Well, the first week of summer has come and gone. I hope everyone is enjoying their break from school. I have tried to catch up on tasks that I put off when school was in session as I was too busy. I have also been able to stay up a bit later too!
I did manage to go to the doctor and check into my foot. I don't know if you noticed or not, but the last couple of weeks of school I was wearing sandals with no back to them...I wasn't doing it to be comfortable (though they were), but I have a huge knob on the back of my foot, which had become inflamed and incredibly sore. I stopped running as the pain was too intense. My family doctor has referred me to a bone doctor...I cannot get in until August 1! My family doctor told me that more than likely I will need surgery to scrap off the stuff...he called it a bone spur..plus I have calcification of my Achilles tendon...
So...I cannot run...bummer...I love to run. So what did I do? I used part of the gift card I received from the CBG students and went out and purchased a kayak. I have to get my solitude in somehow, and this seemed like a good way to do it. The first time I ever kayaked was in Costa Rica spring break of 2010, and I loved it. This morning I took the kayak out on the reservoir and explored for a couple of hours..it was great.
I also have been swimming laps at the pool and doing the stationary bike, so I am getting exercise. Running will just have to wait until the fall I suspect.
Mrs. Cook and I are getting ready for our South Pacific adventure. We leave on July 14th. I'll post some pics in August of Mrs. Cook doing something crazy.
I hope everyone is doing well. Though I don't miss school, I do miss all of you...
Hello all...
It is Sunday afternoon and I am so thankful that we don't have school tomorrow. I came home on Friday afternoon not feeling so well, and by Saturday morning my nose was running, my head was aching..etc. I think I have a cold or maybe some allergic reaction to the piles of dust in my classroom. As I was packing up on Friday afternoon, the dust was flying through the air, so maybe that is part of it too, as I'm allergic to dust and I have asthma too. I have had a pretty healthy year this year, and I guess it's time to get a case of the sniffles.
I am still not feeling so hot today, so I guess it is good that there is no school tomorrow. Thank you so much for the wonderful gift card that was delivered to my room on Friday. Words cannot express my appreciation for your tremendous generosity. I think I'll use it to buy a few things for my trip to the South Pacific this summer.
Today, I downloaded the imovie I made for the celebration on Thursday night to my apple account. You can access this account by clicking on "VENTURER MOVIE" below. There you will go to the gallery where you will have the option to download the movie to your computer. I think it will take a while, since it is a 24 minute movie. I hope you all enjoyed seeing yourselves on the big screen. I had fun making it, and I think I'll do another one next year for my new batch of sixth graders.
I also managed to remember to bring home some of the Civil War movies you made and I've posted a few. If yours isn't posted, don't feel left out...I just did three to give a cross section of what you did. I will upload some more later in the week.
The first video is deep. It is amazing. I have shown all of my classes, but I still am going to post it because it is worth watching again. I showed it to my daughter who just turned 15 on Friday, and she was impressed. For those of you who haven't seen it, the dialogue in the background is the dialogue from the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth.
The second video I am posting has the famous scene that I mentioned in my comments at the celebration on Thursday night. The part where a southern lady gets upset when her husband is killed in battle...but not upset for the reasons you think...
The third video is one that I just got in on Friday due to technical difficulties, so I know a lot of you did not get a chance to see it. This video depicts Sherman's march to the sea. Remember the cheesy video I showed you in class where the woman screamed when her house was being burned? This student made video uses that scene as a springboard to their depiction of this event. I think this one is better than the "professional" one we watched in class!
Enjoy tonight...I always enjoy the first Sunday night of summer vacation....Sunday nights are my favorite times of summer because there is no alarm clock that will go off tomorrow morning, even though I'll be up early, as I never sleep past six.
Students,
Check out the rules for the silent auction. Make sure you bring a pen and your revo to the auction!!!
VenturerSilent Auction
Instructions:
·All items up for auction will be placed around the room with a bid sheet
·View the auction items at the event. The volunteers provide a bid sheet for each item with a notation of its starting value. Take note of the items that interest you and their starting values.This will help you set a limit for your spending.
·Bid on an item by writing the amount you would like to bid and signing your name on the bid sheet.Make sure your bid is greater than the minimum bid, or increases the previous bid by at least the minimum incremental bid (you can always bid more).
·Go back periodically to the items to see whether you've been outbid. As the auction period continues throughout the morning, more people sign bid sheets, and the prices increase.
·Write a new amount if you're willing to increase the bid, and sign your name on the bid sheet again.
·Be sure to keep checking the bid sheets for the items in which you're interested. Prices can increase rapidly.
·Each table will be closed to bidding at different times, so listen carefully to make sure you get a last bid in on your favorite items.
·After each table is closed, winners will be announced. If you are a winner, please proceed quickly to the cashier to pay.Save your receipt (bid sheet marked paid) so that you can collect your items at the end.
·All items will be picked up at the end of the auction.When directed, bring your bid sheet to the proper table to pick up your items.
·GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN
·Please bring a pen to enter bids!
RAFFLE - 10 REVO per chance:
Raffle tickets for two items will be available during the auction.Purchase raffle tickets from the Raffle Volunteer.Buy as many as you like, write your name on the ticket and put it in the box in front of the raffle you are interested in.Raffle winners will be announced at the end of the auction. Raffle 1 is called "summer fun" and includes some vacation fun items with a $10 Sweet Frog gift card. Raffle 2 is called "Candy Store" and includes various edible goodies as well as a $10 itunes gift card.
Timing will be as follows: 9:00-9:15 Preview
Again, remember to bring your REVO and a pen so that you can write your bids. You will be paying for your items and TAKING THEM HOME. Plan on that.
Well, we are almost here. The last week is upon us. It has seemed to me that the year has whizzed by quickly...a serious of blurs. I decided to start a blog in September as a way for me to chronicle the events of the year. I have looked back through the blog and have enjoyed rereading my posts, your comments, and looking at all of the photos that I've tried to take. I've changed my background to my dog Kali. As you know, she's had a rough time since Relay for Life, but I feel fortunate to say that she's doing much better now. After two surgeries, she's getting her stitches out on Tuesday. Now I can begin to walk her again. Some people think of walking a dog as a chore, I think of it as a pleasure. I do some of my best thinking while I'm walking her! The two pictures below were taken by me last winter break when we had the snow. I love the snow so...it reminds me of growing up in upstate New York. There is a tunnel that I walk through when I go down to the lake. You can see the tunnel here. Even though this is a welcome to summer posting, you see a winter scene!
I think I am going to continue the blog...even through the summer. I may not post as often, but I find that if I do blog, it becomes a journal of events that I would enjoy looking back upon in future years. As I've mentioned before to all of my classes, a student in my 7th grade social studies class brought in a diary written by her great-grandfather during World War II. He focused on his voyage over to Great Britain, and his experiences in France after the invasion of Normandy. He very fittingly ends his journal at Dachau, a German concentration camp near Munich. His words are so powerful. To me, this is what history is all about. Yes, we need to study the dates and the famous people, but true history is all about the "little people" who you never read about in a history book. I feel very fortunate that Taylor B shared this with the class, and allowed me to copy it to share with future classes. This is so much better than any textbook.
So, I encourage you to blog or journal to share your story. If you are going to go somewhere interesting this summer, write about it so that you can remember it for years to come. Take lots of photos to capture the moment, to see how you looked as a middle school student.
If you'd like, email me this summer with all of your adventures. I would love to hear about them. I can even include photos or personal stories of yours on my blog so that other Venturers/Navigators can see what you've been up to. I believe that's called "reblogging". I am not sure if that's the correct term or not!
I have written all of my classes an end of the year letter. I usually copy it and give it out in class the last week of school, but in this computer age, I've attached a copy of it to my edline page. I am saving paper and using technology all at the same time, plus you don't have to read it if you don't want to read it! I know some of you do not make it a habit to check edline!
I have also been working on an imovie to show you at the end of the year dessert celebration on June 16th. It certainly is not professional looking, but I've tried to get everyone on the Venturer team in all of the photos from the beginning of the year. It actually is about 24 minutes long. The Civil War photos were very interesting!
Enjoy your summer. Relax. Read some good books...If you read a book that has a historical connection to things we have studied or will be studying let me know. I am thinking about having my students read some historical novels in connection with English next year. I've got a couple good ones lined up with my 7th graders. I just got my schedule for next year. I am teaching just 1 out of 4 social studies classes for 7th grade. I so enjoy the curriculum in 7th grade and I was hoping that I could teach more than just 1 section. Oh well.....
Speaking of the imovie...before I close.... I put in a song by Coldplay, one of my favorite bands. It is a new single. I was putting the imovie together when I noticed online that this single had just been released. I listened to it and thought that it would be good to use for the imovie. I've posted the words below. It kind of reminded me about the night at relay....
I turn the music up, I got my records on I shut the world outside until the lights come on Maybe the streets alight, maybe the trees are gone But I feel my heart start beating to my favorite song
And all the kids they dance, all the kids all night Until Monday morning feels another life I turn the music up, I'm on a roll this time And heaven is in sight
I turn the music up, I got my records on From underneath a rubble sing a rebel song Don't want to see another generation drop I'd rather be a comma than a full stop [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/coldplay/every_teardrop_is_a_waterfall.html ] Maybe I'm in the black, maybe I'm on my knees Maybe I'm in the gap between the two trapezes But my heart is beating and my pulses start Cathedrals in my heart
As we saw oh this light I swear you emerge blinking into To tell me it's alright
As we soar walls Every siren is a symphony And every tear's a waterfall
Is a waterfall, ah Is a waterfall, ah Is always a waterfall Every tear is always a waterfall, ah
So you can hurt, hurt me bad But still I'll raise the flag
Oh, It was a wa-ah-ah-ah, waterfall A wa-ah-ah-ah, waterfall
Every tear Every tear
Summer is here!
Every teardrop is a waterfall
Every tear Every tear Every teardrop is a waterfall
Well it's that time of year again when the classroom gets packed up and educational "debris" gets put away for the summer. You wouldn't believe the dust that has accumulated since September. Where does the dust come from? It's amazing how it has settled over everything in the classroom. EVERYTHING.
This year has gone by way too quickly! As you are packing up your brains for a summer rest, take the time to think back to all of the projects that we've done this year. Which ones were your favorite? We all learn in different ways, and I tried to incorporate different types of learning styles into the products that you created this year. Take a moment to vote in the polls on the side bar as to what your favorite projects were. It would be great if you could leave a comment to give me some feedback as to why you liked a certain activity. I am always looking to change things up every year.
As next week draws to a close, I'll be posting some end of the year thoughts...stay tuned.
Dear students,
We are in the news again. Check out the Chesterfield Observer! It usually comes in your mailbox on Wednesdays if you want to see it in print. Click on "Chesterfield Observer" below to go right to the article.
Well, the SOLs are upon us again. Please study! You have heard me say this countless times in class...(if you were listening!)...this is the hardest SOL test of them all in middle school. Unfortunately, for the most part, it is sheer memorization. Is that necessarily the best way to learn social studies, to memorize stuff? Not really...it is more important to understand the reasons behind things and to draw connections...at least in my opinion. But, we are a product of a testing environment, and you do need to make the effort to do your best.
I have confidence that you'll do well, that you'll study until you know the material. The great thing that you have going for you is that you do care about your grades, and you take pride in your work. You have one more thing to study for..then you can relax! You can do it!
I have been working since Memorial Day weekend on a compilation of pictures from the year. When your parents see it, they'll realize just how much you've grown this year. As I looked at some of the pictures from September and October, I realized just how much you've grown.
6th graders...I am looking forward to your Civil War dramatizations...y'all will do well...(picture saying that with a think southern accent...)
7th graders...I am looking forward to seeing what you do with your decades projects. You will do this mostly in school, and we will begin tomorrow after your SOL....
