Daily Messages 3/11-3/15

3/11
Good morning everyone!
I hope you all made it home safely on Friday. It was pretty crazy that school wasn’t cancelled. Beth told me that Mayor Menino was on the national news for not calling off school. Yup, that’s right, all over the country they were talking about Boston having school in the snow.
This weekend we had a little birthday party for Oliver, who will be 1 on Wednesday. (FYI: Wednesday is Nancy’s birthday too... she will be more than 1!) I have a few pictures now, but will have many more on Wednesday.

3/12
Hello!
FYI: middle school will be selling shamrock milkshakes for St. Patty’s day. They have two flavor choices: banana or mint. Shakes cost $5 and will be delivered on Tuesday, March 19th during 4th period. For more details see Brittany or Martha.
Also keep in mind that we will not have school on Monday (yay!!) next week, but for you 10th graders we will be starting ELA MCAS (boo!!).

3/13
Good morning! Today is lucky 13 for me - it’s Oliver’s birthday! This time last year I suspected that the baby would be born but I wasn’t sure. At 9:35 pm Oliver finally was born! It was a lot of hard work, which is why they call it “labor.” It has been a tiring year, but I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences with Oliver for the sleep I’ve lost!

3/14
 Hello everyone and happy pi day! Can you guess why today, March 14th is “pi day”? Hint: if you don’t remember pi, take a look at Kate’s shirt.
Some other fun facts for today: #
- Today is Albert Einstein’s birthday.
Do you know who Einstein is? What is he famous for?
- Today is Liz Oliver’s birthday


3/15 -5th period
“Beware the Ides of March!” This is a quote from Shakespeare. #
Can you find out why this quote is important today? You may use your phones, the computer, or the iPad. 5 points to whoever figures it out first!


I hope that everyone is looking forward to the long weekend. I certainly know that I am!





3/15 1st period
“Beware the Ides of March!” Jalissa, pay attention, because this is a quote from Shakespeare. 5 bonus points to anyone who can figure out why that quote is significant today.
I hope that everyone is looking forward to the long weekend. I certainly know that I am!
Aspartame - the chemical sweetener that tastes like a tin can (to Kate, anyway).
Suspenders - to “suspend” means to hold something up. Suspenders hold up your pants.
#

A year and more...

It's been a while since I've posted anything related to my class. Since my brief post in September the staff at Horace Mann have embarked on a daily message project in order to increase our students' exposure to printed English. I have decided to try and use this blog to keep track of the messages.
Here is the message I shared with my 5th period class today:
Hello everyone!
I’m sorry that I haven’t had any messages recently. I’ve been sucked into MCAS. My goal is to try to have a message even on the days I am not in the classroom. Please remind me.
Yesterday I went to an awesome workshop. We learned a lot about Challenge-Based Learning. That is when you learn new skill as you try to solve a problem in your life, or your community.
Ask me to show you the video about the geese. Here is the link to the video:
Challenge Based Learning in the Elementary Classroom

It's Been a YEAR!

Well, there wasn't much blogging going on last year, that's for sure!  I guess little Oliver's impending arrival got me off track.
Let's see if we can improve upon that this year!

Here are some upcoming important dates for the coming year:
- Parent Open House: September 27th, 5 pm
- Warning Notices for 1st Marking Period: October 9th
- November 1st and 2nd : HS Math MCAS Make Up dates.

New School Year - September 2011

Welcome Back!
That's all for now...

First Decimal Correction!

Hello!
  Today I had my first opportunity to correct a sign with an incorrect decimal point.  I was at my beloved Allendale farm and noticed a chalk sign by the register stating Honey Stix .25¢.  With some encouragement from J I turned the little chalkboard around and asked, "Is it alright if I am an obsessive math teacher and fix your sign?" The woman behind the register said, "oh my goodness, that says a quarter of a cent! Please fix it." Score one for the Decimal Project! She then said, "you should have asked for change back from a penny."  A woman after my own heart!
  If you look carefully at the picture below you can see two smudges - one where I accidentally put my thumb on the "y" of Honey and another where the decimal before the 25¢ used to be.  The staff at the registers also said they'd look around the farm stand to fix the other signs.  Next time I'm back that the farm I'll have to check to see if the signs have been corrected.

Our First Student Decimal Project Submission

I arrived back from lunch yesterday to find two empty containers of cookies on my desk.  My reaction was, "who left trash on my desk?!?"  When DA, aka Aggie, came to my room he said that a student, LM, had left them there.  When LM arrived I asked him why he felt he could leave the cookie containers on my desk and he replied, "the prices are wrong!" I was so focused on the trash, I had never looked at the label. 
Here are the photos of the cookie containers in question:

 

69.  and 70

  

LM hit on a topic I hadn't even covered - the lack of ANY label for monetary unit.  We can (hopefully) assume that the store means to charge 69 cents and 70 cents for said cookies, but how do we know?  There is no label.  As I ask my students who fail to label their work in class, "what do you mean?" 70 shoes? 69 ice creams?  No label = reduced credit for a problem.  

Nice work LM!!

Report Cards - Again!

We just finished another Marking Period.

  3rd MP:  January 31, 2010                                 April 15, 2011 (Tax Day!) ✔

     - Please bring in your absence notes if you have any absences to make sure you get a grade and not an incomplete mark. (YM & JV, that means you!)
     - Report cards will come after vacation, probably the week of May 1st - 7th.

  4th MP:  April 25, 2011                                    June 28, 2011 (Report cards are mailed home.)

      Warning notices will be filled out on May 20th to let you know how you are doing in your classes.  If you have any concerns, please see your teachers BEFORE this date to help improve your grade.