn't have a little brother like Fudge. We are starting a unit on nonfiction and our next genre for In2Books will be Social Studies Trade books on the westward expansion. I will attempt to keep you posted!

9 weeks later...

Can you tell that I have been busy? This school year is going very well and I am very lucky to have two great classes and great people to work with!

We have already read "Fourth Grade Rats" and "The Cricket in Times Square". Currently, we are reading "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing", another one of my favorite fourth grade books.

We just finished our first writing and reading benchmarks and the scores are great! I have some kids that love to act and put on quite a show with the commercials they produced.

We are using a new writing program this year and I am really enjoying it. It has been a challenge since I didn't go to the actual training but I am seeing a great response through the student's writing. I have some kiddos that love to write stories this year so I am very excited to see their writing develop.

One week down....

I can't believe how fast the first week of school went by. We had a great first week and learned a lot. We did several activities to bond us as a school family and learn more about each other. This year is going to be a great year! It has been a change teaching two classes but I am really enjoying it. First, I get to teach kids my first passion, which is reading. I hope to instill the love of reading in all of my students.  Also, I only have to plan 3 subjects instead of 5! I love it! This week I cam home exhausted pretty much every night. I hope this week I will be used to the schedule a little bit and have a little more energy.

First Day of School

As you can see, I did a whole lot of nothing after my trip. Today was the first day of the school year and it was great! My feet hurt but I can live with that. This year I am teaching fourth grade language arts and social studies. I have two great groups of kiddos and I think we are going to have a lot of fun!

The kids were very excited about our pets. The hermit crabs are back for another year of 4th grade. I believe there are 2 crabs, maybe 3. We also have a new addition, Hammy the Hamster. He is an active little guy and I think the kids are excited about him, but not so sure about having to clean out his cage. I'm with them.... gross!

If you are a parent, we will have plenty of updates here. Be sure to check back here often for updated information. Please send in a picture of your family for our friends and family board. I love my family but would love to have some other faces on there. Also, we will have a snack since we are the last lunch. Please send a healthy snack that is not too messy since we will eat and work. If you have any questions, please email me. I am looking forward to working with you and your child and building a successful year!

Last Day of G Camp

Today was our last day of G Camp, aside from a post test I have to take tomorrow morning. Today we went to Canyon Lake Gorge. A flood occurred here in 2002 (I think). While touring the Gorge, which you can only do by reservation with a docent, and you have to basically sign your life away, we found dinosaur footprints!!! This is actually slightly common in Texas but seriously, how cool is that!?!? Here is a picture of the footprint.

Being the teachers we are, we had to give you an idea of scale. Each person is holding their arms apart for the length of the footprint and is standing in the track the prints went.

Most of the gorge was formed by a slick and slide fault that lies there and erosion from the river. However, you can see a lot of damage from the flood because it is the spillway and you can also find a ton of fossils. The bad thing.... you can't take them.  In the picture below, I am standing on a fault line.

After the Gorge, we went to Wendy's for lunch, which was refreshing after a hot morning in the sun. Then, we went to one of the G Campers cousin's land (did you follow that?) to collect fossils that we could take home!! So, I now have fossils to add to my collection.

We arrived back in College Station around 6:00. I promptly came home and showered!!! I was so stinky from our walk in the Gorge. Then, I showed Brad my new collection of rocks, sand, and fossils. I can't wait to share everything I have learned with my students. This has truly been an eye opening experience and I will never look at land forms in the same way.

Day 15

Man, I can't believe that G Camp is almost over. I have had so much fun but I am also ready to get home to my own bed and family. Today we started off at Sonora Caverns and walked in the 98% humidity 70 degree cave. It had a lot of beautiful formations and had fun checking them all out. After the cave, we went to lunch at McDonalds (again). Then, we started our way to Fredricksburg, being teased with all of the stores and cute shops. We finally made it to Enchanted Rock and I saw the size of that thing *gulp*!

Okay friends, I would like to introduce you to Enchanted Rock. It is made of Granite. Notice the lack of clouds in the sky. The clouds that were there didn't do much protecting from the heat. It was hot but I made it to the top and back down! Plus, I wasn't as out of breath as I have been with all of the other stuff I have been doing and didn't feel like I was going to die! I would consider coming back here for fun. Tonight we are in Blanco, TX. We took the scenic route and saw LBJ's ranch on our way in town. Tomorrow is our last day, aside from turning in supplies and a post test on Monday. I am looking forward to seeing Brad. :) We will spend our last day in the Lake Canyon Gorge, which was formed by a flood within the past few years. We have studied the effects of glaciers so it will be interesting to see how fast moving water impacts geology. :)

G Camp Day 14.... on the road

What a long day! We were on the road for most of the day, with 2 stops. One at a road cut and the other at The American Talc mine and processing plant. The picture above is the mountain that they get the talc from. We had an opportunity to increase our rock collection and I got some soap stone, talc, and calcite. I also got a really cool piece of talc with veins of calcite. It looks like a zebra.

These dump trucks weigh 60 tons and the tire is bigger than I am!!! Check out how huge they are!

After looking at the mine, we went to the processing plant and looked at what happens to the talc when they fire it and grind it. This picture was taken after I happened to put my foot in a huge pile of talc trying to get around a group of people. I had talc EVERYWHERE! However, my shoes were as white as they were before G Camp. :) We finally made it to Ozona, TX around 6:30. Our bus didn't have air conditioning so the back of the bus got very hot. We had a new bus delivered today so the rest of our trip should be very cool. *Whew* I am really looking forward to tomorrow. We are traveling to Sonora Caverns and Enchanted Rock. Plus, I heard a little birdie say we may go fossil hunting. How cool would that be if I found something???

Day 13

Wow! I can't believe how amazing this trip has been. Some days it feels like time is flying and other times it feels like it is creeping. Today we started off at Valley of the Fires in New Mexico. The lava flows here were created by vents in Earth's surface, creating about 40 miles of lava! Who knew lava would be so beautiful! After Valley of the Fires, we started towards Wal-mart because some people needed some items. On our way, our bus driver got pulled over for speeding and I felt so bad for him because he has driven up crazy mountain roads I wouldn't take my car on and gotten us where we need to go safely. Then, we ate our lunch in the Wal-mart entry way. I felt so trashy. People were staring at us because we were all wearing the same shirt and standing around eating. I'm sure we looked like real winners.

We finally made it to White Sands National Park, one of the places I have been so excited to see. This is where the Atom Bomb was tested and they still conduct military tests here. In addition, it is one of the shuttle landing spots. It rained so we didn't get to spend a lot of time here and we didn't see the gypsum sparkle. However, the contrast between the white sands and the sky was AMAZING! Below is a group picture of everybody on the trip but our bus driver. Tomorrow we head to a Talc Mine and will be back in Texas.

Day 12

Today started off bright and early. Well, it was early and I wasn't very bright... at all. The bus was FREEZING!! I bundled up and went back to sleep until we stopped in Alamosa for breakfast. McDonalds in Alamosa, CO is FAIL!! First, they only accepted cash. Then, ALL of their sodas were flat so I didn't get my morning caffeine. Actually, I did. Thank God I had an extra Diet Mountain Dew in my bag. Then, they got my order completely wrong. And to top it all off, they were out of hashbrowns so we had french fries at 9 in the morning. *shaking head* Ridic!

We drove for a few more hours then stopped in Taos, New Mexico where we looked at the Taos Gorge. At the gorge, the Rio Grande River has carved into tons of rock. It is unbelievable. Then, we drove to the Bandelier National Monument to look at Tuff and Pueblo homes carved in the Tuff. The picture of me today is at the monument, walking up a ladder to one of the rooms of the Pueblo home.

We made it to Santa Fe, NM around 6 pm. We went to The Shed for dinner and it was pretty yummy. I learned about the red and green sauce that Lauren was talking about and tried both of them. The only thing I didn't like is that chips and salsa weren't included with our meal at a Mexican place but that is a minor complaint. Well, I'm off to bed with the sound thunder soothing me to sleep. :)  Tomorrow we spend another day in New Mexico.

G Camp Day 11

Today we were supposed to climb Slumgullion, but the thunderstorms kept us from hiking. We did get to dig around in a clay/sulfur combination for crystals. I found quite a bit! Then, we came back to our hotel for the evening. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We are leaving for Santa Fe, New Mexico at 6 am!! Agh! Tomorrow will be more exciting and I will have more to share with you. :)

Alpine Jeep Ride

Today we took a jeep ride through the mountains. There isn't much to talk about other than what we saw, which you can view on facebook. It was pretty chilly and rained on us for a few minutes but we survived the narrow, one lane, mountain roads. We saw some beautiful wild flowers and a ton of mining fields. The ride was a lot of fun and a little scary at times. Plus, it was VERY bumpy. What has been interesting is having all of these teachers together. DRAMA!!! I'm staying away from the drama and am getting a ton of exercise! I learned the dark chocolate helps with the altitude headaches and it was true! I also had an interesting experience, at least something I haven't done in years! We stopped at a collection of trees and bushes. They informed us it was a bathroom break and I didn't want to believe them. Well, they weren't kidding around and I had to pee in the bushes and I don't remember the last time I did that! It was gross and I am not for roughing it! For dinner we went back to the mexican place that was so yummy. Then, we came back to the hotel and did laundry to get ready for the rest of our trip.

G Camp Day 9.... Half way point

Today we started off with Box Canyon. In the canyon there is a very LOUD and beautiful waterfall. After climbing to the top and bottom of the waterfall we ate lunch in town. We went to the park and followed a course, which we used to create our own map. I learned how to use this fancy compass and the name escaped me. Then we learned how to find the strike and dip of a rock and how to describe soil. After that, we walked around town for a bit and decided to call it a night. :) Tomorrow we are going on a jeep ride. My elbow is hanging in there. My ankle and back hurt a little but nothing major. Today marks the halfway point and it's bittersweet. I'm really missing B-rad and Daisy but I am also having a ton of fun and learning a whole bunch!

Day 8

Well, today was more than relaxing. We slept in until 9:00 am. After lazying around for a while we went to town, had lunch, and walked around the shops. The only fun thing there is a shopping story. While I have been here I keep saying, "it must be the altitude". Well, while shopping today I found a visor that says it! With the altitude you get tipsy quicker, out of breath quicker and feel tired faster. After shopping I came back to the room and took a nap. Then, we went swimming in the hot springs. The hot springs has 3 different pools ranging from 102, 97, and 85 degrees. It felt great on my sore muscles from my fall yesterday. We brought dinner back and ate it outside. Now, I'm catching up on internet stuff and plan to label all of my pictures before I forget what everything is. Tomorrow we go to Box Canyon and I have my hiking stick ready!

Day 7

Day 7 and I am in Heaven!! Let me put a disclaimer out there: Our internet is REALLY slow so I am not going to put up pictures for the next few days on the blog. However, they are on facebook so feel free to check them out there. I hope our internet connection is good enough for me to put captions up today. Today we got to sleep in an hour before starting our adventure. First, we drove up The Million Dollar Highway, which is a VERY curvy road up and down the mountains. It is called this because it cost $1 Million to build one mile. After surviving the way to Silverton, we explored the The Old 100 Gold Mine. Unfortunately, we didn't find any gold so I am not rich. Darn! After that we explored the town and saw an old time train, which I didn't get a picture of because for once, I did not bring my camera. On the way back to Ouray we stopped at a few placed to look at geological features. At one of them, I managed to find the one part of the sidewalk that was missing and fell. Apparently I was graceful and I managed to protect my precious camera and scraped my elbow. :( Tonight we went downtown and I bought a walking stick for our hikes, which will hopefully help some. I needed it today on the sidewalk. My major point of excitement today was finding a rock and being able to identify it! GO ME!!! Alrighty, my laundry is done. Tomorrow is our free day in town so I will let you know what adventure we come up with.

Today was a pretty chill day and I loved every minute of it. First, we stopped at the Dallas Divide and looked at the effect of glaciers on the land’s surface. We also found out that we were standing on the boundaries of Ralph Lauren’s ranch. Upon this announcement one girl said, “That’s my future ex-husband” and everyone was slightly shocked. She then replied with, “What? I’m just being realistic?”

After that we went to Telluride, a ski resort town with the cutest shops and some fantastic landforms. We rode the Gondola up to Mountain City and explored the various trails. Then, we went to lunch at the Sheritan Hotel and had some pretty good Mac and Cheese. I can’t say it’s the BEST but it was pretty darn good. After lunch we explored an area that had some waterfalls and a mining area. Then, we had our real adventure! We explored the stream and measured the velocity of the water. The water was FREEZING!!It was pretty cool to do a small portion of studies that geologists do. Then, we dyed the water so we could see the flow of the water. The water came up to my knees but it was a lot of fun!

After Telluride, we drove to Ouray, our home for the next 4 days. It is very beautiful here and I would love to come here again! We went to a Mexican restaurant and it was delicious! Our room is amazing!! We have two doors, 2 kind size beds, electric fireplace, a balcony overlooking the river, and tons of western themed décor! Apparently bears are a problem here so we are hopeful that we will actually see a bear, from a distance of course. I will continue to keep you posted on our journeys. I apologize that I don’t have any pictures today but I have a really bad connection. Feel free to check facebook for some photos.

Day 5 and I am still alive!!

Hooray!! I can't believe I still have working legs and lungs! This has definitely been a motivator to get into better shape. I am having a great time but I know I would enjoy it more if I wasn't getting out of breath. So, today was a pretty laid back day in the way of G Camp. First, we went to Monarch Pass and stood on the continental divide. The picture of me is on the Pacific side. This place had a great gift shop with awesome jewelry that a lot of people were buying but I opted to save my money.

This is a picture of whodo's (?) also known as Dillon Pinnacles. This scene was gorgeous and I am debating on selling them to postcard companies. :)

Here is a group shot at the Pinnacles with some of my new friends: Theresa, Lindsey, and Cristina.

This is one of many bus pictures from today. I thought the layers were cool. The red layers are ground deposits and the greenish layers are marine deposits. Interesting. :)

This is my favorite bus shot of the day and there isn't even a bad reflection!

Landslide... they were all over the San Juan mountains.

This is one of many pictures from Black Canyon at Gunnison. The pictures do not capture the beauty of this place! The part with all of the different layers is called Painted Wall. I have a lot more pictures of this on facebook.

This is Jack, Rick, and Christine. Jack and Rick are our Geology experts. Christine is from Exxon Mobile, one of our sponsors who came to see what they are spending their money on and spend a few days with us. We are fortunate to have a lot of sponsors to make this trip possible. Speaking of, the last picture for today is a group of Texas A&M Regional Collaborative members who are on the trip.

Okay, here are a few random stories for you. Don't you love random? I do! I learned that Trinidad,CO (where we stayed a few nights ago) is the sex change capital of the world. We found that out on the way out of town. I have seen several Gators on the trip. Mostly today. At Monarch Pass I saw an old couple and the man was wearing a Gator polo and I of course pulled the Shands commercial, "Go Gators". Of course, I am a talker and that turned into a conversation. They just moved to CO from Gainesville, Fl and their son just moved from Gainesville to Texas, which I thought was pretty cool. Then, when we were at Black Canyon and I saw a truck with a Florida plate and Gator something on their car. I then went around asking for the Gator fans but never found them. :(


Before coming on this trip I heard about how this was going to be a life changing experience. The first few days all I could think was, "how on Earth is this life changing". We would joke about not being able to make it back to the bus after walking all over the world and how it would be life changing. However, I really am starting to understand what they are talking about. I will never look at landforms the same. I have already learned so much on this trip and I still have 10 days to go.

G Camp Day 4

Alrighty, here we are at day four! Bare with me, I have a ton of photos to share with you today and if that didn't quench your thirst for G Camp adventures, check out my pictures on facebook. :) The first stop we made today was at a Flat Iron in Stonewall, CO. It is made of Dakota Sand Stone and was formed when the Rockies pushed the layers up as they formed. The other side to this particular flat iron is on the other side of the road.

Yes, I am a good G Camper taking notes about what I see. :) I got to use my rock hammer a little bit here and collected some rock samples.

 This garbage truck was in front of us for quite a way and we could see the dust from it rolling over. Turns out, the driver fell asleep and went off the road, causing the truck to flip. It's a good thing he was at this spot and not where there was a drop off. He was very lucky.

In this photo I just got done using my handy dandy rock hammer to knock out some rhyalite from this dike. There were a lot of these on our journey today.

This formation is known as kissing camels. They were lifted up like the flat iron was but because of erosion they now look like kissing camels... supposedly.

This picture contains Mount Mestus and another mountain that I can't remember the name of. :) One of our tour guides, Rick completed his Ph.D work on this mountain. 

About 20 minutes from the last accident, we saw another one! Needless to say, I have been a nervous wreck on the bus and I forgot my Xanax. At least our bus driver is the same one they have had for the past few years and they keep asking him to come back so he is keeping everybody safe.

The last set of pictures are from the Great Sand Dunes and I have to say, pictures do not do it justice. I even managed to get a few "post card" pictures aside from the spots on the side of the picture but I can't figure out what they are from and I have tried cleaning my camera. I guess that's what I get for getting a camera off of Craigslist. The sand dunes crest at 700 feet. Most of the dunes are made up of quartz and volcanic rock. The black sand is magnetite and has a magnetic property, which would have been fun if I had some magnets with me... next trip!

This is one of the three Sherri's. She is the one that is also our expert on Vernon, TX.

I had a hard time walking back to the bus and part of it could have been some extra weight and some of that was in my shoes! Look how much sand was in my shoes!!! I had my own little sand dunes going on.

I didn't post this yesterday but last night's hotel had pretty much the same view. A parking lot. At least the weather is gorgeous here. Cristina and I decided to stay in tonight and relax our bodies. They were pretty sore. The pizza was the best decision ever and beat fast food or walking to town. More fun adventures for you tomorrow!

G Camp Day 3

Wow! Today was a busy day! We left Vernon, TX at 7 am and started our route to Trinidad, CO. On our way there we saw a small windmill farm and I managed to get a few pictures from the bus, so don't mind the glare.

We still had a few lectures to cover so Rick went over some information on Igneous Rocks and Environments. I thought I would show you how our "Lecture on Wheels" sessions go. :) 

Along the way we saw "Rabbits Ear Peak" which has an interesting story. Short version: Settlers from Oklahoma would use that to gauge their distance to Texas. Apparently, if you go to the backside of the peak you can see wagon wheel ridges still in the ground. The "mountains" we saw today are actually a result of volcano activity, which I thought was pretty cool. I always think of volcanoes in the ring of fire, not in the middle of the continental US.

Here is Mount Capulin Volcano. I climbed to the top, walked the rim and climbed into the bottom!! Holy Cow! I got some exercise today. Capulin is a cinder cone and has not erupted in 30,000 years. However, you can still see the rocks that resulted from the eruption and see the lava flows, which are VERY cool! So, we asked the park ranger which way to take and she suggested to go to the left. She said it was a steep walk up but an easy walk down. Man! She was not kidding. I never felt so nauseous from walking in my life! I'm sure the altitude change didn't help much. 

I finally made it to the top!! It was so amazing to see all of Earth around me and the amazing land forms, volcanic flows, critters and butterflies.... HUGE butterflies. They wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a good picture, which made me sad but I managed. I couldn't get a picture of the butterflies, but at the top of the mountain there were tree trunks and branches COVERED in ladybugs! It was unbelievable!
On my Picture a day blog, I will display another one of my favorite pictures from today. Hint: It has to do with ladybugs!

Here I am with some Scoria (I think), a type of Volcanic rock. This rock was all over the place, around the rim, inside, and throughout the surrounding area. I even have a few pieces that we picked up (not in the National Park) for my own collection.

I just thought this was a fun picture for you. Cristina and I never stayed on the trail. We did whatever we had to do to get the perfect picture. At this point we were traveling down the volcano so I was feeling good. :) After Capulin, we traveled about 10 miles further to the K-T Boundary. At this area you can see the difference in rock from the Cretaceous period and the Tertiary period. It marks the end of the Mesozoic and beginning of the Cenozoic, which is associated with the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, which is why we have the black layer between. 
Here is a picture of the Boundary and the black part is actually coal. The rocks on top are younger and progress to older rocks. The black rock is considered the Tertiary period.

This picture displays cross sectional cuts. I will tell you more about this later! I hope you are enjoying the blog as much as I am enjoying G Camp. My random "fact" that I learned today is that we should not say that Earth or any part of it behaves a certain way because this is Geology... not Psychology. We should say it responds. Everything that happens has a scientific explanation. I have a lot of reading so I am going to get to that before I fall asleep. Feel free to leave comments!!

P.S. Day 2

Here are some random things I learned today.
1. Never refer to Earth as "The Earth". We don't say "The Mars". It is a proper noun.

2. Donkeys are kept in cow pastures to keep coyotes away.

3. A lady that is traveling with us was an Houston Oilers cheerleader back in the day.

4. Another lady was part of the first class of women accepted to Texas A&M.

5. And... another lady was the first woman to receive a sports scholarship to Texas A&M.

6. Finally, teachers LOVE to hear their own voice!

Day 2

Don't you like the catchy titles? Today we started with a rock and mineral lab and had to identify all of these rocks and more! Did I tell you we had a test yesterday? I'm pretty sure I bombed it and now I have to learn these??? Well, I don't have them memorized but I can name a few of them. Hopefully I will learn them all before I am done with camp. We were in lab for an hour and a half.

Look at me being all scientific and testing the streak of this mineral, while posing for the camera... I am that talented!

This is my roomi Cristina for the next 2 weeks. She is a pre-service teacher and will complete her student teaching in the Spring in High School Biology. We get along very well and I think we are two of the youngest teachers here.

Okay, onto the bus ride. We left College Station around 11:00 am. We are on a 50 passenger bus and have 35 people traveling with our group. Cristina and I were fortunate enough to get seats on our own so we could stretch out and we had the perfect location. There were some issues, nothing major but stuff that is aggravating when you are crammed on a bus. I took a nap, finished a book, texted Katie about teachers and the funny things they do, and attempted a crossword puzzle. We passed around a microphone and introduced ourselves, which I always hate doing and man, teachers love to hear their own voice! Introductions were supposed to be short and I swear some teachers were up there for 30 minutes!

Blog world, I would love for you to meet Sheri. She is from Vernon, TX, our stop for tonight and she gave us all sorts of history as we entered the area. For instance, the river is one of the few places cattle could cross safely. There is a coal power plant and as we were riding through we saw a train with TONS of coal.

At 5:00 we rolled into the Holiday Inn Express in Vernon, TX. This is the view from our room. I will have one of these pictures for you every day as a fun game to see the scenery. Apparently our view in Ouray is gorgeous!! We start seeing some cool stuff tomorrow and we have another long bus ride so keep looking for more adventures!

Day 1

Today was our first day of G Camp. We arrived at the hotel and checked out of bucket of supplies. Then, we traveled to A&M for lectures on science (how important observation is) and Earth systems, which goes perfectly with 4th grade TEKS. After the lectures we went to Chicken Oil for dinner and had the juiciest (a.k.a greasiest) burger ever! I'm looking forward to our adventure tomorrow. We are leaving town around 11 and will travel 335 miles to Vernon, Texas. I have my book packed and am ready to go!

Only a few days left...

G Camp on Facebook

If you are on facebook, click on the above link and "like" the page. You will be given updates about our G Camp adventure. I will share all that I am learning and beautiful pictures that I will attempt to capture. Thanks for following the updates and leave comments or questions! :) I promise to respond. 

One week left until....

G Camp!! I can't believe that I leave in a week and I am so excited. Check back here for updates on everything I am learning and the exciting things I am seeing.

Wonderings

When I was little I would imagine what my teacher's did during their summer break. At my previous school, we didn't get paid through the summer so I still had to work and never had a summer "off". However, since arriving in the grand state of Texas, I have had 3 summers off now and I am loving it! So, you may ask, "How does a teacher spend  their summer?" So far this summer I have done a lot of relaxing by the pool and hanging out with friends. I have gone to one math workshop. I have read 1 and 1/2 books (I'm currently in the middle of one). I also got a new camera so I have been playing with that and taking a lot of pictures. Finally, I have this cross stitch that I have been working on for 4+ years now and my goal is to finish it before school starts. I'm sure many teachers lead a lot more of an interesting life than I do,especially during the summer. However, I enjoy my time to relax and spend with Mr. Edugator.

Kim Sutton

Yesterday I went to a Kim Sutton math workshop. Kim Sutton herself was our presenter. She was very interesting and had a lot of energy! I can't wait to take her ideas back into my classroom and use them next year! I also got some book ideas from her to read and just ordered them. I'll let you know how they are! :) If you ever have a chance to attend a PD session with her...do it! She was amazing!

The results are in...

Okay, it's been forever since I posted. School is out. Scores are in. I'm very proud of the kids. I saw a lot of growth this year, even if they did not pass "the test". It seems like I start every year wishing for the previous years class and thinking about how the current group is "harder" than the last. However, as I end the year and realize that I think that every year, I am proud of my class this year. They worked hard to become a school family and truly stand up for each other, almost to the point of being cliquish. Is that a word? Well, it is now! I saw huge gains in their academic skills and their self confidence. I hope that I was able to encourage them to continue to believe in themselves and be the best they can be.

It's almost here....

I can't believe that I only have 2 more weeks with my kiddos! We started graduation practice yesterday and I think they are all scarred for life from the puberty video they had to watch. We have made so much progress as a class this year. Here are some things I have noticed.

*The kiddos protect each other like they are a family!
*I had several kids EXCITED about their grades on progress reports!! Usually, I would have tears.
*We just finished "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and the kids wrote in their reaction journals, "I don't like this author because..." What??? Critiquing an author??? I love it!!
* We watched "Paperclips" and when the Holocaust survivors were sharing their stories, my class wanted more. They wanted to hear more stories and know why this was done. They have developed a ton of thinking skills and are asking a ton of questions about why people would have so much hatred towards certain people.
* One of my favorite stories for the week comes from Friday. They had to watch a Puberty video (boys in one room, girls in another) for part of the curriculum. When they came back one of my girls said, "Mrs. Edugator! They went to far! That was disturbing!" I asked her what was so bad and she said, "when they showed the picture of a grown up girl and what was going to happen to us!"

Oh kiddos! I'm going to miss them. This group has come so far this year and I am very proud of them. And, all of this is the progress without the TAKS scores. That, will be another post when the scores come in.

Oil Spill

Today we discussed the oil spill in the gulf and I had the students develop some possible solutions. Here is what they came up with:

I think they should close up the ocean and open an aquarium for the fish

Scientists make some kind of cure to put in the water

Burn the oil

Fix the pipe

They can put on a underwater suit and go underwater and get the pipe and fix it before it pollutes the water. (Can we say "run on sentence"?)

Take the pipe out before it pollutes the water

They can put a glass on it and clog it up and the oil can stop coming out.

They could go underwater and put a big pipe and connect it to the ground and suck up the oil and put it back in the ground

Plug it up

Try to cover up the whole (as written) with a top and try to fix it

Block the oil leak and pay them money. <--- I'm sure BP would love that solution!!

Professional Development here I come!!

You may have figured this out already, but I get bored easy. To combat my boredom, I stay busy and go WAY beyond the call of duty. So last week was pretty exciting in ways of professional development. My friends and I saw the draft of an article we wrote that is going to be published in Science and Children this summer. Then, I found out that out of a ton of teachers in the state, I was one of 30 selected to attend G Camp. G Camp is a 17 day experience where we travel through Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado exploring geological sights and learning about ways we can use them in the classroom.

This week we went on a field trip to Innerspace Caverns. It was so cool and now I am stoked about my trip this summer. The kids had a great time and learned a lot. Not to mention, their behavior was great!! We mined for jewels, explored a cave 50 feet below the city of Austin, and saw a bat the size of a chicken nugget. For a while, I felt like I was back in Florida since it was so humid once we got deep into the cave. It was one of the best field trips I have been on in a while. The kids learned a lot, the teachers enjoyed it, and the weather was beautiful!

What's a Pep Rally

On Friday we had a Pep Rally to pump up the kids for TAKS. When I told the kiddos what we were doing, one kid kept asking what a Pepper Rally was. Pretty funny kid! The 3rd Grade teachers and our principal did this fantastic rendition of "Stop in the name of TAKS" and my principal REALLY sang it!! The kids would have cleared the gym if it was me! Then, the 4th grade teachers did a cheer and Aggie athletes came and spoke. We have a band that made a school song for us and they performed it and handed out free CD's. It was pretty neat to see the kids so excited!

In my next career I'm going to design t-shirts. I designed two for the TAKS to wear on the days of TAKS. I'll get some pictures of them and post them on here. I think they are rather cute myself. If you are a prayer, we can use some prayers! The TAKS is this Tuesday and Wednesday and I am ready for this to be over! This time is so stressful and I try to take on the stress instead of the kids but they take it on also. So, prayers are much appreciated!

Hopeful ...

First, I want to apologize in advance for all of the TAKS posts. With the test a few days away we are in major prep mode! Yesterday I told my kiddos that if they could make A's and B's on a practice passage then we wouldn't have to practice any more. Well, all but 2 got grades that would pass!! I'm feeling a lot better about the reading scores. I am still concerned about the math scores, but the kids always manage to surprise us. I am hopeful that the kids will do well next Tuesday and Wednesday. Please pray for a calm spirit in our classroom and wisdom for the kids.

Freak the Mighty Part 2

Yesterday (Friday) we finished "Freak the Mighty". If you have not read the book, I highly recommend it. For the first time, I almost cried in front of my class. I have been very emotional lately and the end of the book is very sad. It was interesting to read the students' comments about what happened. No, I am not going to tell you because I want you to read it for yourself. Upon finishing the book, I was flipping through the back and found that there is a sequel and the kiddos BEGGED me to get the next one so we can read it. I love it!!

In math, we are studying probability and collecting data. I split the kids into two groups to collect data on 2 different things. Group 1 watched cars to see if they stopped all the way at a stop sign or rolled through. Group 2 collected data on the color of the cars that drive by our school. We were outside for 20 minutes and the kids were amazed that 25 cars rolled through the stop sign! Not only that, every car that drove out of our school parking lot, didn't stop AT ALL when pulling out! We were shocked! I think we may talk about civil action this week and discuss things we can do as citizens.

In social studies, we are discussing Texas' role in the Civil War. It has been interesting to watch the interest grow in slavery. The kids are hungry for more information on it. We have gone over our "time" for social studies every day because we are deep in discussion, which is great!  We are ahead of the other classes in social studies and since it is not a high interest subject, I am going to take advantage of the interest level and teach them some more about slavery and people who were pivotal in ending it in the US.

Our TAKS test is in 1 week. I am trying not to stress the kiddos out. We have been doing relaxation activities every week and pumping them up. I'll have to take a picture to post, I have a stop sign that says "Don't Stop Believin' " hanging up in my classroom. It is my motto. I want to change the words so it talks about strategies to use. Even though it is corny, it works! Last year my kiddos were saying it to themselves throughout the test. So, as long as there are standardized tests, there will be prayer in school. This Edugator will be praying daily for my kiddos to have the necessary knowledge, as well as a calm mind and environment. Wish us luck!

Freak the Mighty

Every year I try to read books that would spark my students' interests. Recently, we read Percy Jackson. Now, we are reading "Freak the Mighty". If you have not read this book I highly recommend it. It is about two boys, Kevin and Max, and the friendship they form and the ways they help each other out. It is a heartwarming tale and with my emotional roller coaster lately, I am sure I will cry when I finish it. So far, my students have complained a LOT about having to read this book. However, it got very interesting today. As I walked around the room, I saw a lot of comments in the reaction journals about how fun the book is now. :) HOORAY!

Where has time gone???

It is hard to believe that we only have 6 weeks left in the school year. Where has time gone!?!?!? We have two weeks until TAKS and we are busy at work to make sure we are all ready! I am seeing so much growth in our students and I am very proud of how far they have come. Our caterpillars came in the mail today and we are looking forward to the process of the butterfly life cycle.

Every year, I get a group that does not love reading as much as I do, although that is with most people I meet. :) Throughout the year, I try to show my students how much I love reading and hope to instill that love in them. In my great quest, that means I try various things. Last year we had a "Passport to Reading" and students kept track of books they read, with the purpose of reading various genres. This year, we are doing the same thing but instead of a passport, we have bookmarks. My kiddos have been reading machines lately! I read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief to them and the rest of the Percy Jackson books are flying off my shelf!! I have a student that loves the Goosebumps books, which is great. However, I also want my students to broaden their horizons and read different types of books. The bookmark allows me to challenge them in reading different genres while giving them something to work towards. I would love to hear any other reading ideas. Now, my next goal is to figure out ways to encourage my kids to love math. If I could figure that out, maybe I would love it also!

Countdown to STRESS!

This time of year is the most stressful time for a teacher in a testing grade. The next few months are insane between actual state mandated tests and benchmarks to prepare our kids and see what else we need to teach. As many people have said, as long as there are tests, there will be prayer in school.

I have been very fortunate to have a student teacher this semester. The best part is that she is a math and science major!! Between the two of us, our students are getting the best of both worlds. :)  The school year has been pretty smooth lately. The kids are learning and making a lot of progress. I am very proud of them!

During the past week, we read the book "Crossing Jordan", which is set in the early 1990's in Tallahassee, Florida. The book is about two girls attempt to be friends even though their parents do not want them to be friends with those of another race. Each day, we have students make a chart to keep track of characters, setting, plot, and connections. Then, after reading the chapters for that day, the students write a reaction in their journal. The other day I had 3 boys sitting at the back table with me trying to decide what they wanted to write their reaction about. One boy said, "Mrs. Edugator, we used to have a lot of racism in our class. We had people who didn't like each other because of their skin color." Okay, first...what a great revelation and the fact that he said USED to!! Then, another boy at the table said, "yeah, but we are a school family now and we don't think about that anymore." OMG!!! I could not believe it!! I may have cried tears of joy.

I have to admit, at the beginning of the year I did not think that this group would become the school family that my past groups have. I have focused on school family so much and almost shoved it down their throats (not literally). :) It is so nice to see the kids learn things you want them to learn. Not only that, I have turned them into Mini- Edugators. I can hear them say things the way I do. It is so funny.
* "We don't talk to our friends like that"
* "Is that school appropriate?"
* "Guys, if we want to play guitar hero on Friday then we have to be quiet"

Of course, there are more things that they say to each other that sound like me, but I think it is so cute. I also enjoy watching them calm each other down when they get upset. I have a few students that walk and stand right outside of our door and when they do, another student usually goes out there to check on them before I can. Okay, so of course it hasn't been all peaches and cream but the good has definitely weighed out the bad during the past month. I am so proud of my fantastic fourth graders and how far they have come from the beginning of the year. I can't wait to see how far they get by the end!

Celebrate good times... come on!!

All year I have been working hard to build confidence in my students and show them that they can do hard things. Well, this week we had a huge success!! We had a writing benchmark on Thursday (a practice for the real thing in 5 weeks). Usually on benchmarks, we do not have a huge success rate. However, this time over half of the class passed!!!! I was so excited for them! It truly showed my students that they can do it. It was so great to see smiles on their face as they found out the scores instead of tears. They have been working so hard and I am very proud of them.

The past few weeks have shown me more than ever how hard my kiddos have it when they go home. I have heard so many things from my students and it brings me to tears. I could never imagine experiencing only half of the things that they do. Then, it frustrates me. (I feel as if I am going through all of the stages of grief.) Here we are teaching our hearts out and expecting kids to pass high stakes tests, when in reality we are lucky if they get to school with clean clothes and a positive attitude. I understand the importance of standardized tests, but let's take the pressure off of the kids. They have enough going on in their little minds. I am constantly telling my kids to let me stress, just do your best! When I taught kindergarten I always thought, "I refuse to be one of those teachers that teaches to the test." Well, I still refuse. I teach the strategies and we practice passages and problems. However, I feel it is also important to educate the WHOLE child and meet as many needs as I possibly can while they are at school. My goal is to teach my students to believe in themselves and know that they can achieve anything they want to.

Another proud mama moment I had this week involved our school spelling bee. When I first told me students about the spelling bee I had ZERO students that wanted to participate. In fact, one girl even said, "Spelling bees are for white people." When she said that, my blood almost started to boil. I know there is inequality in education and I see it all the time but I NEVER want my kiddos to feel and see the inequality. I wanted to show them the movie "Akila and the Bee" but the rating isn't acceptable for school. Okay, I digress.... back to my story. My students refused to participate in the spelling bee so I came up with a plan. I bribed my students but my real goal was for my students to try something new. I had 8 out of 16 students participate in the spelling bee. The whole time I was praying they would at least make it through the first round and all of them did. Furthermore, some of my kids made it even further!! The larger success in all of this is the reaction of my students. When they got a word wrong and were asked to leave the stage, they calmly walked down.... no mad faces, no screaming, no pouting, no blaming others... SUCCESS!! On top of that, as members of their school family came off the stage, they gave each other a high five. Tears were in my eyes the whole time and words could not express how proud I was.

People ask me why I became a teacher and I always have a different answer. Here are a few of them:
* to make a difference in the life of one child
* I love watching the growth that my students make in all areas: academics, emotionally, physically...
* thinking of the future my students will have
* giving my students a feeling of being loved and valued... unconditionally
* seeing the light bulb come on
* encouraging students to try something new
* watching my students become "mini-me's", especially when helping a friend.

Okay, I have written quite a bit tonight. :) I am overwhelmed by the amount of joy I have for my students and how far they have come.

And we are back...

We started back on Tuesday and I think we were all ready to come back to school. The kids have been working very hard already and I hope the motivation continues. We are very fortunate this semester to have a student teacher. She is going to be very helpful and I will have the opportunity to work on skills with students that I feel like I usually don't have time to see. I'm expecting great things this semester!