Wk 9 - day 43

today we had a modified class schedule due to halloween. the students are attending a social from 2 - 4 p.m. so we shaved off a little time from every period. the students watched the rest of the ebola video today and then i played a game to review the handout and other topics taught/learning during the rest of the quarter. it was a game that i had played with my students in taiwan that was a huge success there...so, i was curious to see how it would do here. all in all it went very well...i would've liked the use of a whiteboard...but i made do.

the one thing i did today out of the norm was have a student present her virus presentation only to me...we went out to the science staff work room while the rest of the students were still watching the video. i had received a note from her special ed. teacher that she didn't want to present...she's a really quiet, shy gal...and i didn't want to freak her out. i could tell she was still slightly panicking. lucky for me and my daily conversations with my students...i told her we're just going to talk to each other like we always do. i swear i could see the tension leave her shoulders. she did just fine and had a very nice presentation.

this monday we won't have any students...so, i hope to get a lot of prep work done. this next week we're starting to study bacteria. i'm glad i have the chance to teach this subject... something i haven't done before, but i sure do wish i was going to be around for earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunami's...oh well.

Wk 9 - day 42

today we watched a video on the ebola virus. i had prepared a handout for students to answer questions while they watched the movie. it was an easy day. while the students watched the movie, i finished correcting homework and entered the grades. the end of the quarter is tomorrow and all the grades need to be entered and missing work changed to zeros. i wasn't using the video as a cop out so that i could work...i really don't need the extra time for student assignments...i just wanted them to watch something really cool and informative on video. if i had played and shared everything with them i thought was interesting...they'd never leave the science classroom!

one thing i have discovered...is that i really love my 7th graders. i don't think i could ever be as happy teaching in a 2nd grade classroom. i love the personalities, dramas, noise, squirrliness, and the level of science we can discuss. sitting in a 5th grade classroom has only reinforced this in me. i respect the teachers that can handle the wee ones...but give me my middle schoolers any day.

Wk 9 - day 41

the students had their presentations today. the first two classes were with ms. b and most of the students read off of their notes...a few of them had deceided to use the overhead projector. the first two classes i teach both have a very high percentage of special education students. i had stated numerous times the day prior that they only have one day to work on it...the presentation is short and sweet...about 2 minutes. between the two classes i had 5 students out of 42 who weren't prepared...they had forgot their notes. ms. b and i have trouble with students turning assignments in and mercy/understanding have gone to the wayside...it's due when it's due, no exceptions. it's funny how many late assignments have trickled in.

the classes i taught over on mrs. s's side many had power point presentations, some used the overhead projector and very few used their own notes...quite the opposite compared to ms. b and her students. only one student out of ~82 students forgot their notes. one of the things that impressed me was a power point presentation by two likable, but chatty boys...on SARS. the boys had included facts and statements i had made about my experience with SARS while living in taiwan during the outbreak of 2003...the week prior! it's amazing what some students will remember and is a good reminder to me that even though i think they may not be listening... they really may be tuning in.

Wk 9 - day 40

the second day of this 3 day activity was computer work. the students were directed to pick a virus...i always tell them the bloodier the better...and prepare a short presentation for the class tomorrow. i like to think i know my students well...who are 12/13 years old... and what grabs their attention. talking about bloody eyes, black vomit, 2 billion dead from a flu, movies with interesting viruses like "i am legend" gets their interest. once again, the majority of students were hard at work. i had brought portable computer labs to the room and had the librarian check out a cart full of books...all on viruses. i had one or two students every hour that needed a little poking. i just get a kick off of students coming up to me and telling me "ohhh...look at this virus...puss-filled pustules!!" one student had me look at a picture of a virus that was zoomed in...large and scary looking. i said it looked way cool. the student giggled and said i was so cool that i thought a virus was neat looking. she really meant what she said...she wasn't being disrespectful. she said she never had a teacher who thought stuff like that...viruses, etc...was interesting and she liked it. i don't want to toot my horn, but her grade has gone from a D to a B and science is one of her favorite classes. i don't want any student in my room to feel invisible and i think she's "invisible" in a lot of classes...i make sure to have a conversation with her every day.

not much else happened...just work on viruses. i had put a transparency on the overhead projector that had the areas to cover for the presentation. i don't like spending unnecessary time repeating myself...so i simply would point to the projected image on the wall when they panicked and forgot what to include. everyone kept asking me if they needed to type the report, power points, etc. i told them they could do whatever they wanted...so i had a mixture of everything. i told them i was grading them on the information i would be listening to tomorrow.

mrs. s had made the comment that she would've had the students draw viruses out of a hat to make sure that they had viruses and not bacteria caused illnesses. i told her that when i had stood by the door saying "see you later" the day prior, i was also asking the students who their partner was and what virus they were doing before they could leave the classroom. she nodded her head and said that was good. i fully respect and appreciate my cooperating teachers, but it makes me smile when i'm one step ahead of them too.

Wk 9 - day 39

the activity today was about viruses. i find it funny, not really, that after i started teaching about viruses that i came down with one. i can thank mrs. s for that one! i knew i was getting sick on friday...i could feel it. by friday night i had a fever of 101.7 and my voice was gone. the really nasty thing was that i knew it was in my chest. ever since taipei...if i get the slightest sniffle...it goes into my chest. i was diagnosed with chronic obstructive bronchitis in taipei and now whenever i get a "cold", i get bronchitis with a snap of my fingers. i feel better today than i did over the weekend, but i can't sleep...sinus pressure, chest congestion, blah, blah, blah. let me tell you, it's hard to be chipper with the students when you feel like curling up under the blankets in the fetal position and sleeping for a week. i love my students though...so it's hard not to smile.

i had the students divided up into the four corners of the room and used a roll of string as my vector. the students were either mosquitos or people. if they caught the ball of string and was a mosquito, they "bit" the person next to them. if they were a person...nothing happened. i tossed a coin to see if the vector stayed in the same city or moved on to a different one. i had a worksheet for the students to fill out after we were done with this activity. the last 10 minutes, they needed to pick a partner and a virus to research. we're spending tomorrow researching on the computer and then on wednesday, their presenting their findings to the class.

i thought the activity went well...not like the "infected" one, but well enough that i'd do it again. the only thing that i would've done differently is to issue some demerits for students failing to stay on task. mrs. s stated that she wouldn't have put up with the noise especially after i asked them to keep the noise level down because of my voice/breathing issues. i do have to crack the whip a tad more in 8th period, but nothing really severe. the other thing i introduced today was the take home quiz. the students have to create their own virus. there were a lot of groans, but after we talked about a few movies dealing with viruses and how creative they could be...students seemed very interested. i'm anxious to see what kind of viruses i'll be reading about next week!

Wk 8 - Day 38

boring of all holy boring days! today was a waste for me, i could've been home sleeping, doing homework, housework, etc. the students had to take a test, in the computer labs, for language arts. i had to stay in the lab with them and monitor. today was the first day that i can honestly say...i didn't need to be here. it wasn't like the professional development days...just a day sitting in the lab watching students stare at the computers and pressing keys on the keyboard. i was exhausted at the end of the day even though i didn't do anything. i didn't even have any homework to correct. hopefully, i won't have another day like this during student teaching.

Wk 8 - Day 37

i was looking forward to today's lab. i named the lab "infected!" i'm starting a unit on viruses. i kept telling the students that i get to "kill" some of them today. most students laughed and a few looked frightened. i had to laugh at those students and tell them i'm just kidding...we're pretending.

i told the students that they all live in taipei, taiwan with me and were invited over to a party even though SARS had another outbreak. i had little canisters half filled with flour and a couple partily filled with baking soda. they had to write down the names of two students to "share a drink" with, but if someone else came up to them to share...they couldn't refuse. so, a student might have two names on their list, but end up with six. after they were done exchanging their "drinks", i went around with a squirt bottle of vinegar...if it fizzed, they died and if it didn't...they survived. there was ~75% death rate in the classes. the detective work started when the students needed to find the original carrier of the virus. mrs. s had used the overhead projector and wrote down the names of the dead and who was on their list. i thought it was kind of confusing. before i knew that she had done this technique...i did my own thing. i had one student stand up and read off the first name and if that person had died...they stood up too and read their list. this way, the students could visually see the transmission path of the virus.

i don't like lists, lecturing, or being lectured at which is why i'll do everything else before i have to lecture or give notes to the students. i like moving around and being able to touch/manipulate things or have something to look at besides words. i still know very well what it's like to sit in a seat all day and listen to a lecture. when i asked mrs. s what she preferred...the overhead projector or my technique...she liked mine...which gave me warm fuzzies. it was a great day.

Wk 8 - day 36

today we finished the gum classification lab. i'm just really happy that this lab went well...after all, there were some doubts. most of the students got the hang of it and understood that if they started out with 20 pieces of gum...they needed to have a key that had 20 pieces of gum with their own catagory at the end.

i can't think of anything out of the ordinary. mrs. s complimented me on how i handled a situation in a class were 3 boys were wanting to work together again, but i told them no due to lack of productivity. i don't remember what i all said...and i didn't realize that mrs. s was listening. i just simply explained to the boys that they've proven to me that they aren't capable of working together and they needed to find another partner or work alone. they didn't argue or give me an attitude, instead they found other partners and went to work.

most of the work turned in was great...easy to read charts, but there were a couple in which the students used abbreviations for the gum instead of using numbers off of the master gum list. work for other projects are still trickling in...most students are realizing how important actually turning in their work can be. i told my classes about a student who was receiving an F and after turning in a weekly journal that was only worth 10 points maxium...changed her grade into a C...that opened a few eyes. i shake my head at the laid back attitude of turning in homework and taking school seriously.

Wk 8 - day 35

tuesday was spent in a different classroom. not much out of the ordinary with the students. the teacher is very frustrated with their problems on multiplication...especially with decimals. the biggest problem seemed to be adding a zero for the ones position when adding the numbers together after multiplying them. i don't know if i'm explaining this clearly enough. i personally don't think it's any shortcomings of the teacher...lots of lessons and examples on the smartboard, handouts, reviews, etc. it just brings the question to mind on how to teach something to the students when you've tried all the "tricks" you know. of course, some of the students are getting it, but a good percent are not.

the bigger problem, in my eyes, is that with so many students in class, there is no way to reach everybody. i don't have any children myself, but i would definitely think twice about sending them into a classroom with a large number of children if i did. it seems that with more and more emphasis placed on the students with special needs or students at risk...the students of, dare i say, average and above average intelligence...are the ones being ignored.

the teachers sitting in the lounge during break were complaining about having to document reading assessments with students. i know it's just not this school, but teachers are having to do more and more in the classroom that was normally someone else's job. i spent many weeks in a classroom last year with a reading specialist for 4th graders that were at risk. what the teachers are required to do up here in this district was another teachers main job at a different district south of here...and she had trouble keeping up. the thought around here is that the special ed. teachers and specialists are being phased out and the regular ed. classroom teacher will pick up the load. i have issues with this problem.

Wk 8 - Day 34

classification is something i think is fun to learn in science...what student doesn't want to learn about animals. this week i had a different spin on classification to finish it out before starting on viruses. the students had to classify/key out gum. i had students donating gum throughout the week and brought some in myself. the hardest part of the activity was the prep time...not because it took a long time to divide out the gum...it was the smell. i think i drooled a little. the students were paired up and given a plastic baggie of gum. the bag had about 22 pieces in it. the students were to create a key with the gum. most students started out their key with sugar free versus full flavor or mint versus non-mint. i did have a few that were more creative; circular versus rectangular.

what gave me warm fuzzies was when ms. b complimented me on the lab. she was hesitant to do this lab thinking it was just a day for free gum and not doing any work. when she saw how much of a challenge it was and how into the activity the students were...she said the lab was a great idea. i had an example key of how i keyed out potato chips and had a master gum list for everyone. the students got right to work immediately. i had some questions from the students who seemed a little confused, but after helping them figure out their questions on their own...i don't like to give them the answer...they were good to go. i had kept all the empties after dumping/dividing the gum so that the students could take up the piece of gum in question and try to figure out what it was that they were holding by looking at the packaging instead of just a printed list. this lab was only meant to be a one day activity and ended up being a two day activity. both cooperating teachers stated that they would use this lab again next year...warm fuzzies.

Wk 7 - Day 33

I had a video on classification today that led into the five kingdoms. we’re starting virsuses and then the five kingdoms next week. the second half of the lesson I had the students work on an interactive activity on the internet reviewing classification. the activity was extremely easy and the majority of students completed it in 10 minutes. I planned an easy activity on purpose...i wanted to essentially “throw a bone” to the students that needed a little extra boost. a few of the students complained that it was too easy, but the majority of them seemed to realize that the activity was a chance to make up points. I didn’t do this very often in Taiwan, but I want every student to feel like they can succeed...so I threw them something their way. if I was to do this activity on the internet next time...i would still use the same website, but I would then have the students created the next set of questions on their own.

Wk 7 - Day 32

today was the due date of the classification activity. out of ~25 students for each class, I have about 5 students who didn’t turn anything in. they’ll still get credit, but there’ll be a penalty for each day that it’s late. the student mentioned in yesterday’s journal entry didn’t turn anything in except the pictures...the project is worth 50 points; the largest assignment so far...his grade is now an F. I wonder how his family will be now that he’s failing.

the students were finding out all sorts of information on their animals via the internet. I overheard a student telling another student to ask me a question about their animal, “ms. e knows everything.” the student asked me how I knew so much about animals and I reminded them about my jobs and background...and that I love to learn. I remembered how much I liked to learn about animals when I was in middle school and it was great to see the same interest in a lot of the students. I don’t expect everyone to come away loving science...i do want every student leaving the classroom learning concepts.

Wk 7 - Day 31

I think the hardest part of today was listening to a student who was still looking for pictures and talking more than working...tell me that his family is okay with his grade of a D...as long as it isn’t an F. I don’t know how to motivate a student when he isn’t motivating himself and obviously his family isn’t either. I worked with him and his partner a little extra, but I refuse to do the work for them. once again, the majority of the students are plugging away, but for those that aren’t...i wonder how they’ll be at the end of class tomorrow when it’s due.

this is the second day of having a substitute for mrs. s’s classes. I get along very well with mrs.s and I’m grateful to be in her classroom, but I do enjoy having the class all to myself. ms. b and I get along very well too, but we don’t have very much time to work together at all because of schedule conflicts. the only time we can meet is after school and so far she’s had meeting every day this week. so far...we’ve met twice since I’ve been here...this is not a good match and not because of teaching style or personality...just because of time.

Wk 7 - Day 30

the lesson today was dealing with the classification of animals and introducing linneaus. the students had to find ten different pictures of animals from magazines that were supplied and cut them out and paste them on a piece of paper. the next step was to find the scientific name and describe the animal in 12 words...like linneaus. mrs. s suggested that the lesson be spread out over 3 days instead of 2, so my lesson for friday got bumped to monday. the majority of the students were working hard, but a handful of them putzed around finding pictures...i’d remind them that the toughest part was yet to come; describing the animals. I’m glad that I listened to mrs. s because the students really did need an extra day.

they did pretty well; lots of new vocabulary was seen in their work on describing the animals...herbivore, insectivore, etc. I always get warm fuzzies when the students are actually listening and use words I introduced in just talking to them and telling them stories about animals. students were telling other students that their animal in question was a prey animal because the eyes were offset in the skull...which I had told them a day earlier.

Wk 7 - Day 29

today was spent with mrs. l and her 26 students. normally she had a 3 hour block of language arts in the afternoon, but due to two students who aren’t able to be there in the afternoon...the principal had mrs. l and another teacher change their schedule so that the language art block is now in the morning. at first the principal wanted the entire 5^th grade staff to change their schedules, but the teachers complained that ~200 students shouldn’t have to change their schedules for just two students. so, now those two students are able to learn language arts, but are now missing math, science, and social studies. the principal stated that the students can learn those missing subjects at a later time by being able to read better. mrs. l stated that learning more isn’t necessarily better...comprehension isn’t guaranteed.

the math lesson was a review of money and emphasizing adding and subtracting with decimals. mrs. l uses the Smartboard with everything. she stated that the time to put in creating a lesson on Smartboard takes hours and that’s if you know what you’re doing. the good thing is that those lessons can be used over and over. in mrs. s’s class, the Smartboard has really only been using as a glorified projector. i’ve tried to do a few things in creating a lesson on the Smartboard, but I’m floundering around with it.

in social studies, the students presented their power point presentations on their states. mrs. l had a two minute time limit for each student, but that is still two class periods or more due to the size of the class. mrs. l had 4 students filling out a peer review form and instructed the other students that with their comments they have to have one positive comment for every one negative comment. it was interesting to watch how they put their presentations together. many of them had information in the power point presentation that had nothing to do with their states. all in all they did really well.

Wk 6 - Day 28

nothing interesting to note really. today is the last day of the project and the students are printing them off at the end of their class periods...after being looked over by myself or mrs. s of course. i'll have to take a couple of pictures and post them on my blog for next weeks entries...lots of cool posters! the students are still working productively and are enjoying the work. i'd definitely do this project again if the school i end up working at has a poster printer and a laminator.

oh...i did send in my resume for a long term sub job for 7th grade science at a school that's about 20 miles from here. today was the last day to send in a resume and letter of interest...by mail. so i called the contact person on the ad and introduced myself and told her a little about me. she asked if i could email her everything...so i did. that would be way cool if i could be employed as a teacher for the winter. regardless of anything...i'll be moving sometime this summer. i'm looking for jobs in minnesota, oregon, and upstate new york (lake placid area)...preferrably oregon, but living in minnesota would be cool too...closer to family. i'll keep you all informed.

Wk 6 - Day 27

the poster project is coming along...the students are really into the project and everyone is working hard. even the student who told me they hated school and skips a lot...got right on it AND on his own. he didn't like the first animal he drew and asked if he could work on t-rex. i usually would've said no, but this was the first time he has asked to do anything, so i said yes. i was impressed that he spent the entire period working productively...this is a big deal for this guy. i really don't have anything interesting to note about the project...we're still in the computer lab...students are working hard. most of the students will be able to print off the poster tomorrow, but i'm extending the turn-in date to tuesday. students can work on the poster in study hall or at home to complete the project.

the most interesting thing that happened today was a phone call between a concerned parent and mrs. s. the parent felt that mrs. s was singling out her daughter and was pushing her too hard to complete her schoolwork. the phone call lasted for over 20 minutes and got rather heated. the parent was on the offensive side and mrs. s was rather defensive. i know the student and mrs. s. ...and there has never been any time that mrs. s has singled out the student...she's very professional and in my opinion treats every student the same. the call came about after an incident in study hall with 3 girls who were being very disrespectful to mrs. s. and she called them on their behavior. another teacher who happened to be in the room during the incident complimented mrs. s on how she handled the situation...he said he "would've gone off on them." two of the three girls came up to mrs. s and apologized later for their behavior and their friends. i couldn't believe how much the parent went off on mrs. s. i'm not looking forward to those phone calls from parents.

Wk 6 - Day 26

today was the start of full-time teaching for the next 5 weeks. mrs. s kept asking me if there was anything she could do for me; copies, etc. i said "nope." i've got everything ready to go for the 3 days this week and the following week too. this weekend i'll work on the lessons for the following week so that i can stay a week ahead of schedule. i don't want to be working on things during the last minute possible.

the students are working on making a prehistoric animal poster...laminated and everything. the poster is ~24"x24" and will contain information like; scientific classification and interesting facts. the students all seem interested in the project, so i'm curious on what the final project will look like. i brought out two samples that were made ahead of time and also a cart of dinsosaur books in case they couldn't find anything on the web. i think the hardest part was creating a list of prehistoric animals for the students. i didn't have the students choose their own animal...everyone wants the t-rex, stegosaurus, or brontosaurus. i cut up the names of animals into strips and had the students draw names from a hat. students were paired up...mostly due to cost of creating the poster...and it's just more fun that way. most of the students in the classes have shown that even though they can be chatty (7th grade is just plain noisey), they are also productive. only a handful of students have been doomed to work on their own since they just can't seen to stay on task. everything has been coming along great.

Wk 6 - Day 25

i wasn't in the classroom today. i left for milwaukee after school yesterday. amy had to fly back to texas. her father's funeral was this past weekend...more people showed up than either one of us expected. i've known amy's father for 26 years...and it just seems weird and unfair that both of us are this young without parents. mind you, i still have my dad...but he's in the last stages of altzhimers. it's hard to sit and talk with him when he can't communicate or even know who i am. so...even though my dad is still breathing...the spirit that made him my dad has been gone a long time. i get very jealous of people that still have healthy parents galavanting around...and then complain about them.

Wk 6 - Day 24

today was a teacher's professional development day...no students. this morning was spent going over the school's mission statement, a reading assessment...that all staff are required to do and they were shown how to do it, and a memory game held in the gym that had topics like; best practices, grants, reading assessment, etc. the rest of the day was spent doing prep. teachers are complaining that there isn't enough time to do prep, but yet they are spending a lot of time complaining about the administration and what's been happening to their insurance plan and other topics. i'm not going to go into details, but i do totally understand what their complaints are and i think the complaints are justified. i'm not in a position to do anything as a guest in this school other than watch, listen, and be supportive where i can. the morale of the staff is very low at this point and continues to lower.

Wk 5 - Day 23

today was at the school forest again for the second half of the 7th grade...same lesson.

Wk 5 - Day 22

last night we had parent conferences. the conferences were between 3:45 to 7:30 p.m. teachers had their own little stations in the gym...6th and 7th grade...the 8th grade staff was hanging out in the library. i didn't mind sitting there with my cooperating teachers...i kept jumping back and forth between the two. mrs. s by far had the most visitors while ms. b was lucky to have ~10 parents. i find it amazing that the parents that don't really need to have a conference with the teachers are the ones that attend the conference. here ms. b has the majority of lower level and special ed. students and out of ~60 students only a handful of parents showed. i don't even know how to express my thoughts on this...you'd think that if your child was failing almost all their grades, you'd show up to the conference. i just don't get it...how far should a teacher go to connect with parents that don't care about their child's performance in school?

today was a trip to the school forest. i taught a lesson on leaf/tree identification. i gathered samples of leaves prior to the lesson so i had something to show the students when they came over. the students were introduced to new vocabulary; margins, petiole, etc. and given a tree id book. after going over and discussing characteristics...the students were set loose to go and gather their own leaves and use the id book to figure them out. just to clarify...i didn't stand in front of the students and lecture...i had them tell me about the leaves and i poked and prodded their answers. i had a dichotomous key with pictures of leaves and they had to figure out the tree of origin...for students who finished early. i didn't have any real problems...3 chatty boys i had to separate.

i was able to go and help out with the ropes course a little bit too. i really enjoyed watching the students that were scared of heights try it anyway. every student that was nervous doing it... wanted to do it again. there were only two students who i couldn't convince to give it a go. the students were doing the flying squirrel...the one in the harness ran in the opposite direction of the students pulling the rope. they ended up being pulled straight up in the air and about 60 feet in the air. it was a good day...rain and all.

Wk 5 - Day 21

the class consisted of the students continuing in class work on their time lines. mrs. s's class were just as productive as the day prior unlike ms. b's classes. ms. b's class is a day behind mrs. s's and because i taught the lesson the day prior... i introduced the activity for ms. b. the students in her class were a little confused. students asked questions repeatedly...and instead of reading the instructions...they tried to do it on their own or ask their classmates questions. so, students were starting out on a bad foot by missing steps, bad info., etc. i nipped that in the bud and got their attention again and directed them to the handout and actually read it. i think next time i might have someone read out the directions and have the class reiterate what they just read in their own words...i'm just worried about time. it's very obvious that ms. b has the lower level students in her classroom by the differences i've seen between the two teachers and their students...they've decided to work separately, but so far it hasn't happened.

Wk 5 - Day 20

today i introduced and taught about geologic time. we watched a short 5 minute video on the topic and then jumped into the activity. the students will have 4 days to finish the project. they are given a roll of adding tape and measure out 5 meters. they then are following the directions and mapping out the era's in geologic time and marking down 15 events on their time line. the students are able to work in pairs and have the class time to work on the project.

i can't think of anything extremely interesting. the students went to work right away, there were very few questions or confusion...and by looking at how productive they were...they were understanding the activity. some students were in the hallway, others were spaced out between the desks. i spent my time walking around making sure they were doing the activity correctly, being productive and not too chatty. it was a good day.

Wk 5 - Day 19

today i observed in a different classroom. the teacher ran things a little differently compared to the classes i've observed to date. the students were younger and spent the entire day with their teacher excluding one class. the students were generally adapted to the routine; clips on certain baskets for hot or cold lunch, where to put completed work, a blurt board, how demerits were given/how many chances they had before they received demerits, etc. however, the teacher did have to remind some students several times about the routine. the students at this age definitely still wanted the teachers approval.

the smartboard was used much more than the other classroom...activities on the board for spelling review, states review, etc. i really liked the use of the board for the math lesson during the day. the students were able to come up to the board to show their work while other students watched how they figured out the problems. one of the things mrs. l did which i thought was very effective...she had a student come up to the board that was having difficulty and the students helped him (while in their seats) walk through the steps to solve it. i didn't feel that the student was embarrassed...just confused...which tells me that she has had to do this before with students.

the rhinelander area has scored very low in reading tests. so, the district has implemented a language arts block for the afternoon. from noon until 3:00 p.m. the students work on reading, writing, and other language art activities. i think taking away recess and having the students sit without a break for that long is ridiculous. mrs. l has the students get up and go get a drink of water and stretch, but it's still a long afternoon. i'm just blown away by the changes in schools here...phy. ed only twice a week and the teachers have to plan one of those days...and now recess is taken away. i think the dept. of health should keep their comments to themselves about obesity in children when a school has so little physical activity for their students...i guess no one was listening when the report came out that physical activity helps increase "brain power."