Although it's July, I'm kind of in school this week and next. I'm participating in some training that goes along with a technology grant my school was awarded and I'm being introduced to some interesting websites. Check out delicious.com. It's a place to store your favorites which you can then access from any computer. Very convenient if you sometimes work at school and sometimes at home.
Some of the interactive sites I've saved are honorpoint.com, arcademicskillbuilders.com, and internet4classrooms.com. I teach 5th grade and if my students don't know their basic math facts when they come to me, they will struggle during math class. These sites can help them with that.
When talking to students, I refer to this as unwritten homework. There's no paper and pencil task that needs to be completed and turned in, but those kids who need the practice should be doing this nightly.
I'm also working on a website at classjump.com. They'll host your site for free. They have a message board feature I plan to use for students' literature responses and for students to reflect upon, summarize, or ask questions about what they learned in math class.
There are about 10-12 teachers and a couple of principals participating in these training sessions and some interesting philosophical discussions about teaching and learning are popping up among us. I'll post about some of those as the session goes on.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Ralph Simian, I've Had It!, Chapter 1
"Have a nice day Honey, and don't worry. Everything will be fine."
I lifted my hand in a half-hearted wave as Mom drove away. Mindful of the banana inside, I tucked my lunch bag into my backpack, pushed my glasses higher up onto the bridge of my nose and turned to face the playground full of kids climbing on the monkey bars, playing on the swings and chasing one another. When the bell rang, the laughing and screaming died down and everyone lined up to enter the school building. I was relieved to have avoided that bully, Ralph Simian. Mom had to drive me to school because last week was a nightmare.
On Monday, Ralph tricked me into handing over my lunch money. I still can't believe I fell for it.
"Want to see a magic trick?" he said as he approached a group of us, and before we could answer he was reaching into his pocket for a few coins. He fumbled around with them, uttered a few "magic words" and pretended that the whole thing was a flop. Somehow he even made his face turn red. I thought he was embarrassed and like a fool I tried to help him out.
"My coins are too small," he explained, displaying a palm full of pennies and dimes. Then he started to walk away.
"I have quarters," I offered, reaching into my pocket.
"Hey thanks Frankie. You're a real…" …nice guy I thought, finishing his sentence in my mind. He thinks I'm a nice guy. We could be friends, or at least stop being enemies.
In the instant it took for these thoughts to pass through my brain, Ralph finished his own sentence and punctuated it with the loudest belch I've ever heard.
"…SUCKER!" he yelled, waving his fist full of my quarters in the air.
"BUURRRP! How's that for magic?" He pounded his chest with a sideways fist. "I just took your money and turned it into mine!" He ran away laughing while I silently prayed for the ground to open up and swallow me.
On Tuesday Ralph really threw me off balance. He gave me back my money! What's up with that??? That's what I want to know.
"Here Frankie, take these," he said as he deposited the quarters into my hand and ran off.
I was almost afraid to. He probably rigged them so they'll explode or something. Is that even possible? I was jumpy all day, just waiting…waiting. I DON‟T NEED THIS STRESS!
On Wednesday in the cafeteria I was standing in line and… Oh, never mind. You get the picture.
Here's what I think: On any given day, a guy (Okay, I'm talking about myself here.) can waver from feeling safe and in control to feeling squirmy and on edge in the world. Anyway, that's how I am most of the time. I go about my business. I have my ups and downs. Things work themselves out. You know.
That's what I used to think before Ralph Simian came to my school. Now, I'm not so sure. Ralph's not in my grade. (So he's a year younger than I am. You want to say something about that?) I only see him two times during the day. First, in the schoolyard before the bell rings in the morning. The bus drops me off and he's already there, but if I can survive the first fifteen minutes of the day then I don't have to worry again until lunchtime.
Now that Mom's driving me to school, I think I've eliminated any potential problems at the start of my day. She drops me off just before the bell rings so although I don't have time to hang out with my friends before school starts, I also don't have time for a run-in with Ralph. Life's a trade-off, don't you think?
Anyway, school's almost over and if I can just keep a low profile for a couple of more weeks, summer vacation will be here and I can relax. Maybe Mom was right.
"Just try to avoid him," she said, and that's what I've been doing. But soon, avoiding him was no longer an option.
I lifted my hand in a half-hearted wave as Mom drove away. Mindful of the banana inside, I tucked my lunch bag into my backpack, pushed my glasses higher up onto the bridge of my nose and turned to face the playground full of kids climbing on the monkey bars, playing on the swings and chasing one another. When the bell rang, the laughing and screaming died down and everyone lined up to enter the school building. I was relieved to have avoided that bully, Ralph Simian. Mom had to drive me to school because last week was a nightmare.
On Monday, Ralph tricked me into handing over my lunch money. I still can't believe I fell for it.
"Want to see a magic trick?" he said as he approached a group of us, and before we could answer he was reaching into his pocket for a few coins. He fumbled around with them, uttered a few "magic words" and pretended that the whole thing was a flop. Somehow he even made his face turn red. I thought he was embarrassed and like a fool I tried to help him out.
"My coins are too small," he explained, displaying a palm full of pennies and dimes. Then he started to walk away.
"I have quarters," I offered, reaching into my pocket.
"Hey thanks Frankie. You're a real…" …nice guy I thought, finishing his sentence in my mind. He thinks I'm a nice guy. We could be friends, or at least stop being enemies.
In the instant it took for these thoughts to pass through my brain, Ralph finished his own sentence and punctuated it with the loudest belch I've ever heard.
"…SUCKER!" he yelled, waving his fist full of my quarters in the air.
"BUURRRP! How's that for magic?" He pounded his chest with a sideways fist. "I just took your money and turned it into mine!" He ran away laughing while I silently prayed for the ground to open up and swallow me.
On Tuesday Ralph really threw me off balance. He gave me back my money! What's up with that??? That's what I want to know.
"Here Frankie, take these," he said as he deposited the quarters into my hand and ran off.
I was almost afraid to. He probably rigged them so they'll explode or something. Is that even possible? I was jumpy all day, just waiting…waiting. I DON‟T NEED THIS STRESS!
On Wednesday in the cafeteria I was standing in line and… Oh, never mind. You get the picture.
Here's what I think: On any given day, a guy (Okay, I'm talking about myself here.) can waver from feeling safe and in control to feeling squirmy and on edge in the world. Anyway, that's how I am most of the time. I go about my business. I have my ups and downs. Things work themselves out. You know.
That's what I used to think before Ralph Simian came to my school. Now, I'm not so sure. Ralph's not in my grade. (So he's a year younger than I am. You want to say something about that?) I only see him two times during the day. First, in the schoolyard before the bell rings in the morning. The bus drops me off and he's already there, but if I can survive the first fifteen minutes of the day then I don't have to worry again until lunchtime.
Now that Mom's driving me to school, I think I've eliminated any potential problems at the start of my day. She drops me off just before the bell rings so although I don't have time to hang out with my friends before school starts, I also don't have time for a run-in with Ralph. Life's a trade-off, don't you think?
Anyway, school's almost over and if I can just keep a low profile for a couple of more weeks, summer vacation will be here and I can relax. Maybe Mom was right.
"Just try to avoid him," she said, and that's what I've been doing. But soon, avoiding him was no longer an option.
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