School #2 project fair.....

Project Fair at my afternoon school and some of my favorite projects from this year :)

School #1 Project Fair

Here are some photos from the project fair at school #1 .....

Crunch Time....

Every spring the students I teach in the G/T program are required to pick a topic to research and then compile and summarize information, gather pictures, etc and put everything together on a display board. The last two weeks have been CRAZY busy with me helping the last "stragglers" get everything ready before the school Project Fair (held this Friday, May 23rd).
This is pretty much what both of my classrooms have looked like these past two weeks:


They have all been working very hard (not to mention myself!), can't wait to see the finished projects!!

Missing Student

Staff at our school were just informed that one of our 2nd graders is missing. He was on the bus after school last night but never made it home and no one has seen or heard from him since.

The police are here at school today questioning other students, just in case someone knows something of his whereabouts.
Positive thoughts needed that we find this little boy, safe and unharmed, ASAP.

ETA at 1:33pm: THE BOY HAS BEEN FOUND. Not sure any of the details, but so glad he has been found!

Life is NOT a video game!

Okay, I have to report on something today that scared me more than a little.

I was walking a small group of kindergardeners up to my classroom, which happens to be on the top level of the building. The building is configured really weird, with a series of overlapping ramps not far from my room. There is a railing that you can look over and see all the way down to the first floor.....
As we were walking to my room, this tiny little boy who barely speaks English says,

"If I jump down, will I die?"

Umm, my heart skipped a beat. "Yes, you would probably die. Jumping would be very dangerous!"

Then he says, "Then I'll just start over!"

"What do you mean???"

"If I die I'll just start over like in the video games!!"

Whoa, this had me very alarmed. "Lets get one thing straight. Life is NOT a video game. You only get one chance and if you die, you will not get to start over, you will be gone forever. Don't ever think about jumping or doing anything you see in the video games! "

One more reason not to allow little kids to play certain games. These new video games are a little too realistic in certain aspects and this just goes to show you that young kids cannot make the distinction between reality and fantasy.
Scary stuff!

Little Entrepreneurs.....

Today one of our 4th grade classes is hosting a fund-raising meal to raise money to go to Dairy Queen. For $6.50 you get a choice of grilled burger or chicken breast (on bun), chips, salad, juice, and either homemade cookie or fruit. I think it is a good deal! The teacher and students did all of the preparing and organizing of the meal, each student having a specific job.

I am writing about this because as I was going to go pick up my lunch, one of the other teachers stopped me in the hallway to comment, "You are supporting this?? They are raising money to go to DAIRY QUEEN. Most teachers just treat their students!"
I really like this teacher as a person, but her response made me mad!! My response to her was, "First of all, not every teacher has money to treat 30 students at Dairy Queen. I know I personally couldn't afford to do that. Second of all, I think this type of project holds a lot of value. Its a great way to teach economics and cost/profit, etc. Not to mention that the ice cream is going to taste so much better and be appreciated that much more because the students earned it. It also builds a sense of community and teamwork. The more I think about it, the better I think this project is!"

It bothers me when certain people do not see the bigger picture , but I am certainly going to continue to show my support for other learning projects such as this one.

The "pink thing".....

This morning I was with a small group of 4th graders, working on individual research projects. Fourth graders are always curious about something, or so it seems. Here is today's question of the day.....

One of the boys asks me, "Ms. S, you know those pink things that dogs have? Do Alligators have a pink thing?"
Me (not quite listening as hard as I should): what pink things?
4th grade boy: "you know, when boy dogs roll over and their pink thing comes out. Does that happen to alligators too?"
Me: OH. I think when you say "pink thing", you mean "penis" or male reproductive organs
Boys: giggling (when I said the word penis)
Me: This is an educational opportunity and we are researchers. There is no reason to be embarrassed when we discuss reproduction, because it is a part of nature. If there was no reproduction, life could not carry on and we would have no more animals. As far as male alligators go, I am not sure the answer to your question, but I can try to find it".

So after a little research on Google, we discovered that Alligators do in fact, have a penis. It is just hidden internally except during the act of mating.... I will spare you and NOT post the graphic picture of the male alligator sexual organs!!!!