In honor of Teacher Appreciation Day, I would like to thank those who have impacted my life and taught me the most valuable lessons, both academic and life.  Let me begin with the teachers from the academic realm.

Mr. Kopreski was my senior year AP English teacher.  He taught me the value of the written word and the impact it can have on others.  His encouragement has led to a life long love of literature and writing for which I will be forever grateful.

At the elementary level, I will forever remember Mrs. Allen.  At the end of my 4th grade year she presented each of us with a book.  Mine was The Island of the Blue Dolphins.  It remains to this day one of my favorite stories.  In addition to this gift, she was the one to comfort me and counsel me through my parents divorce.  She did what all good teachers did and taught the whole child and realized that until my soul was patched up, my learning would take a back burner.  She taught me to be a compassionate teacher.

I can not go any further with this post until I mention the most influential teachers in my life- my family.  My mother taught me that real women cry, laugh, hang curtains, hold babies, sing lullabies, hug, and are strong.  I am so lucky to have an independent, beautiful, supportive mother who has picked me up at my lowest and stood by me at my highest.  Beside her was a man who came into our lives and loved us as his own.  He coached us, joked with us, and raised us to be strong minded, hard workers. My Dad and Step-mom have taught me that slowing down and homemade is a wonderful way to go.  Be it through gardening (though I hated picking the veggies as a teenager) or family meals quality time is important.   My siblings each have faced demons and struggles and yet have all shown me what a force grace and determination can be.  The obstacles they have over come be it addiction, challenges in marriages or with children, or physical injuries have shaped them into the people they are today.  I have learned through them that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger more loving people.

My Nanny and Papa have taught me the importance of faith and grace in the belief that God is good and always there for me.  Their love story has spanned more than 60 years, produced 5 children, and dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren.  I am inspired by every facet of their time together from struggling to raise kids and put my grandfather through college to the daunting and sad effects of Alzheimer’s Disease.  The unwavering faith they have in each other and God is breathtaking.

My husband has given me the gift of love and taught me to trust in others again.  He is nothing short of an savior to me and my 2 little girls.  He has from day one loved us unconditionally.  He has shown me what it is to be loved and cherished and for that I will be eternally grateful.  I am so thankful to have a wonderful partner to spend my days and raise our kids with.

My children have taught me that life gets messy, can’t be planned, is loud, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.  My two little girls taught me the meaning of love at first sight.  That truly unconditional love does exist and when it hits you it is awe inspiring.  My three amazing step kids taught me that regardless of how a child becomes yours it creates a powerful connection that can not fully be described.

My best friend Becky, has taught me that some bonds are meant to be regardless of DNA.  She has taught me that true friends don’t care if you are wearing make up or have even showered- when you need a hug you need a hug!  She along with many of the other inspiring “teachers” have seen me at my worst, wiped tears, talked until we were blue, and helped me get back to the best me I can be.  She has counseled me through a divorce and walked me down the aisle at my wedding.  A girl can’t get a better friend than that!

Thank you to all the “teachers” that have helped make me the woman, mother, wife, friend, daughter, sister, teacher, person I am today.

They say, “April showers bring May flowers.”  Well, on this dreary Monday morning I can only hope that these final damp days of April will help to produce beautiful buds by the end of the week!  While last week was very busy and activity packed, this week will be a week of preparation for the NJASK, wrapping up novels, and prepping our room for test week.  Here are our objectives for this week and how you can help support learning at home:

Reading:  This week we are working with identifying important information in non fiction texts, relating events to each other, and identifying text structure.  Each night your child will have a recap of the lesson as well as a test prep worksheet to complete.

Grammar:  We are working on editing sentences for capitalization, commas, and apostrophes.

 Vocabulary:  This week we are working on using figuartive language phrases correctly. 

Math:  We will be wrapping up decimals on Tuesday with a test on Wednesday.  After that we will be reviewing Geometry which is very vocabulary based instead of computation based.

Science:  We are continuing work with our Body Encyclopedia in class.  \

Let’s be honest, shall we?  Teachers often perform a thankless job.  Don’t get me wrong a good teacher is beloved by his or her students for that year they are in the classroom, but often a year or two down the road referred to as Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so.  We as teachers understand this is the natural progression of things and to a point encourage it.  Change is natural and affections and connections alter as we grow.  Still, we are often left years down the road looking at our collection of yearbooks and class photos of classes gone by wondering where are they?  Did they turn out ok?  Did they ever get the times tables mastered?! 

It is truely frustrating if you think about it too long.  Often teachers are belittled or down-rigth trashed by politicians and tax payers for our long summers off and easy schedules…..hahahahaha!  Meanwhile everyone relies on teachers.  There is not a profession out there that does not obtain its foundations through education.  Some countries would literally die for our educational opportunities.  Let me tell you how I spend my many hours “off.”  I research, create, try out, and use my own kids as guinea pigs for future lessons.  I shop for snacks, supplies, sometimes even clothing for my students who need a little extra help (and yes this comes from my meager pay).  I attend seminars.  I give seminars.  I write curriculum.  I blog.  I create websites for my class.  Often times I work harder at home wracking my brain to find better ways to do things and reach my students during my work day than I do actually implementing the lessons during class time.  I spend hours reading the 5 novels that my literature circles are all reading to keep up and stay ahead of them so as to ask the meaningful questions.  My own kids often as when I will be done and able to play or read on weekends with them. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I am NOT COMPLAINING!  This is more than a job for me.  This is a calling.  I could not imagine doing anything else.  But still at times you wonder, does it matter?  I’m forgotten a year or two down the road.  Does it stick?  Did I help?

Today, I was reminded I do matter.  I had an experience I wish every educator could have.  One of my first ever 4th graders, now junior in high school, came in to teach my class a lesson about how laws are created.  I had no clue she would be one of the students teaching when I agreed to this co-teaching experience.  What a wonderful surprise. 

Let me tell you about Kwanaya as I first remember her.  She was a beautiful little girl who had quite a big personality.  More often than not that personality landed her in some tight situations.  She struggled a bit academically, but you could tell she had a lot to offer.  We did not hit it off the first half of that year.  And then we had THE TALK.  You know the talk you have with one of your students where you are basically letting them “get the mama treatment.”  You talk to them straight, no holding back and make the options VERY clear.  That talked changed our relationship.  I told her, “show me you want this and are willing to try, and I will back you one hundred percent.”  Well that year ended very well for her.  She left me for 5th grade in a better place academically.  I cried. 

A few years later, I had the opportunity to spend a year at the middle school.  The first day students arrived I found myself almost pounded into the lockers by this beautiful young woman who tackled me with a bear hug.  My Kwanaya had grown up.  She was now an A and B student and a proud member of our AVID class.  I cried again that night so happy for her and all she had achieved.  I also cried because she made me feel that I mattered that day too.  That I had somehow contributed to all the great things she was doing.

Today, as I right this, I cry again.  Such happy, happy tears!  I am so proud of the young woman she has become.  She was able to work well with my class and really teach them something.  She is eloquent and sophisticated.  She is gracious and patient.  She remembered me again and let me know that the things we do as teachers are not for naught.  They matter.  Today has been one of my proudest moments in this profession.  To see one of “my kids” come back and have made so many good choices and worked so hard and have such wonderful plans and goal for her future makes my heart sing. 

This week is jam packed with exciting activities!  We are starting off on Monday with Earth Day and Bubbles for Autism (see the pics below).  For Earth Day we created planet Earth mobiles with going green tips hanging from the.  We also watched some of the Plant Earth DVD series and The Lorax with the rest of the school.

Tuesday we will be hosting students from the Sr. High School who will be teaching us about how laws are created.  We will even be writing and debating our own laws!

Wednesday we will be among the first in the city to see the High School’s performance of Beauty and the Beast (one of Mrs. Sinone’s favorite musicals)!

Thursday Maren and Madison will be joining our class for the day for take your child to work day.  Anyone going to work with their parents, please send in a note to have the absence excused.

Friday will be the only “normal” day of the week (whatever that means !

While we will be having a fun week, there will still be homework Tuesday through Thursday.

After a much needed technology break, I’m back!  Just before Spring Break, we participated in an EGGsperiment EGGstravaganza.  Students completed 5 experiments using eggs in many different forms.  For each experiment they were given the materials and procedure but had to create a hypothesis and then record observations in their lab report.  We had an awesome day!  Below are the experiments and instructions.  Thank you to the many teachers who post to Pinterest!  I unfortunately can not take complete credit for developing the experiments on my own, only for implementing them in my class.

EGGsperiment #1- The Bouncing Egg

For this experiment 2 eggs were used.  One was raw, the other was hard boiled.  Both eggs spent 48 hours soaking in vinegar to strip them of their outer shells.  Once stripped, students created a hypothesis as to how high off the table we could hold the egg and drop it without it breaking.  Most students guess between 3-5 inches.  Our raw egg made it to 9 inches and our hard boiled one never did bust!

EGGsperiment #2- Humpty Dumpty

Students were given raw eggs for this one.  They had to hypothesize the outcome of the egg falling off our “wall” onto cotton balls, paper, and the desk.  Most Humpties made it up until the desk trial.

EGGsperiment #3- The Volcanic Egg

For this experiment, students were given hard boiled eggs to paint with a paste of baking soda and food coloring.  Once painted they had to hypothesize what would happen when they dropped the egg into a cup of vinegar.  Things got quite colorfully messy!

EGGsperiment #4- The Incredible Shrinking Egg

Students were given 2 naked eggs (raw eggs that had been soaked in vinegar for 48 hours to remove outer shell).  One egg spent 24 hours naked in water.  The other egg spent 24 hours naked in a water/sugar solution.  They had to hypothesize what would happen when they pierced each of the eggs with a thumb tack.  The Sugar egg was much weaker and exploded, while the water egg only let out a fountain stream of water.

EGGsperiment #5- The Strong Egg

This experiment was two-fold.  The first part had students test their strength vs. that of an egg.  Could they crush an egg in one hand?  In most cases that answer was no!  

The second part of the experiment was to place 2 eggs under a stack of books and hypothesize how many would be needed to crush them.  Surprisingly, the answer was many more than most students predicted, but in the end all eggs were eventually smashed!

…..and in room 11 we are but players!  Below are our final projects for 3 of the 4 plays our literature circles read this week.  Students, please view the play then log into edmodo and give yourself a grade using the rubric that is posted for the assignment.  Parents, please enjoy watching your children perform.  They worked very hard!  This assignment counts as a alternative test grade for this book.  An alternative test is an assessment that is different from the traditional paper and pencil tests. 

For this task, they had to choose a scene from their play, rehearse it to build up their fluency and confidence, present it to the class, and finally self-evaluate their own performance using the performance rubric.  The rubric includes the following categories:  Fluency (how smoothly they read their parts), interaction with other characters (did they just stand and read or did they actually act it out), volume, and participation.  I am very proud of each of the groups!

 When Women Played Baseball

Happy Burger

The Tale of Anton Brown and Grace Hopper

This week, while being a short one, will be jam packed with EGGciting EGGsperiments, drama, sports, mystery and more! 

On Monday, my little thespians will be performing a scene from their guided reading stories from last week.  Each group was assigned a one act play to read to learn how to interpret text in a different way.  As a culminating event, they will be choosing and performing one scene from their play instead of taking a normal paper and pencil text.  Their plays will be recorded and posted to the blog for them to view and share with their families!

In Math this week, we are continuing to work with fractions.  We are focusing on making improper (top heavy) fractions into mixed numbers and vice versa.  To make an improper fraction a mixed number, divide the numerator by the denominator.  The answer is your whole number and your remainder is the new numerator for your new fraction.  Example:   7/5 = 1  2/5

To change a mixed number into an improper fraction, multiply your denominator by the whole number, add the numerator to that answer, and place your final answer over your denominator.  Example:  1  2/5= 5 x 1= 5,  5+2=7  improper fraction = 7/5

On Wednesday, we will be having our annual staff vs. student floor hockey game (here’s hoping I don’t break anything)!

Thursday is our school wide scavenger hunt as well as our EGGsperiment EGGstravaganza!  The experiments we will be conducting are as follows:

EGGsperiment #1- the volcanic egg

EGGsperiment # 2- Humpty Dumpty

EGGsperiment #3- The Incredible Shrinking (and Expanding) Egg

EGGsperiment #4- The Naked and Bouncing Egg

EGGsperiment #5- The Unbreakable Egg

Please dress your child in play clothes as this may get messy!

We will be holding an EGGsperimentally Awesome day next Thursday and could use some help!  We are in need of the following items:

Raw eggs (at least 6 dozen or more)

Vinegar (1 large bottle- think BJ’s size)

Egg dye kits (1 or 2 would be plenty)

Cotton Balls (1 bag)

Baking Soda (1 box is plenty)

1 bottle of soda (for experimental purposes only! Flavor does not matter)

1 package of large clear plastic cups

All of these ingredients will add up to a spectacularly scientific Eggstravaganza!  Any student who brings in one of the above items will receive 10 extra credit points on this week’s Science test.  If you would like to volunteer to help us on Thursday, March 28th, we would love to have you!  Please contact Mrs. Sinone to let her know you will be coming.  Also on Thursday, March 28th please dress your child in play clothes as some of these EGGsperiments are quite messy! 

We hope to see you for an EGGcellent time!

Nothing says Monday morning like digging through owl vomit!  Today is the day!  We are finally done virtually dissecting our owl pellets and ready to really dissect one.  We spent the first part of the morning learning how to take proper lab notes.  After expectations were set, we moved on to the dirty stuff! 

We began by simply observing our owl pellet, taking some basic measurements, recording our observations, and sketching in our lab report.

Once that was done, we began pulling the bones out and separating the fur and trash from them.  While we were pulling them apart we matched them to our bone identification chart to begin making a prediction as to what this particular owl meal happened to be.

Finally, once all of our bones were identified, we put our skeletons together and made a decision as to what animal the owl last ate.  In completing this lab, we learned about food chains, ecosystems, skeletal systems, the experimental process, and how to create lab reports.  To quote a student, “This was the coolest experiment all year!”  That’s going to be a tough one to top (good thing I have another eggsperimentallly awesome idea for next week)!

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging!  This session serves to answer the following burning questions for those on the brink of blogging:

• How do I start?
• Why should I bother?
• How involved is this going to be?
• What should I blog about?
• Is this going to cost me anything???????

The basic layout for our sessions is some show and tell followed up by some time in the trenches developing your own blog!  For those of you who are extremely schedule oriented  here’s the agenda:

1. 15 minutes- Introductions and short background as to our blogging beginnings    
2. 15 minutes-  Connect Create Communicate Prezi                                                                    
3. 30 minutes-  Time to create your first blog with support from us     

The link below will take you to the Connect Create Communicate website that we created to go along with this presentation.  It will be posted on the sharepoint portal as well as linked to our blogs.  It is a Wix site so I apologize to our Apple friends, you will not be able to view on your Apple device as it needs Flash to work properly.