Roller coasters and cross-curricular learning

I think Science is a great way to go cross-curricular. It's automatically hands-on and what 6-7 year old doesn't LOVE science?!  Over the last few weeks we've been learning about balance and motion. This week and last especially we've been diving into rolling motion, specifically roller coasters. This is a great book:

The pictures are super cute and so full of richness that adds to the dimension of the story. There's also some great videos on youtube of how and what to teach using this story. You can find one here.

We are also planning our own amusement park in groups of 3. First we looked at some videos of roller coasters made on a Go camera that make it seem like you're on the roller coaster. A virtual field trip! Then we brainstormed some things you need to make an amusement park. After that we broke into groups and decided where we would put our parks. It was a great way to teach maps, too! We used this one:

Locations of US Amusement Parks

 

We divided the maps into N,S,E,W and then further into NW,SW,NE, and SE. We discussed which parts had the least and greatest amount of amusement parks, and the weather and landforms in each region. This led to discussions on cities vs. states, population, and the Midwest region.

 

Here we are choosing the region and state we want to plant our amusement park in:

This is my new phone!!! A Galaxy 5S!! What's with the blurriness? I thought it would be a good one!

Tomorrow we start planning and drawing the maps of the parks. I'll let you know how they turn out. So far, it's been some pretty engaged learning!  

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A Change

One of my favorite bloggers is Sara from Sara At School. I know I've talked about her a lot, and what I like about her is her honesty and real-ness. She's positive in an "It's a marathon, not a sprint" kind of way. She made it a goal to write 100 posts last year. I thought that was a great one. So I'm trying it. For better or for worse for you people.

Our school is going through some changes. I don't even know all of them yet. We are small, private and Christian. So you know what that =. Tuition-based. But we're not one of the biggies. We don't have a big budget. Money is always TIGHT. It's not because people don't pay their bills, it's because our size is so small. Small class sizes are a dream for all you public school teachers. I get it. I'm actually embarrassed to tell public school teachers how many kids I have. But at our level, it's a bane because it's too small. We lose kids a lot, especially in the upper and middle grades because there aren't enough kids. Which is just a vicious cycle, because to get more kids, you need more kids.

So we hired a marketing firm. I am so proud and thankful to the Powers That Be for making this happen. I'm not sure if that was the principal or the board or the church that is in partnership with the school. Probably all of the above.  But it's super exciting. The company is based out of Massachusetts (Ovus Ater)and the representative has been here interviewing staff and seeing the school. He has interviewed many of the parents and has been back a second time to meet with the principal to unveil the marketing plan and school concept. For little old us, this is huge. I don't know what it is yet, or which direction it will take us, but I am excited to be a part of it. Honestly, I worry about the life of our little school and I think this will be such a powerful and positive force in helping us grow and better ourselves. It's so exciting, I can't wait to share it with you.


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A Classroom Goal freebie

I've said it before....one of my favorite parts of teaching is decorating my classroom. I also LOVE to decorate my home. We moved into a new home last year, and although I love it, I sometimes wonder if we made the right choice. Or really, if I made the right choice, because when I'm honest about it, it was me driving the decision to move. My husband would have been content to stay put. And now sometimes I think, "was he right?" So I'm working to make it our own, and have it feel like ours. And make some money on it when we sell it someday.

Anyway, I love all things decorating. So this summer I started reading decorating blogs. And now I'm more consistent in reading those than school blogs. Sometimes. One of my favorite is "The Inspired Room". One of the reasons I like it is because the woman (Melissa) who writes it is real, and realistic. She knows how life is, and how finances are a part of real life. Making a home (and classroom) what we want it to be takes time. Sometimes we have to take baby steps.

This year Melissa posted a goal sheet for decorating and/or organizing your home. I thought it was a great idea to help me get through my many unfinished projects. Maybe then my 2 second-hand end tables would actually get painted before I start (and not finish) my next project. So I made a classroom version, too. Here it is. You are welcome to it. Happy new year and good luck on Monday!!!

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A new way to run my parties

Well, sigh. It's Friday night, the last real day of Christmas break. I'm the new mayor of Sadsville. But we're half way done! Hard to believe! And to celebrate, I'm watching the last Hallmark Christmas movie of the season with my one sick kid and 2 healthy ones.

So the classroom Christmas party was just that...a party! It was wild and loud and crazy! But I think the kids really had fun. I use this party plan:

 

It makes my life super simple at this time of year.

 

But here's the thing. I had TONS of parents at the party. Which is GREAT, don't get me wrong. Included in the party pack are invitations that we send out ( to practice writing our addresses) so of course parents are welcome. But they didn't really interact with their kids. And trust me, some of them NEEDED interaction.

So where did I go wrong? I had a party all planned with plenty of food, games, activities and parents to help. But the kids still got pretty outta hand. This is a wild bunch. And Valentine's Day is right around the corner. I have that party already planned, too. But this time, it will be under control. I'm planning HOW to use the parents that are on hand. At my Valentine's Day party, I generally play about 5-6 games. And this time, I'm assigning parents to each. All my job will be is to maintain control. The games will be played simultaneously like centers, and the parents will run them! I can't wait to give it a try. Plus, I LOVE Valentine's Day. And here's my party, all ready to go.

 

 

I'm sure a lot of you already run your parties that way. I'm just a little late to the party, so to speak.

Happy New Year!

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