...3 Weeks Later...

Wow. It's been WAYYYY too long since I last posted, I apologize. Life has been busy and stressful and I apparently haven't been looking hard enough for the funny stories in my room because I've been grumpy at my kids lately. But, for anyone who cares, let me provide you with some updates from Room 21 over the past few weeks... and then I'll end with some humorous 4th grade thinking. :)

So, back at the beginning of the school year, each 4th and 5th grade teacher was asked to nominate/elect two students as SCA (Student Council) representatives. Now, you might think this would be difficult since it's so early in the year and we haven't fully figured out who our "model citizens" are... but not the case in my room. From the get go, I had two kids that were above and beyond very respectful, smart and showed great leadership. The first time I announced that these kids were our SCA Reps, I had to spend about 15 minutes explaining what the SCA is, deter many complaints as to why other students weren't selected and reinforce the idea that any changes my kids want to see should go through my two reps. Once everyone was appeased, we went on with life. About a month after the SCA started meeting, they began campaigning for officer positions. Each rep was encouraged to run and some took it to heart more than others. One of mine decided to run for treasurer, and the other for reporter. Now, I fully support the idea of students electing their officers, but I also think it is an unfair system. One of the students running for President has a father working at a printshop (or so I've been told) and had TONS of professionally printed posters and postcards hanging/handed out all over school. She gave away lots of candy, created an e-mail address just for the campaign and had a lot of parental involvement. Given all of that, I naturally expected her to win, but found it sort of unfair that she was running against students who could only make 2 handmade posters on the cheap construction paper provided by the school... like one of my students. Turns out, though, that all of that work and effort did not make too much of a difference because my student who did hardly any campaigning ended up winning Treasurer, and my other rep was elected as Reporter!!! That's right! Room 21, creating leaders left and right. :) They were voted into office about 2 weeks ago and we had the official Installment ceremony this past Wednesday. All the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students and teachers attended, along with some parents. The ceremony included a processional by the whole SCA (during which time one girl tripped... try yelling at kids to be respectful while trying to control your own laughter.... not easy), a poetry reading by the Reporter (The whole auditorium was silent for the first 5 minutes of the ceremony as everyone was introduced, but naturally, as soon as they said the name of my kid, the rest of my class went buckwild with cheers and applause. Embarrassing? I think so. But, I guess I can't get too mad at them for having class unity!), a speech by a principal from another elementary school in the district, and the official installment of the officers. It was a cool ceremony and hopefully gave the kids a taste of politics/the election process. So proud of my kiddos, and hope they live up to their position! 

My little reporter reading a poem about determination written by Helen Keller. **Photo used with parental consent.** 

Repeating the oath to officially take her place as reporter. **Photo used with parental consent.** 

On a not so happy note, our school also participated in a modified lock-down last week due to a threat on the school. I can't give details because of confidentiality, but for those of you who did not see it on the news, this is what the DailyPress had to say about it...

 

"Police in Newport News have arrested a 10-year-old boy suspected of sending an email threatening to shoot people at his elementary school.

The boy's name has not been released to the media. Police spokesman Harold Eley said the boy was arrested at Palmer Elementary School. He said the boy "was transported to Juvenile Intake and charges are pending."

Eley said the school received the email threat on Tuesday night and notified police on Wednesday morning when the email was opened. Investigators traced the email to the student. Eley said no one at the school was in any immediate danger during the investigation." 

http://www.dailypress.com/news/newport-news/dp-nws-student-arrested-newport-news,0,7361341.story

Needless to say, that was probably the most stressful day of my teaching career yet! But, everyone is safe and sound, and that's all we can ask for! 

Back to happy news, we're now well into the second quarter of school and there are only 2 more school days until Thanksgiving Break! I gave out report cards on Wednesday and surprisingly, didn't have anyone overly upset with me (which, is as it should be, since I made sure to stress the fact that "I don't GIVE grades, you EARN them.")! Hopefully we'll see improved work ethic from a few kids and better studying and effort from all of them. With the holidays coming up, I'm sure that's probably wishful thinking, but at least these next 2 months should go really quickly, before the LONNNNG stretch to Spring Break!  

Funny stories from recent weeks:
- A few weeks ago on Wednesday, we were taking our A-OKAY Club (see post from last month) out for a game of kickball and the ground was a little wet from rain the night before. As we were walking out to the field, I overheard 2 boys talking about the weather conditions.... one boy said "Oh man, everything's all wet! We're going to get dirty!" The boy he was talking to goes, "Yeah, that's good! I just wish it was raining, that would be cool. Anytime I play anything in the rain I feel SO TOUGH!" Hahaha. I completely agree with everything about that statement, but just found it so funny that a 9-year-old boy already knows that fact. :)

- My kids had to turn in posters to the Guidance counselor for a "Red Ribbon Week: Say No to Drugs" project. They brought them all into the classroom on the day they were due and I was going to collect them and deliver them to counselor all at once. One of my brightest kids comes in after a few other kids have already turned in their projects huge project in hand. He had done his poster on a piece of large WHITE posterboard, that costs approximately $0.50 at any store. As he's handing it to me, he notices another poster already in the pile, also on white posterboard. All of a sudden, he shouts out... "WOW! She copied me! She used the same poster as me!" Um, let's talk about everything wrong with this statement... a) it's a piece of WHITE POSTERBOARD! b) SHE turned it in first!!! c) WHO CARES or even notices that?!

- On Friday, we were reviewing Bar Graphs using Skittles. Each kid got a handful and had to sort them by color and then graph the data. We did the activity (a lot more complicated than it needed to be since my children are not the best at following directions) and the kids were allowed to eat the candy. One kid spilled her Skittles on the floor (I didn't even flinch because I knew it was just a matter of time... as any elementary school teacher would). All of a sudden, out of nowhere, 3 of my boys jump up out of their seats and run and start scooping them up. I got a look of disgust on my face and said, "Do not eat those, that's DISGUSTING!" They all paused for a minute, looked at me and continued. I said, "Seriously, that's so gross!"
One boy, from over by the sink, said, "No, it's fine. We're washing them off!"
I looked at him bewildered and again said, "This floor is so dirty!"
He just smiled and looked at me in complete innocence and said, "Ms. Wacek, we're black."
Thankfully, no one else heard this or acknowledged this, so I just concealed my laughter and amazement and moved on with my math lesson. Oh, the things that these kids come up with. Haha.

Put a CAP on Drugs!

The spirit apparel for today was to wear a cap. Considering I don't own any, I changed it in my class just to 'hat day'.I think the fact that I was Cowgirl Jessie from Toy Story last night at my kickball team's costume party definitely contributed to the fact that I chose to wore my cowgirl hat today... well, that and the fact that it's the only hat I own. :) 

Today was also eventful due to the fact that it was the first day of Quarterly Assessments. These are designed to track my students' progress through the year and see if they're set for the end of year SOL tests. They took the Reading Test today and I was impressed with the way I saw the students working and using the strategies and skills we've been working on all quarter. I should have the results in the morning, hopefully I'll still be impressed...!

Virginia Indians

My class is coming to the end of their second unit in Virginia Studies, which covered everything they could ever possibly need to know about American Indians. I sent home a review sheet last night and as I began reading answers, I decided they were way too good to share....

Question: How do Virginia's American Indians live today?
Correct Answer: They are intermingled with the rest of Virginians and live their lives similar to ours.
Student Answers:
- Singing songs and dancing.
- Play games, wear American clothes, and speak American languages.
- With clothes. They use dead deer skin.
- Great.
- They live across Virginia. They speak English, too. Shop at the mall. 

Question: Where are most of the state-recognized tribes located in Virginia today?
Correct Answer: Coastal Plain/Tidewater region.
Student Answers:
- Europe.
- In the desert.
- On the Earth.

Question: What was the first permanent English settlement in North America?
Correct Answer: Jamestown.
Student Answers:
- Christopher Columbus

Looks like we have some remediating to do! Oh jeez.....

Drug Prevention takes a TEAM!

Wednesday: Wear your favorite Team Jersey/shirt! Naturally, I wore my Redskins jersey. Luckily, none of my kids made fun of it too badly... the teachers on the other hand. Haha. Actually, I have a lot of fellow Redskins fans at Palmer, so Danielle was actually the one to get ridiculed today. But, considering she supports a 1-5 team with an injured quarterback, I guess that makes sense. :)

Sock it to Drugs!

Originally there wasn't any thing designated for the kids to wear on Tuesday, but naturally that wasn't working for me, so I decided to take some initiative. Brainstorming about clothing related to anti-drug slogans/use is not as easy as it sounds, but Danielle and I came up with "People Who Do Drugs are CRAZY! Wear Crazy Socks!"..... apparently, the rest of the school thought that meant we were again encouraging doing drugs (like "drugs make us see red, wear red...see yesterday's post!), so we changed it to "SOCK it to drugs"! It was fun to see the craziness my kids came up with, and funny to see the kids who just wore mismatching socks and thought that was CRAZY!

All we heard ALL day as we walked around school was "Wow, you guys have the same socks!" Oh, really? Thanks for the head's up! And, I wish I could say that we didn't wear these matching outfits out to Cheddars, Target, JoAnn Fabric, the thrift store and Factory Card Outlet, but that would be a lie.... :)

The "Red Ribbon" Activity for Tuesday was making a "hand-in-hand against drugs" chain. The children were supposed to trace their hands on a piece of red construction paper, write their names in the middle and cut it out. Then, we hung them up in a row reaching all around the hallway of the school. Can we please talk about the tracing/cutting ability of my students? Or maybe they just have SUPER awkwardly shaped hands.... hahaha.

Red Ribbon Week!

Spirit weeks are definitely one of my all time favorite parts of teaching! We usually have at least two throughout the school year. The first one is in honor of Red Ribbon Week, which is a week devoted to drugs and alcohol awareness/prevention. I love spirit weeks because it's a fun way to mix up just regular old weeks. I find it to be an awesome time to bond with students as they realize their teacher is not ashamed to act a little crazy (....wait until the week progresses or 80s day comes back around!). I find that the more excited I am about Spirit Week, the more the kids will dress up and get into it! And, considering today was Monday and more than 1/2 my kids were wearing red, I'd say we're on a roll for a wonderful week! My kids are so great!

Day 1: Red Means STOP! Say NO to Drugs!
(According to the letter that was sent home, today was "Drugs Make Us See Red! Wear Red to school.".... I chose to change it a little because I don't quite understand the logic behind doing drugs and seeing red and choosing to encourage that....)


Unfortunately, along with the start of Spirit Week came the start of a week of rain, too! We all know how I feel about keeping the kids cooped up inside too long, but they actually did really well with indoor recess and the rest of the afternoon. They were working/playing so well, I didn't even have to tell them to get the educational games, they did automatically! They had a place value board game, checkers, chess, Guess Who? and puzzles!

25 Panda Paws!

This week was the start of many eventful weeks in a row. It started off pretty typical... except that the kids were being exceptionally good!... and ended with holding our first Kickball Club Kickball Game, Dictionary Day and a Popsicle Party...and the kids acting exceptionally ridiculous (full moon!) Next week is Red Ribbon/"Say No to Drugs" Spirit Week (stay tuned for pictures!), Picture Day and the start of the Quarterly Assessments (QAs). The following week we finish our QAs, the kids will have their first substitute and the first quarter ends Friday! So, needless to say, life is a little hectic at the moment, but having all these extra activities does keep the kids on-their-toes and somewhat more focused.

Anyway, let's talk about this week. On Wednesday afternoons, all of our 4th graders participate in "Leadership Training" aka "Enrichment" aka "Clubs." :) They were started by the resource teachers who wanted an opportunity to go a little deeper with the kids who they see as naturals/extra talented at a certain subject (Art, Music, PE). So, for the first few weeks, the resource teachers do some observations/try-outs and decide who they want in their groups. Then, the 4th grade teachers divide up the rest of the kids into groups led by us. We have a Publishing Club (students will be putting together a literary magazine, I believe?), a Board Games Club (math and reading board games for some of our students who can use a little extra help but still want to feel like they're in a club!), an H.O.T. (Higher Order Thinking) Club (Chess, Sudoku, Checkers... for our crazy smart kids!), Book Club (with the Librarian), Peer Mediators (with the Guidance Counselor), SCA (with a Reading Interventionist) and the best club of all, A-OKAY! When we were trying to decide which clubs to have, Danielle (Mrs. Bozung) and I decided we definitely wanted to lead one together. We were trying to think of something that would be fun, not be too demanding of our time (with planning or standing in front of the class for those 30 minutes each week), and appropriate for some of the most hyperactive 4th graders (who typically do not get chosen for any of the other clubs due to behavior issues!). While brainstorming things we were interested in, we thought about photography (not enough cameras) and technology (too much planning). Finally, we remembered that our real love was kickball, but figuring that we wouldn't be able to play every Wednesday due to winter weather, we decided to combine it with yoga. To not make it sound serious, we were going to call it the "Health and Wellness Club" but realized that was too boring. So, I started brainstorming and playing around with the letters and decided we were going to officially be the "Anti-Obesity, Kickball and Yoga Club" (A-OKAY Club!). Last week we just introduced the club, some of the activities we would be doing, did some stretches and aerobics and taught some kickball rules. This week, Danielle had to go to a meeting during Club time, so I took all 18 kids outside for their first official kickball game. It was HILARIOUS to watch, but quite encouraging as well. We definitely have some naturals, and we definitely have some kids who have no idea what is going on. I'm thinking that by the end of the year, they'll probably be able to beat my adult kickball team.... :)

Dictionary Day was Thursday morning. Our school has a partnership with a local Kiwanis Club and each year these members donate a brand-new dictionary to each 4th grader at our school! They do a nice speech about how the kids can use the dictionaries and why it's an important book, and then present one to each kids. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera to the assembly, but try to just imagine the beautiful sight of 115 fourth graders full of pure excitement while flipping through and discussing their new dictionaries. I was very proud of my kids this year and the way they acted at the assembly and afterward. Last year, as soon as we got back to the classroom, I had at least 5 kids run up to me with their dictionaries each turned to a different page featuring popular double meaning words (a**, b****, etc...). I was able to use it as a teachable moment to point out that those words actually do have real definitions in the English language and so most of the time people don't even make sense/sound dumb when they use them, but overall it was awkward and I would've been alright avoiding it. Thankfully, this year, when the kids came up to show me their words, they were turned to "nick" (the "nickname" of one of my students... clearly they didn't read the definition), "zombie" and "kickback." Not sure if they're just more mature or less smart than my kids last year, but either way, I was fine with it. Haha.

Finally, our popsicle party. At Palmer, we have a wonderful "Effective Schoolwide Discipline (ESD)" program, that has actually been recognized state-wide. The main premise of the system is that there are appropriate behaviors in each area of the school (classrooms, bathrooms, cafeteria, hallways, busses, etc). When classes are "caught" demonstrating these behaviors, they are rewarded with a Panda Paw (our school mascot is the panda... a "paw" is just a small piece of brightly colored paper with a paw printed on it). Each class is working to get as many paws as possible throughout the year, and are rewarded at set intervals to keep them motivated. We got our first 25 paws last week (the Panda Award), so their first reward was a popsicle party and extra recess. It's amazing how much excitement can be generated from something so simple, and hopefully it'll be enough to inspire them to keep earning (I think we're already up to 17 again...!)

Oh yeah, because my students are such model citizens, we MAY be featured on the NNPS facebook page! (http://www.facebook.com/nnschools#!/photo.php?fbid=462170914848&set=a.462170809848.244332.74433199848&pid=5702421&id=74433199848) As I was teaching math on Friday, a lady with a large camera walked into my classroom (with one of our administrators), snapped 3 pictures and walked out... turns out she's the public media relations photographer or something. A week, day, hour or minute warning may have been nice so I could have planned an extra engaging lesson or ensured my students were not acting too typical or ridiculous, but nope, they got just real 4th grade! :)

I'll leave you with a "joke" from one of my kids. He walked over to me as I was in the middle of a chaotic dismissal on Thursday and quietly said "Ms. Wacek, I have a trick." Now, this child is one of my definite favorites and I don't think he could ever do anything wrong in my eyes. He also has never said more than like 7 words to me at one time, so I was quite curious as to what his "trick" was.
I said, "Ok...."
He said, "Guess what?"
I asked, "What?"
He said, "Grrrrr." Then he smiled really huge and walked away. Hahahahahaha. WHAT?! Oh they're so special. Haha.