Dissecting Squid with 4th Graders...

I have one big science rule in my classroom:

How cool is that picture?  I about died of happiness when I saw how great it turned out.

We have officially wrapped up our invertebrates unit.  I had real plans to share a bunch of the things we had done, and then I realized that I used a ton of cartoon characters and didn't want to infringe on any copyrights...and now I'm here and the unit is over.  I'm redirecting my thoughts on that one, and will probably check back in on it later.

I love teaching invertebrates because it's usually something that the kids don't know a whole lot about and I actually get to teach it!  We get to learn new words like cnidarians and echinoderms. Nothing makes a teacher happier than when the kids start using those words correctly without even thinking about it!  We took a trip to the SeaLife Aquarium this past week and it was glorious.  I had the kids split into groups of 5-6 and walk around with a parent helper.  My group could not have been more excited.  I was floored.  

"Miss B!!!!  Come here!  A mollusk!"  

"Miss B!!!  LOOK AT THIS SEA URCHIN!  It's an echinoderm, right?"

"Miss B!!!  Take a picture of this one!  Is that it's mouth?" 

"Look at this fact!  That's so weird!"

...I have never been more proud to have my name yelled in a more socially unacceptable place to be yelling.  Thank you, students.

If we're being honest (and we always are), it made my experience there so much better.  I loved seeing all the sea life and getting to experience it through their eyes.  

Then...I signed them up to dissect a squid.  We ate lunch first...but only two threatened to "lose their lunch" during mollusk surgery.  

I walked around quoting Dori from Finding Nemo, and it was not appreciated.

Image from "Oh My Disney"

I was a little skeptical of doing a dissection with fourth graders, but again, they surprised me.  They even took special care to say "oh cool" (and then make a grossed out face).  I loved it.

It was a fantastic wrap up to our unit.  It is so rewarding when you see what you had just taught being used outside of the classroom.  

            

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The Art of Apologizing

We've had a rough couple weeks as a class.  It's April, and things that didn't bother us before are now getting on our nerves.  We are losing our patience with each other.  We're frustrated easily.  We feel like we've sat next to the same person all year even though this is a different seating arrangement.  Spring has sprung.

Please tell me I'm not the only teacher going through this with her/his students.  This. is. painful.  It's not their fault....it's just that time of year.

It's like starting over.  How to show patience.  How to use manners.  How to ask a friend to please stop doing something.  How to take turns.  How to not yell when you are frustrated.  We've had to reflect on why we were wrong, fill out a few "think sheets", and we've had to say a lot of apologies.

It's just.....so hard to say I'm sorry.

I probably won't show that one in class.  But it is one of the hardest parts of being a kid...or an adult for that matter.  I would also say it's one of the most important lessons to learn, and the sooner the better.  A great apology makes a world of difference.  Not only can it make a situation better, but it can also rebuild trust between two people.  That's a big thing in a classroom.

My sister sent me the post "A Better Way to Say I'm Sorry" from cupacocoa.  I love how she breaks it down and gives great examples.  I am going to go over it with my students this week.  There's also a great description over at Kid's Health about how to say I'm sorry.

Sometimes the right thing to do is just say "I was wrong. (or, what I did was wrong.)  How can I fix it?".

After these last few weeks, I've been trying to figure out how I can approach my students with this concept and help them see the importance of acknowledging our mistakes and presenting a more heartfelt apology than "I'm sorrrryyyyyy."  If there's one thing I've seen these past few weeks more than ever, it's that parents are going through the exact same thing.  They want to help their child make good choices, but sometimes it's overwhelming given the circumstances.  Sometimes we're so overwhelmed by the action that we forget it's a lesson to be learned.

I decided to revamp the "think sheets" I was sending home.  Sometimes I don't even send it home, I just make sure we walk through it together and I keep it on file.  Obviously, if it's a big enough behavior issue, it will get sent home for a signature.

I decided to tweak the original page I sent home for parents to sign, but also include a section on "I'm Sorries" (spellcheck has just informed me that "sorries" is not a word) and the art of a great apology to add to the back as information for students, but also a teaching tool for parents to use with their students.  Here's what I came up with.

The Art of Apologizing- which includes these two pages, plus four "mini-posters" to hang in a small space in your room that tell the three main steps to saying you're sorry: 1. Taking responsibility (I'm sorry), 2. Saying what you are sorry for, and 3. Telling how you will "fix it" next time.  You can get these pages and mini-posters at my TpT store for $1.25...and considering it's something you use all year long, it's not a bad deal!

Hopefully we will survive the rest of this school year (and our field trip on Monday!) without any huge disasters.  We will keep working on this, though.  It will stick at some point, right?  

            

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Finally Friday #5

This week has been...insane.  I wish I could catch up with my blogging, but life and teaching have been happening.  Thanks for sticking with me through my absent-ness, bloggers and bloggees!

Here's your FF#5.  Fridays are busy but if you read this, you'll have something to talk about at happy hour.  Seriously...happy hour.

{12 Reasons Why Teachers Have the Best Job in the World}

We Are Teachers

#4 has me a bit perplexed, because when was the last time you used a library card in a book?

{When Are Tech Tools Worth the Investment for Schools?}

Hechinger Report

So we all agree that training teachers to use technology is super time consuming.  

{Are We Ready to Consider Coaching Instead?}

Education Week

This looks at using a coaching technique versus an observation technique for evaluation and teacher improvement.  Do you think your teaching would improve if your supervisor took a more coaching approach to guide your teaching?  I like this.

Here are the incredible things I've been pinning:

{School is Cool}

A collection of general school ideas.

{Be Resourceful}

Links for tools, ideas, tricks, information and resources to help you teach.

{All My Boards}
In case you want it all and you want it delivered.  Here it is.

A weekly infographic to get you thinking.

{Sticky Teaching}

            

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Finally Friday #4

On April Fool's Day, a student threw up and none of the teachers believed it happened.  True story.  hahahahahaha not funny, but funny.  This is why that day should be banned.  In other news...

Here's your FF#4.  Fridays are busy but if you read this, you'll have something to talk about at happy hour.

{Why Do We Make Students Still Sit in Class?}

CNN

I have so many students who don't sit... and I don't even notice it as long as they are working.

{Delaware's Teacher Preparation is Setting a Higher Bar}

ED.gov (U.S. Dept. of Education)

{How to Praise Your Kids Without Spoiling Them}

LifeHacker
I liked this- very true, but so hard to do!  It takes so much concentration to use special language when working with kids/students!

Here are the incredible things I've been pinning:

{School is Cool}

A collection of general school ideas.

{Be Resourceful}

Links for tools, ideas, tricks, information and resources to help you teach.

{All My Boards}
In case you want it all and you want it delivered.  Here it is.

A weekly infographic to get you thinking.

The Science of Happy Kids
(sorry it's small, otherwise it takes over my entire blog post!)
Click on the image to go to Happify and check it out- it really is great!!

            

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Good luck today!

It's April!  Happy Spring!

First day of the month means link up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade.  Here we go.

I had a student walk in today on crutches with her leg all wrapped up for April Fool's Day.  This day drives me crazy!  I don't like being fooled!  I'm much too task oriented and gullible.  I also can't believe anything I read on the internet, because everything on the internet is usually true!!  hehe.  Good luck today!

We start testing this week.  Eek!  To make up for it, the weather is starting to get warmer.  It makes for lovely outdoor recess time. Hopefully it's starting to do the same in your 'hood.  

            

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