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I know, I know, I said I would be in and out of here BUT I had this freshly five-year-old lovely to hang out with and our days were just packed. I’m going to try to get this one, heartache post out that I wanted to leave you with before I left but didn’t quite make it.
See everyone tomorrow. I missed you, really I did.
Today while I was hula hooping in the big yard, Amalie said, “Not only are you my beloved teacher, but you’re my rockin’ teacher too!”
…are now on my new external hard drive. I haven’t been able to download any photos, which makes it awfully hard to post photos. I filled one external hard drive already since I’ve been taking photos everyday of your lovely children for over four years now.
And to think, I always thought I would be a Luddite.
Renee is back for the summer and everyone is so excited - this makes our student/teacher ratio nearly 1 to 5! We will be doing some special one on one tutoring in the afternoons during open classroom.
Trisha came in with this great idea to make public art. She has a friend who put an art piece up on a pole on her block so that she could see it out her window. The piece quickly disappeared but she found out that some girls in the neighborhood had taken it and put it up in their bedroom. The girls then decided to also make some art and put it up around the neighborhood. Isn’t it amazing how fast something, anything can spread. So in the spirit of spreading art, joy and love, we jumped on board and became guerilla artists.
Everyone made something. Even the teachers.
Then we were off to share our work in the most public of forums - the street.
White Center - Enjoy!
We’ll be doing this once-a-month, in random places, so keep a look-out for our public art installations.
Last windy Thursday we hopped a bus to Fire Station No. 32.
We were so excited. Only Jacob knew what the “watch office” was called where the calls come in.
We learned the difference between a fire engine (with water.)
And a fire truck with the ladder.
We learned about wearing air when fighting fires.
Jorge was VERY popular - everyone wanted to take a ride down the pole.
Isabel puts out a fire.
Justin licks it.
Jackson tells his harrowing story of transferring from Swedish to Children’s via ambulance.
A perfect day. So totally fun. Thank you Jeff, Kathleen and especially Krista for helping us out.
Salom Boys and Girls,
I’m writing this from Esfahan, Iran, and I want you to know I been passing out pictures you sent me. I’ve taken picures of the children they’ve been given to, to share with you when I return.
However, I am going to start this first e-mail with boarding Northwest/KLM for Amsterdam, about a ten hour flight. Whew! I started on Monday afternoon, and arrived in Amsterdam on Tuesday morning. I have purchased some homeopathic jet lag pills, and even though it was somewhere around 1:00 a.m. in Seattle, but 8:00 or thereabouts in Amsterdam, I didn’t feel jetlagged (groggy and as if I was in morning sunshine at the wrong time.)
Holland is a very small country, and totally flat. You can drive from one end of Holland to the other in two hours! Two hours won’t even get you from Seattle to Portland!
The airport was so quiet and people moved at a leisurely pace. There were no constantly repeating loud speaker announcements like we find in American airports. I don’t know about you, but I usually quite listening to being told to watch my bags, what I can and can’t take on the plane, and whatever they talk about in our airports. And it was very nice to find things so peaceful and quiet.
That is one of interesting things about travel, you get to find out first hand how people live and do things in other parts of the world first hand.
We had ten hours in Amsterdam, so we took the train into what is called Amsterdam Central. When we left the train station, after figuring out how to change American dollars into Euros, we were facing a canal. We took a streetcar type train to go the Rijks Museum and crossed over canal after canal. It was very pretty. The Dutch people ride bicycles, not the mountain bikes and fancy long distance bikes we ride and see in Seattle, but bikes with large wheels (not balloon tires), mostly old and beat up, and hardly ever locked up! The bikes were lined up all over the place for this is how most people get around in Amsterdam. How clever, no fumes, no smog, and bicycles take up much less space to park.
(I know Isabel, this is probably pretty boring, Grandma going on, but I can’t show you pictures yet, so bear with me!) It was 48 years since I had been to the Rijks Museum and I had two paintings I wanted to see, A Woman with a Pitcher by Vermeer and Night Watch by Rembrandt. I’ve got postcard pictures to show you when I return. And yes, my favorites were still there, this time in much more elegant and appropriate framing, and cleaned of hundreds of years of dirt. In the case of the Night Watch, what I saw 48 years ago was a big big very dark and boring painting with only a couple faces showing. In the 70s they had cleaned this famous painting, and now it was filled with people all doing something interesting with Rembrandt’s unique way of have light seem to come out of a person’s face!
It was Tuesday, after lunch, and the museum and nearby park was filled with Dutch people leisurely enjoying their city! Marci, the friend I’m traveling with and I couldn’t get over how crowded the public places were. In Seattle, the museums and parks are empty of people until Saturday when folks are off work! This is what I mean, you learn how other people live differently than you do back home.
Back on the plane, more homeopathic jet lag medicine, and around almost 2:00 a.m., Iranian time, the lights came on, the plane landed, and I donned the blue coat (I had dyed it a darker blue because we were told dark colors were more acceptable), and tied on my scarf along with all the other women. Turns out I didn’t have to cover my bangs all up after all, the rules in Iran are not as strict as they were.
There is a fascinating story about getting through customs, being fingerprinted, waiting a long time, but I will wait to tell you that story when I see you in person.
At last we got to our hotel, figured out the unusual system of getting lights to turn on in the hotel room. You have to put your plastic “key” card in a slot, and then when you push the light switches, the lights come on. If you take out the key card, in a very short time, the lights all go off! One way to conserve electricity.
Tehran has I believe 10 million people. Gas here is very cheap, 10 cents a liter. After all, this is an oil producing country. So everyone has cars, the roads are very crowded, and Tehran, which sits in a valley, is pretty much covered in smog. However, on the day of our first outing, we drove up into the mountains surrounding Tehran and had a lovely clear rare view across the valley over Tehran.
On Iranian weekends, Friday is like our Sunday, and the weekend extends over roughly three days, these totally barren mountains, no trees, will be filled with people, men and women and children climbing into the mountains. On the other side of the mountains (which we couldn’t see) people come up in the winter and go skiing. This winter was particularly hard in Iran. Our guide couldn’t get out of his house for two days because of the snow that was piled up outside his door! The winters are quite cold here, spring, the season we’re in now a comfortable warm/cool, and summers and falls very hot. We are in a desert climate.
By now, my blue coat was feeling very hot, the scarf I had worn to your classes was quite warm, and none of us women looked like what we look like without our scarves! The men in our group were in shirts, some short sleeved and looking cool and comfortable! Many Iranian women were wearing long black chadors, like a loooong scarf that covers you from head to feet. Others in a manteau, a coat that comes in all kinds of stylish looks, some even of light colors, and scarves of fabrics like silk. Today as I write this, wearing the scarf feels more “natural” and seeing women in the covers like I just described seems much more natural and normal.
I’m going to stop here as my group is gathering to go out today. There are many more adventures to share.
Khoda hafez, Traveling Grandma
(Goodbye, or Allah go with you)
Dear Girls and Boys,
I enjoyed visiting your classes very much, and seeing how much you’ve
grown since I started out last fall as Galapagos Grandmother. Your
pictures and writings about yourself are just awesome. I look forward
to sharing them with people in Iran.
Tomorrow morning between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. I am supposed to get
my passport and Iranian visa delivered. They better get there then
because I leave for the airport at 10:30. I’m supposed to hear the
story of what happened that it took so long to get them through
Iran’s process when we get there. Whew!
I reread about the need to wear dark colors in Iran, so the light
blue coat you saw me in, along with the scarf, have died a darker
blue. I’m curious to see what it will be like to wear a buttoned coat
and scarf all the while I am there.
I am taking your questions to ask people. I hear the weather is quite
nice. And, the adventure is about to start!
Travelin’ Grandma Diane
Because most of our families are patrons of PCC, we thought it would be great fun to see behind the scenes. So off we went for a kid-tasting field trip. We got there just as West Seattle High School let out for lunch. If I had only grown up with PCC across the street.
We congregated in the meeting room. Had a few tasty treats and then headed out to see PCC’s secrets.
Here are the containers that hold the almond butter, the syrup, the olive oil.
We got to check out the walk-ins. Ah, memories of food service and college.
Cheese - um, YUM!
Organic produce. We had a great banter about local farms and organic produce. One of the kids asked; “Why would anyone NOT want organic?” And I realized just how lucky our kids are, that not only do they not want for food but they also do not want for organic food. Someone brought up price and then we had a short talk about what the higher price of organic foods means for some families.
Everyone got to take home a fruit.
Many snagged a veggie instead - those Community School kids!
During our discussions, we talked about Recycling. Right in the middle of our talk, Amalie piped up with “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - the magic trinity.” Seattle’s true religion! All the adults nearly lost our organic fruit slices!
We talked about how nearly all of us reuse bags when we shop. The PCC bags are made out of recycled plastic bottles and can be reused nearly forever! I pack mine around all the time - I even washed it the other day.
It was such a fun field trip. Jackson was skeptical - you know it’s a grocery store with NO candy isle. But, he agreed afterward, that it pretty much was SUPER-FUN and SUPER-YUMMY! Thank you PCC!
After we stuffed ourselves, we hopped on over to Hiawatha Playfield to eat (of course) and play. The skaters were video taping themselves and were quite fun to watch.
Ah, the bus ride home. How sweet our field trips are.
Just look at ‘um. Smooches all around.
Today as we walked outside, Justin asked; “Michelle, you want to play basketball with us?” And I said; “Absolutely! Bring it on!” ITWASSOVERYVERYVERYFUN! All those days at soccer, softball, volleyball, basketball practice came rolling back as I took on Justin and Joey at the basketball hoop. I didn’t have a chance but I kicked a soccer ball through the basketball hoop - first try! Just ask Talin. Actually, I think I scared them a little bit when I kept making basket after basket at what we deemed to be the two and a half three point line. You know, me being a girl and all. Oh, but we don’t have those prejudices here. Humph. But if a girl can make three point shots, she might even be able to be president.
When we finished, I was so excited that I ran inside to thank Johnny for bringing in the lovely leather basketballs and to ask if Vashon Island classroom wouldn’t mind if we turned their small yard into a basketball court since it has cement under the wood chips. Everyone thought it to be a grand idea. Now, we just need to move the wood chips. Anyone?
So many times this year I have said; “We spent the first three months of this year teaching empathy.” And while we did do some other important learning, this statement is so very true. And teaching empathy is so very important. We had a rough beginning to this school year that included a good deal of hurtful teasing, but we paused, took stock, and then plunged forth with intention to solve what we saw as a lack of empathy and focused almost all of our attention on finding our inner compassion and understanding.
One of the ways we have always incorporated empathy is through bi-weekly visits to Daystar, a local retirement center. I have also previously had my baby, toddler, now four-year-old in my classroom as an example of caring and nurturing. When my daughter was in my class, I noticed how the other kids would watch the way I held her, fed her, packed her in the sling and in the backpack. They would then in turn, do the same with her as she begin to toddle around the room. They would also copy me with dolls in slings. But she hasn’t been in the class this year because she finally has the autonomy to be in her own class and is ready to find her way without me at times.
This week, the article, “Teaching Empathy” came out in Parent Map and as I was reading it, I saw so many examples of the way we went about teaching empathy in our classroom. It then touched on the idea of having babies in the classroom and it brought up so many memories of my baby in the classroom and ideas about the new siblings being born in our students families that I invited our newest baby in for a long visit, so that the kids could hang out and ask Anne Marie questions, (I love that in our world moms are rock stars) stroke his little head and feel the love that only a new being can bring.
Justin kept patting him, Asher told us about seeing his sister being born and about how he “knows so much about babies” and big sister Isabel was there to watch over the entire proceedings. As we were loving on little Andres, I started thinking again about our visits to Daystar and how they are such an important part of this empathy piece we hold so dear. I hadn’t planned the baby visit and Daystar all in one day but some days are just serendipitous like that.
Andres, Anne Marie, Isabel and some of the class…
Our visit to Daystar the very same day…
I wish I could express the joy that the kids bring to Daystar. This trip, Alex talked about his winter vacation in the form of an oral story.
Here is a bit of Alex’s story…
Then Amalie read Stella, Queen of the Snow. Her intonation and inflection was spot on for this story. The seniors were laughing and shaking their heads in glee. She sat in the chair in her pink tutu, occasionally hopping up and down, reading the story and then showing the pictures to everyone, stating all the seniors names as she showed the picture to make sure that they could all see. It was one of the best moments EVER!
Here is also a tiny bit of her reading (although I ran out of room on my camera for the hopping and glee.)
Brigit actually finished her story the next day and I keep forgetting to post the final product:
The End
At the end of last week many of the students working on Explode the Code 1 finished their books. At the end of the book there is a three page assessment test. We don’t “test” in the usual sense of the word in this classroom. Our assessments are generally done through observation, one on one work, spending every moment of every class within a foot of each student (except for big yard time.) We read together, write together, discuss math, etc. We try to do everything cooperatively, because helping each other is such a great and fun way to learn. So, it’s a rare day when we actually sit down with paper and pencil, don’t ask each other or the teacher for help and try and figure it out all on your own.
The test doesn’t really tell me anything that I don’t already know since I work with all the kids one on one every day but it is a chance for the kids to try this on, something they think is fun - and it’s fun because it isn’t something that they are subjected to on a daily or even weekly basis. It was so cute though. Harriette took it so seriously that she chose to work through big yard time and part of lunch. I was more than happy to sit with her as she made sure she completed all the instructions to the very best of her ability. So sweet, this act of wanting to do well for self-satisfaction and completion.
Welcome back everyone, especially Jackson, who spent the break in the hospital. I couldn’t get a good snap shot of him, he kept running by me. I was so happy to see your face this morning Mr. J - I worried so much about you.
Before we left for break we were talking about money with the 1st/2nd grade group, specifically coins. We talked about what each coin is worth, we sorted money and played money bingo. During the break I set up a grocery store and today everyone got a cart, an envelope of money and went shopping. We took turns being the cashier and being the customer. It was really fun. If you can give your child a money allowance when you go shopping and let them buy and item or two while using their allowance, it would put this entire project into a real world scenario.
We also started some new sewing projects.
And we had a “Elements of Art” class with Trisha.
We’ve been reading books about ancient Egypt and talking about The Great Pyramid and the the pharaoh Khufu. I read last year in Homeschooling Magazine about mummifying a chicken and I thought the kids would love it.
I really wanted to get a chicken with all the innards, feathers etc but settled on two Cornish Game Hens from Safeway. I thought we would create a grand sarcophagus out of cardboard but instead opted for plastic to hold in the smell as it decays.
We began by covering the hens in salt and baking soda and sealing them in bags inside Tupperware, which we decorated. We will check back in a few days to add more salt and see what’s what. After the completion of the salting, seasoning, wrapping process, we will bury it until next year and then dig it up to see the results.
I’m sure everyone knows that we have been struggling with some teasing and frustration that has had us all feeling sad and upset. I almost expect for these types of behaviors, even though developmentally appropriate, to only happen outside of the colorful doors of Community School but alas ’twas not the case and of course cannot be expected to be the case. But what makes Community School different is the amount of energy and compassion taken to remedy the situation.
First we started by having meetings - everyday we had meetings, everyday we talked and talked about what was happening, why it might be happening, how EVERYONE felt about it and what we were going to do as a community to stop it from happening. We talked about what community means to all of us, we talked about how we all want to be treated and we talked about consequences.
While we were having these discussions, I was reading and thinking and crying and figuring out how I could change the environment to help and defuse the situation. Because when it comes down to it, it’s not the kids, it’s not the teachers, it’s the environment itself.
So, feeling that the Big Yard (where most of the teasing was going on) just wasn’t quite challenging enough for our bigger, more experienced bodies, we opened the hill for adventure. For our age group, it is safe, yet challenging and a little scary, which brings out cooperation with hands extended in assistance, in balance and in adventure. The force to be reckoned with becomes the hill itself, the struggle to stay upright on a slant, the Scotts Broom that stands in the way - not each other. The challenge isn’t to go after one another but to work together to solve a problem, to scale a mountain, to investigate the unknown.
Then I decided starting the day inside brought a calmer mood to the beginning of our day. I have never began a day outside but since we don’t end outside, we decided to try it. It didn’t work for me or for the kids. So instead of starting with running and tackling, we start at circle with Yoga. I have introduced many new Yoga positions that include sunrise/sunset, star, mountain, tree, eagle as well as a five count breathing exercise in Lotus position that can be used at anytime during the day when feeling upset, frustrated or in the need of a bit of inner peace. We OM together and when we are really in-sync, we are one voice singing to the universe our inner peace and calm.
We also have been revisiting Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s lives and work (they were hugely important to us in our studies last year.) They are both an inspiration to us all. The kids are enthralled when I read about them and we have had many discussions about how to live a non-violent, peaceful life that leads us to make change and think about other people’s struggles.
The last two weeks have been a different experience for all of us. It may partially have been that we just needed a longer time to settle into this new space but I’m relieved that we took steps to insure that the environment changed and that we were thinking about new ways of being with each other.
Peace Out!
The other day as we were discussing our tadpoles, Asher said to me, “Michelle, frog eggs look just like salamander eggs. You know, I think we have salamanders.” I said, “really?” but in my head I was like, “Sure, salamanders, whatever, wishful thinking kid” (Asher actually says “whatever” to me at least once a day when I try to discourage a foreseeable “friskchievious” moment and he then decides to give in because I’m somewhat taller and have even redder hair!)
I did dismiss his notion or at least somewhat dismissed it. I’ve never raised tadpoles, I’m not so sure I’ve even seen that many. I took biology about a million years ago. But as I do on most evenings, I sit and ponder all the genius that is Mystery Bay, tell their stories, and laugh at the hilarity of our day-to-day and then do research to make sure that I stay at least one pond stone ahead of them. Hey, I’m the first one to admit they are smarter than me.
And guess what, I do believe Mr. Smarty Pants is right. I believe we are cohabitating with salamanders, well at least salamander larva for now. They don’t become actual salamanders until another metamorphasis occurs and they loose their gills and grow lungs.
Of course Asher is the one to figure it out, or think beyond the pond or believe with all his heart that we could be growing salamanders in our very classroom. Asher is the one who lined up all the eggs for us to compare, contrast and then find a way for us to care for them in our very own algae growing pseudo frog salamander habitat near you.
But just so you know, it was Mr. Asher that originally named the eggs we found “frog eggs.” I just went with it because as I said, “They have fresher brains.” And after they hatched, they really did look like tadpoles for a long time. But not so much now. Many other adults with varying science degrees saw them and didn’t say, “those are salamanders you silly fool” - I even posted photos here dear readers. But lets just enjoy what we have shall we and stop with the self-deprecation.
Hey salamanders, nice ta meetcha!
This summer I was at Second Use buying tile to re-tile my bathroom and I saw that the Second Use Fall Festival was coming up and thought we should enter their “Transform a Toilet” contest. So I put the word out that we needed a non-functioning toilet and voila, Michelle, Jackson’s Baba, had one delivered from her work with the Seattle Senior Services. The man who brought the toilet was so super nice, I wanted to tuck him in my pocket. He bolted the toilet to a piece of wood for us.
Then Jason, Harriette’s dad, brought his saw and trimmed the board down and put it on rollers so we could roll it in and out of the doors.
Then he added some astro turf. Our plan is to make it our “Organic Garden.” Sarah got us a bunch of glass pieces to mosaic the toilet bowl, some plants for the tank and a fountain for the bowl. And off we set to create lasting toilet art.
We started with writing CSWS with green tiles and then started to mosaic.
This is what it looked like when we left for break.
When we got back for the new school year, we had just a couple of weeks to kick it out and finish it up. Paul came in mighty handy for the last bit and assembled the fountain. We filled the tank with dirt and planted the flowers.
We smoothed the edges out with some grout.
And tried to clean it up as best as we could.
We then added the fountain and fresh flowers from our garden.
Viola!
Saturday, September 22nd is the Second Use Fall Festival and Art Salvage Contest. Come down between 11 and 4 to see the toilet, vote on the toilet, have some food, play some games, listen to music, ride a horse (12-2) all for FREE!
First we made lasagna for the potluck
Then we were mice for our dance
Then there was much slip and slide fun to be had
The kids got drenched. I got drenched. As did Sarah!
Have a fun break everyone!
Sophia wiggled this one out during dance class.
Reading and writing our own comics (especially for those who find writing and journaling grueling.)
Asher found Calvin all too familiar and laughed hysterically for the hour he spent reading all about their adventures:
If you have any (non-violent type) comics, bring them in for our comic table.
A page from Harriette’s comic book:
Lookie, lookie, peas:
Onions and nasturtium:
Dice math problems (a huge hit) :
In pairs, each partner rolls a die and then they add the amount rolled on one die with the amount rolled on the other die and then they write down the math problem they created with each roll.
Fractions:
Puzzle making:
Fini:
“Michelle, I’m TOTALLY into sewing!” ~Asher
Sophia’s lovely 1030’s wool material bag for her mama for mother’s day:
Violet’s pillow:
Asher’s bag for his dad:
All of our beautiful sewing projects:
Cooking with Kathleen:
Cheddar Cheese Crackers (recipe below):
This past week we’ve been reading to each other at circle time as well as reading to other classes and to the seniors at Daystar:
Remaking the wheel:
The tadpoles are gigantic but too fast to photograph:
CHEDDAR CHEESE CRACKERS
Ingredients
¼ cup Cornmeal
¾ cup All purpose flour
1 Tbsp Poppy seeds
¼ tsp Cayenne pepper or ground black pepper (optional)
¼ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Baking powder
½ stick Butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1 cup Sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
5-6 Tbsp Cold water
Directions
- In medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, poppy seeds, salt, baking powder and cayenne (if using.)
- Cut in butter with a fork or pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add cheese and 4 Tbsp water, stir to blend with fork. Add additional water if needed to bring dough together. (Dough should be soft but not sticky.)
- Turn out onto floured work surface and knead gently 4-5 times to combine.
- Form dough into two balls. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out each ball into a 12” circle.
- Cut out shapes using cookie cutters or biscuit cutters. Gather scraps and reroll as necessary to use up dough.
- Place shapes onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Prick each cracker a couple of times with a fork.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, rotating racks halfway through, until crackes are a pale golden brown. Immediately remove crackers from pan and cool on wire racks.
- Once cooled, crackers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days. If they get chewy, you can recrisp them in a warm oven.
We’ve been talking about reptiles, the differences between frogs and toads, snakes, crocodiles, salamanders, turtles and the like. We read a few books and got out all of our plastic reptiles including our “from eggs to frogs” series of plastic reptiles.
We are going to have to make a visit to Camp Long very soon because the frog eggs are in the pond. Do we have volunteers?
aaannndddd…Krista, Asher’s Mom, is working on hooking us up with the Fire Station for a tour!
Every year I’ve worked with Kindergarten students, around winter break time, the symbols we’ve been working with all year visibly start to click. Letters and sounds become words, which become sentences and then stories. Number symbols all of a sudden take on a different meaning and stand out as useful tools for describing the world.
So we’ve been taking on number problems with joy (because you actually read math!)
And just so you know, James forces me to give him worksheets. Brigit joined in the fun today and they worked on subtraction. I showed them how to use cubes to figure out how many there are and how many to take away - the same principle as the felt board.
I’ve also been pulling kids aside during independent reading and having them read “Bob” books to me. And they are reading!!! During cooking on Tuesday (we did it a day late - Biscuits!!!) James read the ingredients and Jackson read the directions off the white board. And while they were reading, Justin would pipe up with the word if they were having difficulty. I love this time - discovering the printed word is so exciting and watching it happen just seems miraculous.
I do want to remind everyone that each individual comes to reading in their own time and pace. We have some who are reading fluently, some who are reading with assistance, some who are reading phonetically (there is a difference between just knowing how to put the sounds of the letters together and unlocking the key to reading with understanding) and some who are still decoding the names and sounds of the letters. All of these different stages of reading are important and should not be rushed - just encouraged. Please read the pamphlet I sent home about Piaget - he really helps with the understanding of cognitive development and expectation. Many people believe that kids usually learn to read around the time their second set of teach come in and I love this because it’s organic and biological and often so very true.
We also started reading “Alice In Wonderland” on Tuesday. I keep getting the question; “Did you read the abridged “Secret Garden” or are you reading the abridged “Alice In Wonderland?”" And the answer would be NO!!! It may take us a month but we will read the story the way the author intended.
And as I promised “Le Worms” for Asher…We LOVE science around here!
(In case you were wondering why your kids hands were blue!)
Quote of the day from Monday via Amy:
“This is ridiculous - where is Michelle?” ~Asher
This however plays no part in how wonderful Kathleen was when she helped yesterday morning. All I heard about was donuts, donuts, donuts. At morning meeting I asked it they wanted Kathleen back and they all started chanting Kathleen, Kathleen, Kathleen - traitors!
And we had a visitor. Ms. Ramona paid us a visit. She was in my class two years ago and then was in Julie L.’s class last year. She’s now off to public school but wanted to pop in for the afternoon. I think she was hugged out by the end of class.
Yo, yo, it’s math and from the mouth of James; “I LOVE this Michelle!” We built ten rods of ten cubes to make a block of 100! And when we’re completely finished since we have 10 kids, we’ll have a block of 1000! Whew! It’s so handy that we have 10 kids in our class and our number system is based on 10. Every morning at circle, we organically add and subtract from 10 while everyone trickles in. I say; “How many kids are here.” And someone will count and say; “Six (or whatever it may be that day) and then I’ll say; “How many do we need to make 10″ and they’ll answer. We also do this with the number of the day. We are counting our days of school, we are going to have a party on day 100, we’re at 29 today, and they can always figure out how many days we have left until 100 in about one second. You can see the wheels spinning while they’re figuring it out (because while some remember - others figure it out again each day) – the wonder of real life math.
We also worked on a winter wonderland!
The Cha Cha Cha…
PUMPKIN – APPLE BREAD
(Yields two loaves)
Topping
1 Tbsp All purpose flour
5 Tbsp Granulated sugar
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp Butter, softened
Bread
3 cups All purpose flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking soda
1 ½ tsp Ground cinnamon
1 tsp Grated nutmeg
¼ tsp Ground cloves
¼ tsp Ground allspice
15 oz Canned pumpkin (one small can)
¾ cup Vegetable or coconut oil
2 ¼ cup Granulated sugar
4 Large eggs, beaten
2 medium Granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped (to yield 2 cups)
- Make the topping by blending all ingredients together in a small bowl with a fork or your fingertips until it resembles coarse meal.
- Preheat oven to 350. Butter two 9×5 loaf pans.
- In medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, soda, and spices.
- In large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs.
- Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until well combined. Use a rubber spatula to fold in apples until evenly distributed.
- Divide batter between loaf pans. Sprinkle half of topping over each loaf.
- Bake until a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted in center of bread comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.
- Cool in pan on rack for 45 minutes. Turn out of pan onto rack and cool for 1 hour before slicing.
- This bread keeps, well-wrapped and refrigerated, for up to a week. It also freezes well (wrap first in plastic and then in foil before freezing.)
“There either is or there is not a way that things are. The color of the day, the way it felt to be a child, the feel of the salt water on your sun burnt legs. Sometimes the water is yellow, sometimes it is red but the color of the water in memory depends on the day. I’m not going to tell it the way that is happened, I’m going to tell it the way I remember it.”
Great Expectations
When we all got to school today, we found the door open to the bunny cage and both bunnies missing in action. One bunny was found in the big yard but we have yet to find Bun - our very first bunny that we’ve had for over two years. The kids were sad but ready to help find Bun. They made a trap made of a veggie sack with carrots inside. They also wanted to make signs that said; “Where is the bunny” so that visitors would know we were looking for our beloved Bun. When they asked me how to write it - for the first time this year I said; “Write it how you think it should be written. How does it sound to you?” With a tad bit of resistance, they were off and glad to be doing it on their own. I told them that it takes practice to learn how to write and that guessing was a good way to practice and learn how to write words. We already have a word wall and I am right there with them helping them to use clues from words they already know and see in the classroom and from the sounds that they know and connect to the words they are writing. Not everyone is ready for this and I know who isn’t and I’m helping them in other ways and on a more one on one basis. Here are they signs they posted. They worked on them together so they are alike, otherwise they would probably look totally different.
Inventive spelling at work in the classroom:
Brigit (above) and Sophia (below)
Then Jackson, Neve and Zavier play a math game Hi Ho! Cherry -O…
Today we finished reading a chapter book, The Magic Treehouse Series #2 - The Knight at Dawn. It was so much fun. Jackson said; “I don’t even need pictures, I can just imagine it in my mind.”
Quote of the day: “Even though people are all different ages, they come in all different sizes.” ~Justin
…And if you’re checking in on us Asher - we missed you so much today. Your empty chair at snack time was lonely to look at. Have fun Mr. We’ll see you in a few days. Send us a comment if you want and I’ll share it with the class.
Our water crystals took about four hours to create. It was fun to watch them change throughout the day.
And today Jackson wrote his name on his own for the first time in class and wanted me to put it on the blog (it also includes a self-portrait with a nifty colorful shirt.) When his grandma picked him up from school today, he was so proud to show her his picture - it was the first time I’d seen him so excited about a “writing” project. I have to say I was teary. This is my third year with many of my kids and it’s a privilage to watch them learn and grow.
And just for fun - here’s me in my chair, at home, blogging (caught by surprise while getting teary again - what’s a teacher to do with all this love and who let me go to school in this outfit?)
…and Asher, have fun in Michigan - we’ll miss you. When you get back we’ll go to see some pirates at the Maritime Museum!!!
Today during science we heated oil to 400 degrees and added maifun noodles - once they hit the oil, they explode like snakes and puff up - they were so yummy too (don’t worry - we were super careful!)
During math we sorted, catagorized and counted “jewels.” Then we wrote down our tally.
Today we also got out our best dance moves and I thought I was going to just hit the floor. Everyone was so funny but Jackson and Neve were twirling, swinging (hand in hand, hands over head) and throwing their heads back dramatically. It was so hilarious.
Tomorrow is our first day going to Daystar Retirement Home. The kids seem really excited. They are going to pair off with an elder, draw pictures, chat (we’ve prepared some questions) for about 30 minutes. We’ll let you know how it goes.
Today we made pinwheels and talked about geometry and wind. This project turned out so well - I wasn’t sure we would pull it off - making all the pieces for our pinwheels but we were so successful. It was our so much fun to run in the yard and watch the wheels turn and for the kids to climb on the tire and the climber to try to find better and different wind velocity. The sun and the wind came out just for us - too bad photos do not capture each wheel turn.
And I’ve been dreaming about and missing my student’s from last year so much. They must be able to read my mind:
I love, love, love you too…
MORNING MEETING:
This is where we first gather for the day. We check in with each other. We talk about our life outside of school. This is also our time to do our classroom business such as weekly job assignments. (Melanie, Asher’s teacher last year, asked Asher how he liked his new class. With his hands on his hips he said; “Well, you know, I have a job. I feed the bunnies.”) We also have our number of the day - tomorrow is day 5! We fill out the calendar with the day of the week, what was yesterday, what is tomorrow, what is the weather (this can involve prediction which is fun.) It’s our get -ready-set-go-time, as they are all anxious to see what is new in the room since next on the schedule is classroom/studio work-time, which I will cover next week in “what our daily schedule REALLY means: PART 2.
And thank you everyone for letting me know how much you appreciate the website - it is something much larger than it started it out to be - it now seems to have a life of its own.
See you tomorrow.
P.S. Happy Birthday Brigit!
You could hear the screams all through the school - it was so exciting.
What a little vinegar and baking soda will do.
Working on our classroom activity timeline for math:
Journaling:
Dress-up:
It’s almost time to start school again and if you’re going to be in Mystery Bay, it’s almost time for Kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade. I just got back from my trip to San Francisco where I mostly hung out at City Light Books (I love the beat writers.)
Our flight back into Seattle was delayed because our plane’s engine broke as we were taxing down the runway and we had to change planes. Sooooo, I bought a couple of trashy magazines to pass the time; Time and Newsweek. I don’t usually read these magazines as they are mostly filled with scare tactics and governmental hoopla but it was late and I needed something to keep me awake.
This week’s cover of Newsweek reads “The New First Grade: Too Much Too Soon?” I read this article right away and I hope that other people read it too because if this article is in such a main stream publication, then we are really creating a scary place for our kids to learn and grow. Our kids need us to let them be kids and learn at their pace and find learning to be fun and an adventure - it shouldn’t be a race or a test or a job. It makes me so sad that at midnight last night I was ranting and raving and crying in an airport.
Well, back to our world; a land without written tests and government issued fill in the dots and pressures to read and write or you can’t go outside and play. Learning is fun and we are going to prove that this coming year. The classroom is looking so beautiful. I can’t wait for everyone to see it. Paul and I painted a beautiful Seattle skyline in the block area and Emma and Harriette helped me decide where to put some of the cherry blossoms late one night over chocolate and caramel.
I’ll try to post some photos but I’m really just so excited to see their surprised faces when they show the parents around on Monday morning. I’ll post first day information soon.
’till then
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