Salt Maps!

We were learning about sequencing this week in Reading, and as our grade level was planning, we decided there's no easier way to assess students' ability to follow a sequence than simple direction-following! We were talking about different things we could have them create (pizza, sock puppets, etc...) and decided we could get more bang for our buck by actually making it something meaningful to our curriculum. We remembered that some of us had made salt maps with the kids a few years ago, and thought that would be a cheap and easy project.... or at least cheap. The project incorporates Math (making dough), Social Studies (regions of Virginia) and Reading (Sequencing!), so definitely a winner!

To give you all some sequencing practice of your own, here are some main events:

- Monday night, a letter to the parents/guardians and the dough recipe were sent home with every 4th grader explaining the project and giving them a heads up the dough was needed in class on Wednesday.

- Tuesday morning/afternoon, students wrote that their only homework was to make the dough and bring it in the next day and then were reminded of that fact right before dismissal.
- Wednesday morning - 9:10 am - 6 students show up with no dough. Ms. Wacek goes on a rampage about responsibility and gives her "you're going to get fired from your job if you don't bring in your work" schpiel.
- 9:20 am - Ms. Wacek finishes her speech with 25 mortified/confused/intrigued faces staring at her.
- 9:21 am - One brave student (one of the ones who 'forgot' to bring his dough) reaches into his backpack and pulls out a canister of salt and a roll of Pillsbury Grands Biscuit Dough and says, "My mom didn't have any flour, but she said I could use this."

- 9:22 am - Ms. Wacek smiles and is reminded why she loves her job. Then, she announces that LUCKILY she came prepared for those irresponsible students, but they wouldn't be so lucky next time! Six sighs of relief.

- 9:23 - 9:33 am - "You need 1 cup of salt, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of water and knead." Repeat with next student.

- 9:25 am - Ms. Wacek smiles again when her favorite, chubby little Hispanic boy puts his hands in the dough for the first time and says, "Wow. This is really smooooooooshy."
- 9:35 - 9:55 am - Read and sequence a cute story. Pretend like the kids are paying attention to anything but the glob of messy, smooooshy dough sitting on the corner of their desks.
- 9:56 am - Classroom full of cheers when I say it's time to make our maps!
- 9:57 - 11:15 am Holy cow. What just happened? Why are you throwing dough? Why do you have dough on your nose? Why does your Virginia look like a peacock instead of a slice of pizza? Are those mountains or boobs? If I see one more person eat the dough, we're stopping this project!
- 11:16 am All maps are set to dry on the counter. "Take out your math books and don't speak... or move... or breathe."

There you have it! Looking back, it actually was a fun project and I'm guessing (hoping/praying) they learned SOMETHING from it. Social Studies test is on Monday, so I'll keep you posted! :)

**P.S. To share in my misery, one of the other 4th grade teachers found out the next day that one of her students had used pizza dough instead of salt map dough. Hello, smelly, rotten yeast and ant infestation! Oh, just another day in the life!! :)

Medical Condition??

The transition from 3rd grade to 4th grade is actually a tough one, believe it or not. In 3rd grade, students still get babied by teachers, have bathrooms in their classrooms, and are young and sweet. Welcome to 4th grade and you're only one year away from being at the top of the school, you have a major growth spurt (often including puberty and all that fun stuff) and the teachers give you SOOOO much work (as per my students when I gave them THREE 8-problem worksheets for homework tonight!). Sometimes the transition goes smoothly (especially for the kids who grow 2 feet over the summer), and sometimes it's a little more rough. Take for instance, my student Ronnie (name changed for confidentiality... and his self-dignity).
According to his second and third grade teachers, Ronnie has come a far way in the 'growing up' arena. Unfortunately for the boy, he had a lonnnnng way to go! I knew he was going to be one of my little pet projects on day one when he started crying... I mean, tearing up... because he ran out of time to finish his "All About Me" poster before they called him for dismissal. I caught him on his way out the door and reminded him that "Now we're in 4th grade and crying is not acceptable. We use words to figure out our problems and things will get fixed much easier.
(Nods head with extreme tear-stained face.)
"You can finish that activity tomorrow."
"Ok." (stopped crying)
"Now, how easy was that?"

Day 2, no crying. Yes, we're making progress.
Day 3, messed up on coloring his map of Virginia and open the flood gates. "Ronnie, we talked about this. Crying won't solve the problem. Tell me what's wrong so we can fix it."
"I'm not crying. I have a medical condition. This just happens when I get upset."
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Right." (That may or may not be a paraphrase.)


Day 4-7, no crying.
Day 8, Palmer Pride Night (see previous post for details). Mom shows up and asks how he's doing. I gave the usual "He's great. Trying really hard. Pleasure to have in class" schpiel. The conversation continues and we finally get to the point where she says, "Ok, how's he really doing?" I slyly mention the fact that he has an issue with crying and mom acknowledges it and says they're working on it at home, too! At this point, Ronnie pipes up and claims, "MOM! It's a medical condition, remember? I told you about this! It's not crying! It's just that when something is too frustrating my tear-sacs break and the water comes out of my eyes!!"
Mom: "Oh, right. That's not a medical condition. That's called crying."

At least I can count on his mom for some sort of sanity this year! :)

Palmer Pride Night!

Due to all of the construction at our school over the summer (see previous post), our school was not ready in time for Open House. As a result, we had to borrow the cafeteria of a local middle school to have our little Meet and Greet event. It actually turned out to be a hit and I had more parents show up than I've ever had at one of those events! The middle school is much closer to the East End of Newport News where a lot of our kids are bussed from, so I'm thinking that was a huge contributing factor!

Anyway, because one of the biggest plugs of Open House (besides meeting the teacher!) is to see your child's new classroom, we had Open House Round 2 (aka Palmer Pride Night) last night at school. It was very similar to what Back to School Night will be like next month, so I'm not sure what exactly we'll do at that! :) I had seven of my students show up, which, considering we were in the middle of a torrential downpour, it was at 5:30 at night (and most of my kids don't get off the bus until 5), we just had Open House 2 weeks ago, and it was the same night as NNPS High School Open House, I was pleased with that turn-out! The school did provide hot dogs, chips, and fruit snacks, so that was probably more of a draw then seeing the room, but who knows!

It was a good night and ANYtime the parents come see the teacher is a good thing! My favorite part of the evening was definitely one of the comments from one of my student's moms. She said, "My daughter used to dread coming to school last year and this year she loves it and can't wait!!"
Bonus points for her. :) Haha. But seriously, hopefully that doesn't change all year!! I used to LOVE school and I want my kids to have that same love!

Back in Business!

Holy moly. 8 days down already! So much to write about, but since I promised I'd post about Day 1, I'll start there and save the rest for another day!
Before you can fully appreciate the craziness of the first day (week!?) of school, you need a little background. At the end of last school year, we found out our school was going to have new air conditioning units installed in every room and our roof replaced. As we found out later, we did get new air conditioners, but while installing them, the workers came across a pretty serious case of asbestos. All progress on the A/Cs got put on hold and a substantial amount of time was taken to clear all the mold and make sure the school was safe. Needless to say, things did NOT turn out as scheduled and exactly one week before the first day of school we were given the go-ahead to get in our rooms and start setting up. Now, this may seem like a lot of time to some of you non-teachers, but you need to remember that during this week there was a) a weekend, b) scheduled meetings to attend, c) construction workers/electricians/technology workers swarming the building and running in and out of rooms, setting up ladders all over the place, and making a big mess all over! Additionally, because of all the construction, all of our rooms had an extra layer of dust on them, no SmartBoards installed, open wires poking out of walls, etc., and no new roof that we were promised. :)
But, as they say, "whatever doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger" and that's what happened. Our school staff pulled together to make the building look beautiful for opening day (along with some WONDERFUL friends who came in and lent a hand in my room!). I'm beginning to think that a "normal" classroom set-up may never exist for me... First Year= craziness because it was my first year, Second Year= changed classrooms a week before school started, Third Year= this!

All that to say, it was a stressful start to the school year and when I showed up on day 1 things were a little hectic. I had a to-do list that stretched from here to the moon and no time to do it! My first clue that it would be an interesting day (as if I didn't know upon arriving!) was when a mother and son walked to my room at 8:15 (kids aren't supposed to come until 8:45!) and she let me know that he was new to Palmer and the office had just told her he was placed in my room. This brought my student total up to 26. Oh boy. It actually turned out to be a blessing (at the time!), because I was able to put him to work with a few last minute tasks (taping down name tags, passing out papers, etc) while I focused on some other issues. Somewhere during the next 30 minutes, I gave myself a paper cut (a bad one requiring a tight band-aid!), made some copies, re-confirmed that there were no working printers or internet at the school and got another new student. Oh yeah... and met with the Assistant for my Visually Impaired student and got a "Brailling Machine 101" lesson.

The rest of the kids started to come down around 8:45. For future reference, if any students show up in your room not knowing which class they're in, DON'T volunteer to take him or her to ask the principal unless you're looking to up your numbers. That's right, now we were at 27. By 9:15 all the busses had arrived and the cafeteria was empty so we got started with the day. Only 3 of the kids on the roster didn't show, so the room is definitely full! (Side note: They didn't show at all during the first 8 days, so have officially been taken off my roster. I did get another new girl on day 3, so I'm sitting at 25 students right now. It's a big class for me, but it's definitely manageable and I'm not complaining since I know other teachers with more!)

I'm not sure how many times I said the words "rules" and "respect" and "Wacek" on that day, but it was worth it, I'm sure! :) The day went quite seamlessly, except for my BRAND NEW A/C going out at lunchtime and us all sweating our ways through the afternoon. We played lots of the corny little "get to know you" games that everyone loves and sent the little angels on the way!

Kanur-Cahn-Knot - First Ever Wacek Bake-Off!

Last weekend, my relatives all had a family reunion in Minnesota at my Uncle's house. Since mom, Molly, and I were just getting back from Indonesia, we weren't able to make it. Stacy and Katie couldn't go because of work. So, naturally, we decided to have our own little "Wacek Women's Wonderful Weekend." It really didn't consist of much... sorting through "stuff" to get ready for a yard sale, playing LOTS of games, dinner at Katie's house, etc. To spruce it up a little, I came up with the idea of a bake-off. Now, generally, with most families, this would just be a fun little healthy competition. Most of you who are reading this probably know that the Waceks are not "most families," though, and we are known for taking things to a whole new level. So, while at dinner at Katie's, we sat and talked (debated/argued/used physical force) to come up with the rules for the bake-off.

The first rule was coming up with the "secret ingredient". Obviously it would be too difficult to judge all the different foods if there were no limits. We threw around some ideas... peanut butter, coconut, walnuts, chocolate chips... but after deciding those were too plain or Steph and Katie didn't like them, we came up with Oreos and all agreed. Rule #1: Must contain Oreos.
Then, to make it difficult, we decided on Rule #2: The recipe you find/use cannot originally contain Oreos. That must be a special addition on your part. We didn't want anyone just googling "the best oreo recipes".
Other rules:
3) Must be completed by 5 pm.
4) It can or cannot be baked (this one took a LOT of discussion, hence the name of the bake-off!). 
5) You must wear a hat while baking (I have no idea WHAT this has to do with anything, but it made it on the rule list!).


After we had all of the rules, we spent some time discussing what the dishes would be judged on... aka, created a rubric (I told you, we NEVER do anything small-scale or normal!).

  

Once the rubric was created and the rules were in place, it was time for the games to begin. Early the next morning, we all headed over to the grocery store, got the necessary ingredients (mom being SUPER secretive all the while), and went home to start baking! Mom, continuing to be overly-secretive insisted that no one was allowed to enter the kitchen while she was 'baking', would not tell anyone her ingredients, and accused us of cheating if we asked her ANY questions (even ones that were totally unrelated... "Mom, where's my blue shirt?" "CHEATER!"). Let's just say, I think we know where we get our competitive-bones from.

Five o'clock finally arrived and the big reveal and feasting began!

Unfortunately, Stacy's procrastination and lack of cupcake holders resulted in her creation not baking long enough and they crumbled onto the plate. Name: Cupcooks (Cupcakes with cookie batter inside, topped with homemade oreo frosting.) 5th place.

Molly didn't realize that it was a dessert bake-off and tried to go all healthy on us. Name: Fro-Yoreo (Strawberry frozen yogurt with oreo mixed in!) Really yummy, but not sweet enough to compete with the others. 4th place.

Steph's lacked substance. It was supposed to be more of a cheesecake, but instead was too fluffy and unsatisfying. Name: Layers of Original Remarkable Enjoyable Outstanding Delight. 3rd Place.

Katie's was too run-of-the-mill. Oatmeal bars with oreos mixed in. She heard they were better the second day, and it was true! Name: Whole Lotta Love Handles... and how true it was! 2nd Place.

Mom worked in a restaurant for 30 years... can't beat that. She actually should have probably lost more points for originality because Stacy was the first to say she was going to make a trifle/truffle, but when mom saw this bowl unused, she knew Stacy had decided on something different and snagged the idea! Name: "Trifle, Truffle, Trufle. Doesn't really matter because the real name is Winner!" How right she was! First place!

 

Since the whole thing was such a hit, we decided to go bigger and badder next time. We've already set into motion a 12-person entree bake-off for Christmas time with the other Wacek family. More rules, better rubric, and I'm sure wayyyyy more intense! I can't wait!

Updates and Changes

Dear Faithful Blog Followers,

I understand that it has been approximately a month and a half since my last post. The obvious reason is because it is summertime and I don't have a classroom full of students doing ridiculous and hilarious things. The other reason is because I joined up with my sister, Molly, to create a blog about our recent month long adventure to Indonesia. If you didn't jump onto that bandwagon/weren't aware, you can read all about the past month of my life here.

Since I had a lot of fun blogging about my daily adventures and other happenings, I decided that from here on out, this blog will continue to be primarily school-based (stories about the events of my classroom), but will also involve more about my day-to day. Hopefully this will a) give me more to write about and allow the blog to be more frequently updated and b) not turn any of you away. :)

Let me know if you have any feedback (questions, comments, suggestions, etc!!). Stay tuned for stories about the remaining month of my summer!

Love, Stephanie

What the SOL Tests Taught Me

We just finished up with all of our end-of-year standardized testing. It was less stressful than last year for multiple reasons (later in the year, my second year administering them, different group of kids, etc....), but it was still stressful nonetheless. The week before, during, and after, I learned a lot about myself, my kids, and the SOL tests in general. Let me share a few of my revelations with you here...

1) I am an internally violent person. Now, it's not something you would notice just by looking at me... or even by spending time with me. But, if you were to observe my thoughts while I watched my kids take these tests, you would most definitely judge me. It is PAINFUL to stand behind a student who is testing and watch them select wrong answers. It is even MORE painful to stand behind a student and watch them select wrong answers simply because he or she is too lazy to read a passage or give the best effort. It may or may not have gone through my head on multiple occasions that I really wanted to slap (literally) some sense into some of the kids (or possibly worse in the most extreme of circumstances). Additionally, my students understood the seriousness of my words when I told them there was to be NO talking until the last test was submitted, so I didn't have to follow through on any hypothetical threats of corporal punishment. Thankfully, though, as I discovered, all of my violence is internal and no children were harmed in the taking of the tests. :)

2) My kids are royalty. So, on the occasions where I wasn't threatening their well-being, my alternative was to wait on my students hand and foot. I have a couple of students who can get VERY moody and overly emotional, which always results in them shutting down mentally. So as to avoid any melt-downs, I was walking on eggshells for the half-hour or so before each test. I'm quite sure my students could ask me to give them hundreds of dollars, let them have recess for the rest of the year, or be their best friend and I would agree, if it was a testing morning. :) It's a fine line between trying to maintain some semblance of control over the class, but at the same time, wanting everyone to be in overly-cheerful, determined-to-succeed moods. Again, we achieved success and no major emotional issues played a role in this year's testing!

3) Kids will be kids. The first 4th grade SOL this year was Reading. Since it's known to be a very loooong, draining test, I wanted to make sure my kids had plenty of sustaining energy (not just "sugary-cereal" energy!). Thus, the night before the test, I bought fresh blueberries (full of antioxidants and brain boosters!) and made homemade, healthy blueberry muffins. I brought those in and served them with bananas and Kool-Aid (which actually has substantially less sugar than Juicy Juice and the other "healthy" juice boxes!).

With the food also came a motivating message. :)

Most of the kids ate the muffins and I only heard a few complaints about kids not liking bananas. Overall, though, it was just kind of a lax morning with some treats from the teacher. Well, test scores came back quickly and were not as impressive as they should have been, so I was disappointed in my kids. The night I got our scores, I was pretty bummed and unmotivated to make any goodies for the test the next day. Upon arriving to school, I realized I really couldn't let them go into the test without some sort of pepping up (see lesson #2 above!), so I broke out a bag of LifeSaver Wint-o-Green mints (which are supposedly good for the brain?) and Smarties. I placed two of each on each child's desk and HOLY MOLY! You'd have thought every student won the lottery with the way their faces lit up when they saw their desks. They were all smiles going into that test, and wouldn't you know it? The scores were better! This was about the time I remembered that kids are just kids, and fancy-schmancy or healthy doesn't mean a whole lot to them if it's not sweet! So, taking my cue, I decided to make breakfast cookies for our final SOL (Math). I searched long and hard to find a recipe that I thought looked both tasty and healthy. I went and bought everything, whipped 'em up and brought them in. To make sure all were pleased, I also threw out some water bottles, Smarties and orange slices with the cookies.

I made it loud and clear as soon as everyone had arrived that it was a brand-new breakfast cookie recipe and I would not be offended if they didn't like them. That announcement was unnecessary, though, because I heard ooohs, ahhhs, and yummmmys all over the classroom. When these scores came back, they were the highest of all! YAY!


4) Wheat germ is a real thing. Who knew? It was one of the ingredients called for in the aforementioned breakfast cookie recipe. Apparently it's the core of a wheat grain and is very healthy for you somehow or another. It took me about 15 minutes of walking up and down the baking goods aisle of the grocery store before I finally found it, but, hey, if it works! :)

5) I'm beginning to believe all the complaints about Standardized Testing! Upon first starting my teaching career (last year!), I didn't think the SOL tests were all that bad. Sure, it made the curriculum very tight and uniform, but considering I had NO clue what 4th graders were supposed to learn, I found it to be beneficial in focusing and guiding my instruction. Now, as I sort of have an idea of what I'm doing, it's becoming much more constricting. Everything has to be taught with an exact language in a very specific number of days.
While I can deal with the teaching part of it, another issue that I now have with the SOL tests is that after a year of working with my students, teaching them how to read, seeing them grow to have a love for reading and watching them read chapter book after chapter book, a score from a 2-hour block of time decides whether or not they know how to read. Sure, they're not the strongest readers ever, but at the same time, I know that most of them are reading at a fourth grade level and should've been able to pass a fourth grade reading test. It's just frustrating that that test is all or nothing and now our school is suffering as a result of school test scores. Buttttttt, since I don't see the tests going anywhere anytime soon, I guess it's time to figure out how to get my kids passing!!

I'm sure I learned plenty more from the tests, but for now, I'm just glad they're over!! :) Summertime is just around the corner!