Get SEATed

I found an activity today that I’m planning for next week.  We’re beginning our study of elements and the periodic table.  So I turned to the ever trusty Google and typed in “periodic table activities.”  This simple search brought up several great results and one in particular caught my eye.  The element windsock is going to be a fun way to find out some basic information on common elements.  We’ll be using the same basic idea given on that website, but we’ll also be adding an everyday object that hangs from the center of the windsock. 

For example, the windsock for aluminum may have a piece of foil hanging down surrounded by tails with information on them such as atomic mass, number of protons/neutrons/electrons, etc.  We’ll be hanging them from the ceiling to liven up the room with some student produced work.  There’s already plenty of that on the walls, but I’ve yet to venture to the ceiling for displaying work.  I mentioned this activity to the students today before class ended and they were already planning where they wanted to hang their windsock. 

It’s little things like this that I get excited about and make me look forward to the start of a new week.  I’ll get some pictures of our creations and post a follow up to this once they’re all completed.

I’m becoming increasingly frustrated with my yearbook students as the days go on.  We are in the process of putting together a fundraiser, but it requires that they actually take some of their time and go to area businesses that might support our efforts.  The problem is that, outside of a few hard workers, nobody is taking the time to go.  They were told about this fundraiser 5 weeks ago and they are still dragging their feet. 

My yearbook students are told early on (specifically, the very first day) that they are expected to put forth a great amount of effort.  If they don’t feel that they can give that effort, they need to get out of the class and change their schedule at that time.  Of course, they all said “oh yeah, no problem.”  That was 5 weeks ago and progress has been slow going.  Every day, I ask, “Did you go to the business that I assigned to you?”  The answer comes back as something along the lines of, “No, I didn’t get a chance to.”  Really, 5 weeks should be more than enough time. 

My hard workers have been doing well and I am very thankful for their efforts.  The slackers know that this is for a grade, but it doesn’t seem to be of much concern.  I’m not sure how else to get them to do what needs to be done.  Hopefully we can get our fundraiser up and running in the next few days so that I can end my frustrations, at least with this phase of the yearbook work.

This is my 11th year in the classroom.  I’m almost finished with 1/6th of the school  year and I’m feeling better than ever about how my classes are going.

My students are producing a lot of great work and I’ve got it displayed on the walls throughout the room.  I don’t know…maybe it’s the room change, maybe it’s having a good mix of classes, maybe it’s just me getting older.  The days are flying by, rather than dragging on.  I have remained on top of everything, not putting things off until the last minute.  I look forward to the next day and what interesting things will happen.

Now, this is not to say that the previous years have been terrible (although there have been some not so hot ones…different story though).  It’s just that there’s something different about this year.  I’m planning great lessons, incorporating technology often, and having productive classes.  I’m applying for grants in an effort to pull in some great equipment (weather station, telescope…just to name a couple). 

Who else is with me on being energized with the new school year?

I have a grant proposal to write with a maximum value of $750.  I have a few ideas on what I’d like to get, but there’s nothing that I desperately need for my classroom. 

If you were given $750, what would you want to get?  It is a science related grant, so it has to apply to either a physical science or environmental science class.  I like incorporating technology, but it doesn’t have to be tech stuff. 

Share your ideas and let’s get a big list of things going here.

You know how you mean to keep doing something, but you end up just putting it off, over and over again?  Yeah, thought so.  It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I’ve been meaning to get back a whole lot sooner. 

I’m almost done with the 5th week of our new school year.  I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast.  Of course, it’s almost like the last school year never ended for me.  Right after the school year ended, I started teaching summer school.  After that was done, I worked at school every day getting all of the computers ready for the new year.  School started and it’s been full speed ahead ever since. 

I’ve got a physical science, an environmental science, a yearbook class, and a computer repair class.  I’m enjoying all of them very much and I believe the kids are as well.  We’ve been working on so many different things so far this year and it really keeps things moving quickly. 

I did recently get my very first proposal submitted on DonorsChoose.org.  I’m very excited about that site because I feel that the students can learn two lessons as a result of it.  First, they’ll learn the science topic that the funded project is intended for.  Second, they’ll learn that making donations when you are in a position to do so is important.  I want to teach them saying thank you for something like this is important.  The DonorsChoose process is very good because that thank you part is built in.  Have you tried submitting a proposal on that site?  If not, I suggest giving it a try. 

* Shameless plug – if you want to check out my proposal and send a couple of bucks, it would certainly be appreciated by me and my students http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=312188 *