September 6-10

I remember where I was September 11, 2001, and I'm sure all of you parents do, too. It's strange to me that I'm teaching something in school, that I've lived through, that's considered history. Give it two more years and I'll be teaching kids that weren't even alive when it happened, but it won't make it any less real to them. I have decided that 9/11 is a good time of year to really teach the students the difference between a celebrity and a hero. The students have learned the definition of hero to be a man or woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities.

Day 1 of the unit we talked about different heroes and the deeds they have done. On day 2, we discussed the different heroic things the students might do in their time. On day 3, 9/10, the closest I could get with 9/11 being on Saturday, I had the chief of the Syracuse Fire Department and one of his men come in and visit with the students. Hearing the firemen talk about how many of their fellow brothers they lost on that day really brought home the lesson better than I ever could. It also gave the kids a chance to honor some of our hometown heroes. The picture below is our class with the two firemen.

Well, with week 3 down, I think there are finally enough grades loaded into the computer to make it worth while to give out the user names and passwords for our online gradebook. Keep your eyes on your e-mail, I should be sending those out sometime this week. Another thing I meant to do on Friday, but will do on Monday, is send home missing assignments sheets. What I've told the students is that assignments will only make it to a missing assignment list once. So if it was on this week's list, when I print them again in about two weeks, if the assignments were not turned in, they will be entered into the computer as a zero. I will still accept the assignments past that, but I am not going to spend the entire term chasing after assignments from the start of the term, so after the first list, it is up to the students to get missing assignments in.

Other than that, things should be as usual this week. We will finally begin the spelling program. With the rotations, it took me a while to get everything ready for 135 students, but, thanks to the help of several parent volunteers, it's finally done. If things go as planned, our class should also be starting the first sixth grade play of the year this week. Everything else, reading, science, social studies, should be steady as we go!

"Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family who lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children." -President George W. Bush