Mery Christmas

Well the 6th Grade students pulled off a great Winter Program on very short notice. We learned a new song two days before the program. Our final performance was also our first dress rehearsal.

Some of our girls sang "Where Are You Christmas" and nailed it. The group K-4 (made up of 5 of our 6th grade boys) Did a great job and helped make it a great day.

Also the students of Area 13 were very generous, many thanks for the candy, cookies, mugs and gift cards.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday and is enjoying the break. Keep checking back for updates.

MOMS are everywhere

In order to help with our overall organization and homework we have recruited some MOMs. MOM stands for Motivational Organizational Managers. Students who are struggling to get their homework turned in or they are having difficulty managing their papers once they are returned will be assigned a MOM. So far we have two MOMs that have stepped up to make sure that everyone has what they need. MOMs will check their charges backpack to make sure that they have all that they need at the end of the day. They will also turn their homework in to their MOM in the morning and their MOM will make sure that they receive credit for it. Once a student has completed an entire week's work of homework and all papers are in place they will only have to check in with MOM twice a week. At that time they will regain their independence.

Star Gazing

Well it's hard to believe that we have been back from Outdoor Ed and trying to get back to normal routines. That part has been a little difficult. It didn't help that we came back to a week of minimum days for parent conferences.

We have had to put some of our fall themes aside :( for a while.

Thursday night Cerro Villa sponsored a "Star Gazing" night and it was a lot of fun. It was great to see so many former students doing well at the next level. Keep up the good work. I miss you guys.

Thursday at Outdoor Ed

Today the students were able to finish hiking so that every student has hiked every trail. Almost every student has had a bird eat out of their hand over the past few days. The hoe-down was hilarious and everyone, including Mr. K and Miss Leon had a great time. Tonight is skit night and we can't wait to see the skits that all of the students put together.

This is our last post from up in the mountains. Tomorrow, beginning around 11 a.m., you can check the hotline ((714) 721-9537)for updates on when we will be arriving at Olive school. It's been a great week and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Wednesday afternoon

This afternoon, students were able to hike a trail of their choice (the trails had different levels of difficulty). While on the hikes, students made hieroglyphics on rocks (boulder painting), trail art, and necklaces. We also painted each others faces (I made a great ladybug on Olivia D's face, and she put whiskers on me). The students also made friendship bracelets.

Everyone is doing well.

Tuesday at Outdoor Ed

This morning, the students were divided into three different hiking groups. One group hiked the ecology trail, one group hiked the wildlife trail (taught by Mr. K), and one group hiked the geology trail (taught by Miss Leon). It's great when the classroom is outdoors. There are so many opportunities for hands on learning on these trails.

The (hugely popular) afternoon activities were: studying flight (by testing paper airplanes and homemade rockets), art projects, and survival tips. Your child participated in one of these three activities this afternoon.

Tonight will be round 2 of astronomy, and we will have the opportunity to do a night hike.

Everyone is doing really well!

Check back tomorrow..

p.s. Cell service is very inconsistent. We update the cell phone message when we can. The last update was today (Tues) around 4:45 p.m.

Outdoor Ed Update

We arrived safely, got the students assigned to their cabins, had our first meal and our first fire drill (standard safety procedure). The students have already been out on the trail and everyone is doing great! We are well on our way to an awesome adventure of a week.

Stay tuned...

Back to School Night

Well my ninth Back to School Night has come and gone. It was great to see the excitement of the parents. Similar to the excitement that I see in some of my same students. I know that we are only 11 days into the new year, but I am very excited about the potential the students seem to posses. As usual the parents who came were the ones who could have skipped, with a few exceptions. A couple approached me afterward to see how their son was doing, you could sense the excitement in their voice and mannerisms, the relief to hear that all was well and that he was doing great.

As I packed up I was overwhelmed about how much I love my job and the students that I have the chance to work with. So far about a dozen students have had the courage to call for clarity of homework or maybe it was just curiosity to see if I would really give my numbers out to my students. Makes my think what next weeks post will be like.

Don't Underestimate the Power of a New Start

The first day of school has come and gone, so the journey begins. Great group of students, we shall see how they do when the pressure of the day to day stuff comes into play. One of things I love about the first day of school is that you really have the chance to start anew and fresh. Not just the teacher but the student as well. Teachers have the chance to see how they did the previous year and make the improvements and fight the temptation to fall into the same traps that kept them from achieving all that they wanted. For students they really have the chance start anew. No carry over, no judgment, truly a fresh start. A chance for them to influence how they want to be remembered. To become known as the student who worked hard, encouraged and surprised those around them. There is something powerful about a new beginning, today I saw a handful of students who were glad to have the chance to start over.

The lights are on and folks are home.

CST Scores and Count downs

CST Scores

Well I finally got my student's scores from last April Standardized Testing. Over all we went up 194 points in Language Arts and 145 in Math. There were several students who amazed me with the jumps that they made. There were a few that stayed close to where they were. There were also students who prove the rule that you must be careful how much emphasis that you put on these tests. I know of a few students who have a great work ethic, but have a difficult time when it comes to standardized tests. I feel for those students because in some cases they may not get into the honors classes in Jr. High.

Countdown

School starts on Thursday, I am looking forward to meeting my new students. As usual I really miss my students from last year, and I will probably will feel the same way next year. (At least I hope so)

Monday will be my big room push, any former students are welcome to come by and help out. Looking forward to getting the theme for August and September up and running. There is an excitement in the air this time of year that sort of kicks automatically as the first day of school draws near.

There were several times this summer when I was able get thoughts down on paper and I can't wait to see them come full cycle to lessons in practice. I also brought in a professional, aka mom at 73 she can out work just about anyone I know.

We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Less Than a Month

School will be starting in less than a month, and as of today we have not received the results from last years Standardized Tests. It would be great to have this time to look back and review the areas that students scored low in. There will be time no doubt, but it will come at a time when teachers have all sorts of details to worry about.

The remainder of my time will be spent trying to get the last of my summer projects completed and making lesson plans. We also have two more trips planned, it is safe to say we are squeezing all we can out of this summer.

Bye Billy Mays

I was sad to hear about the passing of Billy Mays. He was fun to watch, and seemed like a nice guy. We teased him for being a bit of a Diva on his pitchmen show. I know his passing will be eclipsed by Michael and Fara, but he will be missed. His family is in my prayers.

Billy knew the power of a good deal and the importance of finding the same way to say things over and over to increase comprehension. I think he would have made a good teacher.

School is out! I think

Well we it's hard to believe that we have been out for two weeks. The promotion went well, and I made it through without any huge weeping fits. The year went by so fast that I still can't believe we are out. On top of that we left for Lake Don Pedro on Monday after school was out, came back for a recital and left for the river. So it feels like we just got out.

Working on themes for next year

My Students Blow Me Away

As the school year gets closer to ending my students continue to impress me. Every day you can see the lights going on about the new things they are learning.

What impresses is me is that it is coming along with compassion and respect towards one another. I am already gearing up for the loss that I will feel when June comes. This is one of those classes that you would love to move on with. Three minutes into our library time today there was blanket silence as students selected their books and started reading. As we prepared for tests today I was able to witness students helping and truly teaching (not just giving the answers) their fellow classmates. I pray that I have served them well as they prepare for the jump to middle school.

Survived the Birthday week

Well the week flew by and my students are back on track and things are going well. Gracie got sick and luckily my mom could come out in time so that Sandy or i did not have to miss any school. Gracie was happy to get the special attention that only grandmas can give.

My students gave me a great little surprise party at the end of school on my birthday and it was a lot of fun. We finished Tuck Ever Lasting both the book and the movie. The timing was good, we will start writing a compare and contrast and then we can move on to our next book.

I was able to get the microphones working with our Read 180 program, we have a visitor coming to observe and I thought it would be great if everything was working this time.

Well I have got to start getting OSN done for tomorrow.

It's Been A While

Okay so it has been a little while since I checked in. Well I have not hurt any more students to the best of my knowledge.

We finished our Famous Person reports and some students did a great job of preparing both the written and oral portions. Unfortunately there were several that did not put the effort into the project.

We are starting our Country Reports next and I am sure that things will be better this time around.

We are back on our feet and looking to finish strong. We received transponders to use with our Smart Board software. So far we have only set up the basics. I can't wait to have them in full use, hopefully by the end of the week.

Are you sure I was the one who threw the ball to you?

This week we had P.E. - Sort of a highlight because it is normally one of the things that gets pushed aside when time gets busy. We were working on running and catching football drills and things were going great. Students would weave around obstacles and then turn and make a catch, (thrown by me) run the ball back and move to the next line. During the last round I was having students get a drink after their last turn and then line up. One student who is always helpful and never complains came up to me and said he thought that he hurt his hand on the last catch. I looked down and was pretty sure that his finger did not normally go in that direction. I wrote him a pass for the health office hoping that maybe it was just my imagination. Five minutes later I got a call requesting his items be brought to the office. After school I called home and spoke with his dad, sure enough the finger was broken he was already in a cast.

Usually I'm the one that gets hurt when we have P.E. Nick I am So Sorry. See you in class.

Finally a Day Off

Well as this week concludes we have our first day off in 9 days. I'm not complaining and neither are my students. A fellow twitter principal (a twitter user) has had 5 no school days, 3 due to ice and 2 due to extreme cold. As we enjoy 75-80 degrees weather I can't believe what it must be like.
Hill running is becoming addictive, there are so many great sites, especially when you make it to the top and look down.

Week one down and one to go

Students were great this week. We have a new principal, and she got off to a great start with staff and students.

This week students are taking Pace Standards test to see how things are progressing as we get closer to the state tests in the Spring.

Got several good hill runs in as well as the normal stuff. Hoping to increase mileage this week.

Missing England a little, but slowly getting back into the swing of things. This week should go fast. Lots of prep work for lesson plans and project directions to pass out.

Ready Set Ut Oh

Well I'm sitting on my back step thinking about how great these last 2 weeks have been and getting for my first day back.

So much has happened over the last 2 weeks that it feels more like a month. Several times since we returned from I have thought about how I have had more time off than many have for a year. We returned with plenty of time to adjust to the time change, get all the decorations down and even straighten up a little around a major feat for us.

Cale helped me get my room ready for my wonderful students and I even have a pretty good idea of what I want to accomplish in class this week. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is ready for the coming year.