Do You Laugh Like I Do at Your Job???

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Hilarious day! We had indoor recess, which was quite entertaining in itself I tell ya. Kids crack me up! We also had a fun game in SS. Kids had to try to survive the many obstacles colonists faced at the Jamestown settlement in the 1600s. It was realistic to have more people die in that time period than survive. Turns out that is how it went down in our classroom as well. Enjoy the videos for yourself above! Love this kind of learning! 

We also began our new unit in Lead 21: Space. Kids will be doing an inquiry project during this unit. Watch for more details and a rubric in the near future. Today kids revolved and rotated around our sun (Taylor). We were sure dizzy. I posed the question...Why don't we feel the Earth moving when it is moving 77,600 mph? No one could figure it out or guess correctly so I told them in would be the blog bonus question tonight. Research with your kiddo and discover why we don't feel the Earth moving when it going that fast. Write your findings in the planner for a $10 bonus tomorrow. 

We began to find factors for numbers. We used divisibility rules to do so. Kids did great until they hit a factor that matched with itself. Yikes! That took forever to get them to understand that they only needed to write the number once in the factor list. For example the number 9 has the factor pairs 1 and 9 and 3 and 3. Therefore, the factor list is written as 1, 3, 9 and not 1, 3, 3, 9. Ahhhhhh! Why was that tough? No clue, but it was. :0) The best though was number 72. Now that is a number with a lot of factors! Who knew???? We sure do now! We will quiz out on this concept tomorrow after a final review in class. Thank goodness for calculators! 

This weekend, I ran across a great article online. It was written by a retired teacher. Their words could have been my own. In fact, I have decided to post a part of it each day. The purpose of the article was to list 10 things that every teacher wants parents to know. It was so right on! I wish I could take credit for these fine words by I can't. I will post 2 each day. Enjoy! :0) 

10 Thoughts a Teacher Hopes All Parents Know

POSTED ON DECEMBER 30, 2013 BY OJLOWE

In my 15+ years of teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students, I tried to keep a very complicated system as simple as possible. We kept our standards high and did our best to reach them. I only asked one simple question to determine the success of my students and their efforts….”Are you PROUD?”

Whether I was talking with the smartest kid in class, or the one who struggled the most, this one question was all I could ask for from each and every student. There is a connection when you look a student in the eye and ask this one question that any standardized testing will never be able to capture. Let’s remember that every student is an individualized learning anomaly. As parents, it is hard to keep an open mind when your child is grouped with his or her peers and is struggling in comparison. However, just like learning to walk, each child is able to rise on their own 2 feet when their mind and body are ready to do so. The main objective for both parent and teacher is to be a great supportive net to help each and every child when they are ready, and be there to support them in good and bad times.

With that being said, I always wanted my students’ parents to know 10 things when their child was in my care:

1. Your child does not treat me as they do you. You are their parent and they will test you 100 times more.  Don’t get me wrong, they will also test me in the classroom (it is a part of growing up), however, I have the power of peers, the Principal, and you on my side. If you teach your children to be respectful, chances are they are being respectful!

2. In Elementary School, your child will tell lots of stories of what goes on at home! We only believe half of what they say, but the question is what half do we believe?? 

I would like to close with an apology. I am so sorry to Nicolas's family. I went home this weekend and was reflecting (like I always do) and realized that I think I said the wrong thing in the lunchroom the other day. I said to Nicolas, Oh lucky you gets to have lunch with both mom and dad. Well, I  believe now that dad was really big brother visiting from college. Urg! I apologize! I felt really silly when I thought about this later! I shared this apology with Nicolas in class. So sorry! :0) 

Homework tonight: Finish classwork from Language Arts. Those that finished: Graphing Practice Sheet

Have a wonderful and SUNNY evening! 

Ms. Erickson