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!

My 4th Grade Experience

Every quarter, we are required to formally score 3 writings from each student. Seeing as it's the end of the year, I decided to have my students reflect back on their year. I took Monday off as a "mental health day" and had the substitute administer this prompt:

Fourth grade is almost over! We've done a LOT of learning and growing. Please write a paper (to be graded) about your 4th grade experience. You should include:
- An introduction
- Your favorite part(s) of 4th grade
- Your least favorite part(s) of 4th grade/what you would've changed
- Some advice for Ms. Wacek's students next year
- A Conclusion

Before turning it in, please check for spelling, grammar, organization, and neatness.

So that I'm not stressed out later in the week trying to get all my writings scored at the same time as report cards and everything else that comes with this time of year, I was trying to knock a whole bunch out tonight... To calm myself from a stressful day, I turned on some "soft hits" (bad idea!), sat back and started reading. Not even into the second paper, I thought I might lose it. My kids are INCREDIBLE. Not their actual spelling and grammar, per say, but their ideas. :) Reading these papers after a day like today when I felt like all I did was yell at them, they reminded me of exactly why I do what I do, and why I love what I do. :) Aside from their papers so clearly illustrating just how unique and specal each one of them is (some loved social studies, some hated social studies, some couldn't get enough math and some couldn't take another day of math, etc), allowing me a trip down memory lane over the past year, and thinking about each of their special personalities, I was touched by what some of them wrote about me (some of them touched my funny bone, but most of them touched my heart!). Since I can't say it any better than them, I'll give you some examples (mom, again, you'll need tissues.. I sure did!).

"Don't be afraid to talk to people. But there is a time and place and when Ms. Wacek is talking, that's not the time, trust me, I know."

"...This year in 4th grade, we made good friends. Along the way, we let each other down, but we still always love each other (kind of)..."

"In 4th grade, my favorite subject was science, math, and reading..... In 4th grade, my least favorite subject is social studies..... In 4th grade, my favorite food is chicken patty and fries." WHAT? Where was that part of the prompt?! :)

"I would change some of my friends and not hang out with the people that will get in trouble." Well, if he didn't learn anything else this year, that's a pretty solid life lesson, I'd say!

"The advice I have for Ms. Wacek is to treat them like you treated us when they do something bad. You need to discipline them, too. And you don't want to strain your voice." Haha. Thanks for lookin' out, kid!

"Ms. Wacek - next year, give 3 tickets for blue, 2 tickets for green, and 1 ticket for yellow, and try to be nicer." 

"In 4th grade, I loved Math and Science. I was nervous for everything. I did not like the tests because I'm bad at some of them. But, when my teacher believed in me, I did it!" If that doesn't pull on your heart strings, I'm pretty sure you might be heartless!

"The second thing I like about the 4th grade is the teachers. Well, I don't know about all of the teachers, but mine is nice enough. If you need help, she will help you. Please keep teaching me the best you can 'til the end of the year. I just want to say thank you for all the things you have taught me this year."

"I think the school year should've lasted longer. The school year went by quick!" Don't hear that everyday from a 10-year-old on the verge of summer!!

"My teacher Ms. Wacek can be mean. But, she never lets us down and we never let her down. We really care about her and she does too! I will miss my class, but not 4th grade!" This may or may not have been the point at which I completely broke down. Haha.

"I like the way we always do cool projects and things like that. I like how we get candy for things we are already going to do like push in our chairs. That's cool. What I don't like: Nothing. This place is perfect."

"Some advice: Kids, you better watch out because Ms. Wacek is going to blow you away!"

The number of times I messed up this year are innumerable. The number of wrong answers my kids got over the past year are countless. But, when it's all said and done, if I was able to show each of them his or her value and worth and they were able to understand just how important and special they are, it was all worth it. Since it's only my second year teaching, I don't know if I'll be one of those teachers that students look up 20 years down the road and come back and thank for making a difference in their lives. But for what it's worth, at least for now, these 20 little 4th graders can feel loved, valued and smart.

And for future reference, listening to "soft hits" while reading any of the above make them 100x more emotional and touching. :)

Pollination

During my own school years, I was always a Math and Science girl. As I'm finishing up my second year, it's amazing to me how much that affects my teaching. Now, I've come to really appreciate Social Studies and find the history of Virginia fascinating, but when it's all said and done, it still seems kind of pointless. :) My passions are pretty evident in my teaching, I think and the majority of my students are obsessed with Math and Science...!

Since we put our Science curriculum on hold for a little while in order to get ready for the VA Studies SOL test, now that we're done with that test, we're ALL about Science in Room 21! We are smack-dab in the middle of our study on plants and it's been so much fun! Science is such a blast because it's SO hands-on and exciting! Now, you're all probably wondering how learning about pollination can be hands-on, so let me tell you... :) Last week, we learned about the parts of a plant and the parts of a flower (as soon as I introduced the Pistil as the female reproductive organ, I instantly had the undivided attention of 20 little 10-year-olds!.. along with one boy asking me if he was supposed to get parent permission to participate in this "Family Life Lesson"). As part of that instruction, the kids got a chance to build their own flower out of a plastic cup and a flower template (pictures forth-coming!) and got an opportunity to dissect a flower. They were each given a petunia and step-by-step we broke it apart and found the Stamen, Pistil, Sepal, and Petals. The activity was met with mixed reviews as some students couldn't wait to tear their flowers apart, while others were being extra stubborn and claiming I couldn't make them ruin a perfectly good flower. (After reassuring them the flower was dead the moment I plucked it from the stem, they all conceded and we were able to move on!)

After reviewing the parts of the flower (which they remembered surprisingly well after a long weekend!), we read a short article about Pollination and then got to the "experiment." We had to discuss ways flowers attracted pollinators (bright petals and nectar), the role of the pollinators, and the process of fertilization. To make sure the information would never be forgotten, I pulled out some cheese-puffs and Starbursts. Again, 20 sets of eyes were locked on me! I poured some of the Cheetos into a bowl and poured some Starbursts in on top. I shook it up a little and then asked a student to act like a pollinator and come get some nectar. At first, she was extremely confused, but after some guidance from her classmates, she was able to figure out that the Starbursts represented the nectar. After she retrieved a Starburst, I asked her to notice if she'd picked anything else up from the bowl. She looked at her hand and pointed out the orange cheese-crumbs that had rubbed off while she was digging around. Through some coaxing, she was quickly able to make the connection to pollen and then rattled off the steps of fertilization to me. I repeated the process with a few more students until I was sure they all got it! I knew the information had sunk in when all of a sudden, one of my girls shouted out, "Ms. Wacek, the nectar is good, but can I please eat a Stamen (the pollen producer... aka a Cheese-Puff!)?" Haha. I LOVE the stuff they come up with!

When I grow up....

Career Day isn't happening until June 9th, but a few of my kids have already begun the discussion of what they want to be when they grow up. Two of their career options I find hilarious, so will share them with you. :)

One of my students tells me every day that he has 3 basketball courts by his house.. one in his backyard, one in his neighbor's yard and one at the park across the street. One of the last times he told me this, I told him he must be pretty good and that he should make sure and remember his 4th grade teacher when he gets to the NBA and becomes the next Michael Jordan. He looked at me with a goofy grin and said, "Well, yeah, I would, but I'm not going to the NBA... I'm going to be a comedian." Now, until you meet this child, that statement probably won't even make you think twice. But the minute you saw him or talked to him, you'd realize just how incredible it truly was. He's the one that I continuously mention as having not said a word the whole first half of the year and then basically overnight becoming Mr. Outgoing! He's still very soft-spoken though and his jokes usually occur for only a few lucky few to hear. To discover some more about his future plans, I asked him some questions like "Who's your favorite comedian?" (Bernie Mac, I believe was his answer), "Do you watch a lot of comedy shows?" (Yeah, sometimes.) and then my favorite answer ever happened.... "Can you tell me a joke? Do you have some funny ones?"
Student: "Ms. Wacek! I don't have or know any funny jokes.... I AM the joke!"

Hahahaha. :) Enough said?

Another student, the most popular in my room, has told me on multiple occasions that he is going to be President some day. I guaranteed him that he had the ability (he's smart, good-looking, knows how to get people to do stuff for him, etc..!) and I would definitely vote for him. He didn't seem impressed and continued with, "Want to know why I want to be President?"
Me: "To change the government?"
Student: "Nope! Because I'm going to be the first president to sag my skinny jeans!"

Ok, I take back my promise to vote for you...... :)

What I wouldn't give to spend a day inside their little heads, it seems so much more exciting!!

Kid-isms

We're down to less than a month less before summer and I have to admit, the year has flown. It seems like just about every day now, I look out at my students and think to myself, "wow, it honestly feels like I just met these little ones!" It's really amazing to me how a class can grow and develop and bond throughout a school year. I mean, I guess if you look at it logistically, we are a group of 20-25 people spending a large majority of our waking hours together, but still.. :)
At this point in the year, everyone is so ready for summer vacation and I find myself getting easily annoyed with my kids and them getting easily annoyed with me. But, then one of them will do something and I just can't help but smile and think of all the fun times we've had this year and how special each of them is. I've become especially fond of some of their unique little quirks, hopefully you can get a small taste... you'd have to come meet them to get the full dose.
One of my students is a big ham and loves living it up in front of the class. He also has a catchphrase that he uses whenever he gets an answer wrong or hears news he doesn't like. This particular student will definitely stick with me for a long time, along with his everyday proclamation of "Aww, Pickles!" :)
Another student who I will remember for years to come can ALWAYS make me smile by sticking his fist in the air and bobbing his head while shouting "Fist Pump!" No matter what is happening, just remember, a fist pump will make everything better.
The student who started out the first half of the year without saying a word has become quite the class clown and everyone is enamored by him. He is constantly making witty comments and piping in at just the right moment. He has also started doing this thing where anytime the class hears good news and are cheering, he does a super awkward, extra long and drawn out, off-pitch yell. Since he finishes after everyone else is done, everyone stares at him with perplexed faces and then bursts into laughter.

I'm sure I'll take lots of memories of each student away with me, but those are just a few that come to mind every time I think of those students.