PSSA - Day 2

God love these kids - I'm spent.

Have a great night, folks.

Hi. My Name is Murphy.

Laws were meant to be broken. Well, not the one set forth by Murphy - if something can go wrong, it will. Yep, our first day of PSSA testing occurred that way. But, I work with some fantastic people. We rolled with the punches and all went as smoothly as possible as we dealt with every new fiasco without our charges even being aware of any problems.

Big kudos go out to Mrs. Preisch and Miss Porter for assembling all the materials for a school over 500 kids. Big task and they should be thanked publicly for performing that job.

Guess what?
We get to do it all again, tomorrow.

Have a great night, folks. I need a few aspirins.

We Reviewed The Salinity Test

Did your cherub bring home his/her corrected science test? Well, they are to use it as a study guide and return it to me, tomorrow. I wanna see they fixed all their errors in preparation for a scaled-down retest on pages 44-48.

I am not doing them any favors by permitting them to retest. In fact, it is a disservice to them by minimizing the importance of self-preparation for a graded assessment. "If I screw-up, oh well, I can take it, again." That perception scares me when I see teenie-boppers taking their driver's test, over and over and over. At what point do we hold ourselves and our charges accountable for their actions. We learn best by lessons learned through failure.

Oh, well. I know I will never adopt a revolving door policy when it comes to tests, an occasional retest will not adversely affect my munchkins psyche or overall performance -- or will, it?

Have a great night, folks.

Late to post

Sorry. I have been grading some dismal science tests, this afternoon. How could I spend 3 days covering four pages of textbook material and still have so many kids fail? What did I do wrong? I used a powerpoint presentation as a teaching tool and posted the presentation on my webpage.

Okay, I'm going to review the test with them, tomorrow, and on Friday, I will retest. I will take the average of both test grades.

Am I Getting Sick?
I feel funny, tonight Very sick to the stomach. Okay, who breathed on me?

Have a great night, folks.

Test Tomorrow

Well, notes on pages 44 to 48 are on my website as a powerpoint. We went over the textbook and the powerpoint, in class. They better be ready for my short answer test, tomorrow.

Have a great night, folks.

P.44-48 (20-question) test on Wednesday

review my powerpoint on my webpage.

OoTM Was A Blast
I was given the honor of serving as a style judge in the division 1 category of problem #5 (superstition), during Saturday's regional competition of OM. A busy day, but, loads of fun. Division 1 is elementary school. Some of those cherubs were dolls and so darned smart. Whew!

Mucho congrats to our two middle school and one high school teams that now advance to state competition at WAHS in April.

Have a great night, folks.

Why Gargle With Saltwater?

My kiddoes know why. Yep, we talked about the properties of ocean water, today. We also compared the fallacy that sea salt is better for you than table salt. HA HA!! It's the same thing.

Have a great weekend, folks. Don't forget about tonight's dance, and, OM regional competition at Berwick, tomorrow.

I Plum Forgot, Yesterday

Sorry. Hey! My kiddoes learned today that an iodine regiment dissuades a thyroid malady, called, goiter. Yep, not only did they learn about a goiter, but, discovered that seafood is rich in natural iodine. And, for all you people that don't care for seafood - Mrs. Dincher - we added iodine to certain containers of table salt. Now, it is added to a myriad of other foods and we have discovered it is also contained in soy, as well. Live healthy. Gee, now I'm in the mood for oysters on the half-shell. Yummy.

My Social Studies class
started individual group projects from the civil rights movement, to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., to Brown vs. the Board of Education. We are using Google.docs, that way, each group member can share in producing this project, and I can view their progress from my computer.

Dance Tomorrow, and OM Regional in Berwick on Saturday

Have a great night, folks.

We Feel The Pressure

The next stage in hydrology is the ocean. Today, we started Chapter 2 and learned a bit about converting from metric to standard measurements and a bit about underwater pressure. Ask your kiddo about pressing a square-inch thumb onto the other forearm. Ah, pressure. The weight of the atmosphere on our fragile little bodies. Combine that weight with the weight of water and we get some heavy-duty pressure. That is why Godzilla could only be six-inches tall, if he were to attack Tokyo.

Band Concert, tonight

Have a great night, folks.

Sand to Rock

Well, we layered sand inside our two-liter soda bottle. We chose a couple of different colors. With water added,we permitted the sand to settle - i.e.; sediment. Then, we opened the cap to the bottle and let the sand and water run out. Some interesting patterns, emerged. Ask your kiddo to share with you the drawing he/she made of the display. We recapped the bottles and I added sodium silicate, a matrix, to bond the sand particles together resulting in a newly-formed rock - by tomorrow - I hope.

My Boy Is Gone
He left for Air Force basic training, this morning. Did I cry? You'll never know. Mr. Conoway's son is finishing his 8-week basic training, this week, and Mr. Gee's son leaves soon. It's tough being a parent - ain't it?

Have a great night, folks. Give your child a little extra hug tonight - they'll be gone before you know it. Now, where did I put those blueprints for the boy's bedroom conversion to my new computer room?

Do You Have A Sinus Headache?

Whew! Had a doozie this a.m. With the storm coming in the head pounded. All three grade levels were off-the-wall by lunchtime. I saw two 8th graders about to duke it out, but, stopped when they saw me in the hallway. A herd of 7th graders stampeded past my room coming back from lunch, and the sixth graders were climbing the walls and crawling on the floors. It was nuts.

One group opted out of our experiments
One section of students opted to destroy my equipment, throw sand on the floor or play water tag at the sink. The continued to chatter and refused to listen, much less, follow directions. I ended their hydrology project and tossed their labs into the garbage. The frequency and severity of the misbehavior of several Cretans in the classroom forced my move. I am saddened by the fact that a dozen or so children that do not misbehave are suffering. However, it is a matter of safety and when it goes beyond my control, I must take action to restore order.

Thanks for the help, Ms. Silvagni
My parent volunteer, who comes in on Fridays to help with PSSA preparation has been a Godsend. She is not only adept at mathematics, but, the kids pretty much know her and respect her. Plus, we went to high school, together. So, when the cherubs are out to lunch, we get caught-up on post-high school news. I work with a couple of former high school classmates. It keeps us from getting old, ya know.

Have a great weekend, folks.

Do You Have A Sinus Headache?

This is NEWS!!!!

I have nothing to say. I am actually dumbfounded.

Have a great night, folks.

At What Point Do You Realize.. .

you actually do make a difference?

I received a hug, this morning, from a young lady that I thought was so terrified of me, I was concerned she would learn to hate school. Folks, I simply melted.

I made an appearance at History Night, last night. I was overwhelmed by the number of cherubs that ran-up and joyously greeted me, excited that I came to their presentation.

A young man that hauntingly teased me about how well he is doing in Mr. Conoway's 8th grade science. How easy 8th grade is compared to 6th grade science. Did I have anything to do with him finding 8th grade easy?

My Boy Leaves Monday
His four-year hitch in the Air Force begins on Monday. Talk about nervous. At 22, my boy, it is time for you to live your life. Enjoy the ride.

Have a great night, folks.

Not One Kid Asked Me. . .

a.) what it was like during the fall of the Roman Empire
b.) if Ben Franklin and I hung-out, as kids
c.) my age
and for that, I eagerly await History Night in the middle school, at 7 tonight. Mrs. Walls' students are presenting some of the things they have been working on in her classroom. If it is anything like Museum Night, a couple of weeks ago, at Schick elementary school, I am in for a rewarding night.

I hope to see lotsa my current and former students - and their folks - tonight.

T'Ain't Gatorade
A new use for old plastic bottles. Filled with colored-water, they served well in offering my students a chance to discover tracing the water flow through an aquifer.

Have a good night, folks.

Flow Rate

A couple of groups, today, worked on the permeability of a one-liter sample of sand. Setting a countdown stop watch to 40-minutes, they activated the stopwatch when the water poured through the sand began to trickle through the other end of their two-liter soda bottle. Not a very dramatic experiment other than to determine the flow rate of water through a material that is one-third pore volume.

Have a great night, folks -- Spring is a'comin'!!!!!!

Capillarity

The soda bottle hydrology labs continue as two groups learned about capillarity, and another two groups started on permeability. I must say, the munchkins loved class, today -- For the most part, I lost my voice. Science without the bellowing sounds of PappaZ? Unforgiveable. How will they know I love them if I can't yell at 'em?

Have a great weekend, folks.

When Does Your Head Swell?

I received a most gracious compliment, today, from Mrs. B-B. She was subbing for Mrs. Phillips. The compliment stems from today's lesson on Permeability. That little pat on the head recharged me.
In turn, my coworkers.

Mrs. Helminiak
A last minute substitution for Mrs. Pulizzi, who is out on sick leave. This woman picked up the ball and has been running with it, ever since. The kids love her and she is here each night to somewhere closer to 5 p.m. A remarkable lady and, as turns out, has become a valuable friend.

Miss Porter
Another last minute substitution for Mrs. Fry. She has become a no-nonsense kinda reading teacher that makes her kids accountable, responsible and mannerly. She invites them in for tutoring during lunch and stays after school, every night, helping kiddoes maneuver through the perils of comprehension. She has taken ownership of the reading classroom and is a true asset to the sixth grade department.

Mrs. Antonacci
Whew! Remarkable woman. With two of our number out, she has become our team leader. She gives 150% to her kids and coworkers. Gotta tell ya, those days I am ready to pull out what is left of my hair, she is there to calm me down. And, now that she has included me in the "Buckle-down" math series during BASE, I often ponder how she manages. Such a talented and gifted woman. Oh, did I share? She is unofficially, my little sister.

Well, that's my team, my cohorts, my friends, my buds, my family. But, I also sing praises to the other teachers that have direct contact with my sixth graders.

Do you have a favorite teacher? Who? Why? There will be a quiz, later.

Have a great night, folks.

The Experiments Continue

Section 62 got to do an experiment on permeability, today. Kinda neat in the fact that some set-ups had water literally dumping out, while others dripped slowely. Say what? Permeability is the ability of water to easily flow through rock and soil. Another group discovered 30% of their sand sample is made-up of air pockets - pore space.

The Bug Got Me
People have noticed this week I can move quite rapidly through the hallways. A new exercise program? Naw. The bathrooms are a slight jaunt from my classroom. Hurry is the key word.

Have a great night, folks.

A New Coffee Mug Joins the Team

Thanks, Courtney, for the Montana State University coffee mug. She was on a planned family vacation, last week, and thought of her grisled old science teacher. Wow! I got some cool kids, this year.

Bottles and Sand
Check out the Mrs. Helminiak, the pollution lady, project. A couple of 7th graders stopped by at lunch to see the latest and greatest in my science class. We did not do this project, last year. The older cherubs were impressed at the fact my kiddoes will be dealing with recharge, discharge, pollution and all aspects of the hydrologic cycle using two bottles, sand, and water.

Have a great night, folks.