The Rise of the School Year: Gr 5. Bwahaha.

It would only be fitting to choose a melodramatic title (as well as using a word from the urban dictionary) to describe the beginning of the school year. I love what I do; I teach 5th grade this year, and I am in charge of Social Studies for my own class, then we switch for our 4 core subjects, so I am the Math teacher for all 100 kids. I love it. The first day of school went in the direction I had planned as I told kids that math is something real and challenging but not a thing to fear or be stressed over. I wrote a story that I put on the Promethean board; it follows two kids on their first day of school who were bogged down by their fears about math. We discussed as a class what could have made them feel worried about math before they even tried it out in 5th grade. Students gave me answers like "Maybe the didn't pass the SOL," or "They might not have been very good at their times tests" or "Maybe they were really good at math, but the people around them made it hard to learn." Wow! Then, in my class that has some of the top kids in it, one of my boys raised his hand and said, "I bet they were really upset and worried about a zombie apocalypse."

 Goodbye happy, inspirational teaching ambiance. The next four comments were all boys trying to one-up each other on zombie end-of-the-world scenarios. I cut them off and said "Listen. I don't mind creativity in my class, but that doesn't make any sense. It has nothing to do with our conversation, and your comment doesn't apply to anyone at your table, or anyone else in this class. You need to think about your comment and change it so it is helpful to other people in our room. Raise your hand when you have done that." The next kid raised his hand immediately and said "They are worried about dying." and I told him that was inappropriate again. Sent him back, had him think. Each of those boys apologized of their own volition; I give them credit for that. Their next comments were very applicable to our discussion. We finished the story and pulled out two themes: a light at the end of the tunnel (hope) and you're never up the creek without a paddle...even if all you see next to you is a piece of driftwood (math has all kinds of tools to use, and not just one way to find the answer). I don't know if that makes sense outside of the context of the story, but the kids did a good job picking that out. 

Fast forward two days. Things went considerably zombie-free. Yesterday we worked on creating math goals for the year, and their homework last night was to write up a math vision statement. My classes did a really amazing job writing them... I was proud of their efforts. I feel very positive about where we're going. Even when I saw one kid...again in that class. His vision? Become a ninja. 

We're working on relating that to math.

Remembering Aurora

Today is a tough day for me, because in the news the recent shootings hit close to the home. I was in Aurora for about 70% of my mission, and that area and the people that live within it will always have my prayers and my love. 

I had three companions in Aurora: Hermana Lopez (companions twice) on the far right

Sister Tupou

 Hermana Flores

My love to all.

Apps Review July 2012

I recently discovered an unused iTunes gift card for $10 that I received from a coworker at Christmas. Since then, I have gotten a few new things, and I am finally getting down to posting about these apps and how they have worked/not worked for me.

Sleep Pillow Sounds: $1.99

1. My schedule and workload have recently resulted in my sleep schedule being completely out of wack, and so when I saw this early one morning, I thought why not? I tried the free version, which has 9 different sounds and all their ads, and quickly upgraded to this version. About 50 different sounds, a sound timer, volume control, and favorite shortcut. Easy, nice variety, and pleasant sounds. And yes, the crackling fire is my favorite right now. I also like all five of their rain sounds (rain into water, rain on leaf, rain on tent, rain on car windshield, rain and thunderstorm, etc.... although after these current events, I don't know how restful the thunderstorm one is to anyone else).

Virtuoso3 FREE

2. Next app: this one I discovered today at church during choir practice. We were doing some sectionals, but we're restricted to one piano. I was waiting for our turn to get the notes for the alto section, when one of my altos gave me her phone and I presently plucked that E flat and we went on without a pause. Since then, yes, I have tried playing with multiple fingers at once on the keys. Pretty entertaining. For those with iPads, I can see this being even more effective. 

Book Retriever $0.99

3. Book Retriever was a referral off of Pinterest. It looked promising; scan the bar code of a book and create your digital library. Make student accounts so when they borrow your book, you scan it and log it, knowing who had what and when they should return it. It seemed like a great idea, especially because I am working on my classroom library and leveling my books, and this has an automatic book leveler. My issue? It's' still a new app. I saw that on the comments before buying it, a few people saying they wished the digital inventory were more extensive. But I thought I would try it. 

I have mixed feelings. When I scan Amelia Bedelia, it works like a charm (see below). But The Witch of Blackbird Pond? Busy Tree? Enchantress from the Stars? My Corner of the Universe? The Big Snow? Some of my alphabet books? Not on their database yet. You can enter it in manually, but I don't have too much time for that. This will be good once they hire an intern or two to go through a few library catalogues and Scholastic publishing lists. 

Path FREE

4. Path. Love it. Don't use it as much as some in the family, but it's a nice interface for sharing videos, pictures, and quick checkins with family that can be kept completely private and thus more open to family variety. Nieces and nephews at the beach? Dan videoing our water catastrophe at Disney World? Dad's new iPhone accessory? Check. It's also fun to see where Adam and Dan go on their jogs. Makes me want to cheer them on! 

Sound Hound FREE

5. My best friend Carrie and I were on our way to NYC. We stopped for lunch, and in our fast food restaurant, we heard possibly the best dance song ever. Lyrics were about as profound as, "I am the coolest dancer, I am the best dancer, I am your favorite dancer" followed by some base bouncing. Within seconds, Carrie had captured the title, artist, and even where she could acquire said song... all by tapping a button. I've been waiting for this app since I was taping songs from the radio back pre-high school. Nice.

LDS Media OnDemand $1.99

6. Don't get me wrong; I love my Gospel Library App, especially because it's free, but I have enjoyed this  addition because it provides an audio database for CES Firesides, LDS Gems, the Ensign, Church News, etc. It allows me to listen while driving, getting ready, brushing teeth, etc. I've enjoyed this one, and think it to be worth the 2 dollars. 

Temple Quiz FREE

7. This one is just fun. Great collection of pictures, and it is neat to see the architecture and the locations of these temples. There are some where I find myself asking, "Wait, do they have a temple in that country yet?" Yes, they do.  

June in Review

Heather, R and M: Family Barbecue 

My best friend from college, Carrie, came to visit! We started our visit in NYC: This is outside of Juliard, as we made our way to the Temple.

 Me and Rexy at the Natural History Museum

The absolute highlight of the trip; NEWSIES!

 Successfully negotiating the Subway

While we went to NYC, we got to stay for three days with Jenny and Nathan; their first visitors to have slept over at their new apartment. It was incredibly fun to be with those kiddos!

At the end of this month, I am turning over a new leaf and de-cluttering my possessions. I decided to get rid of the trophies and instead photograph them. Here is the award I got for my nomination as Substitute of the Year. It's a lovely picture, right?

And in case you didn't see my Facebook page, here's a video of what you miss if you don't make it to NY before the end of August: 

Sleeping on Sunshine

I came home from work after a really stressful day yesterday. On my way home, I wandered around Target for about an hour just to decompress. As I went through the bedding aisle, thinking to get a new pillowcase, I saw that it was time for me to make the bed I have in the basement into a real bed. It's a King, and I've been working with some 1990s striped sheets, a queen comforter that I remember since childhood, and my twin quilt from college to make up the difference. My pillowcases ranged from a nice green one I grabbed from someone else's sheet set, two that I had in college, and that flower one from ten years ago. All great bedding, to be sure, but as you can tell, this bed has been a collage of unassociated decor for far too long. As a treat, I decided:

Get a set of nice, high-thread count, Green Sheets 

Buy a Duvet

Get a Yellow Duvet Cover

Buy a new Pillow

My room light is very yellowy (making my bedspread look orange on the phone camera) so I used a filter. It looks way better in person, and I had one of the best sleeps I have had in two weeks.

High-thread count = luxury.

Katy and the Camelbak

That sounds almost as if it could be a book title. In that case, it would have to be a BPA free book, and the illustrations would include the following figures:

Three of these reside in VA (two of which are mine), and one in TX. The idea of acquisition was all borne from a nice stay at my sister-in-law's house, where I saw these all being used and loved. Tonight I told Joel that he really should get one. Clever guy: his response was, "Well, my birthday is coming up."

Ruminating-- how many more colors do they carry at Target?

Thanks, Katy. I don't know how you feel about being a trend-setter, but I am grateful for it. I enjoy the design and functionality, plus I have not used a disposable water bottle in months. That just feels right.

Not quite...

My recent bout with Pinkeye looked nothing like this... more like Quasimodo. Maybe now that I've had two days with the eyedrops I can start wearing pretty eyes again.