To 6th Grade, and Beyond!

First off, I'd just like to welcome everyone back!  New and old students alike, 5th grade is done, summer is almost over, and if you're anything like me, you're ready to start the new year!  I'm super excited for our new school family!  For the next nine months, we'll be spending more of our waking moments together than with our own families. This means, though we may not be best friends with everyone, we will respect everyone and create a positive, nurturing environment that everyone is happy to be a part of.

Just a few things to start the year off:

* Remember, back to school night is August 19.  I use this as a chance to meet the students I don't already know, double check the contact information I have, and send home any information or forms that you need.  Please be sure to come.  There will be two sessions, either 6:30 or 7:00.

* Our supply list has been posted on the school's website.  If you haven't seen it already, follow this link to check it out: http://www.syracuseartsacademy.org/Supplies.html

* Every year I have at least some parents ask if there are any supplies we need for the classroom.  Below is a "wish list" of things we can always use in the room.  If you want to help supply some of it now, or at any time throughout the year, it'd be greatly appreciated.  If you are unable to buy anything extra, no worries!

• Tissues
• Paper Towels
• Clorox Wipes
• Sanitizer
• Pencils
• Colored Pencils
• Markers
• Copy Paper
• Glue Sticks
• Elmer's Glue
• Dry Erase Markers
• Sharpies (Black and Colored)
• Highlighters
• Small Nic-nacs for prize box

I will have all other necessary forms and information (Computer and Locker Agreements, etc.) at Back-to-School night.  I hope to see you there!  Until then, enjoy the last few days of freedom! Only a week and a half and we head into the new year!!!

End of Year Events

Wednesday 22 - 10:30-12:00 - End of Level Test - Science 2

Friday , May 24 - 8:30-11:00 - End of Level Test - Math 2

Friday, May 24 - DARE Lagoon Day

Lagoon opens at 10:00. Ticket prices are around $26.29 with the student in their DARE shirts.  We will be giving the DARE shirts out on this day. Please make sure the students come to school at least long enough to complete our final test. Lagoon is throughout the night, so even if they wait until lunch time to get checked out, or even after school, they will still have plenty of time inside the park.

Monday, May 27 - Memorial Day, No School

Tuesday, May 28 - DARE Graduation

Parents are invited.  Guests will be our DARE Officer, Erin Behm, and hopefully the Police Chief and Mayor of Syrcuse.  It will run from 8:45-9:45

Thursday, May30 - 1:00-3:30 - Field Day

This is just a fun day for the kids to go out to the fields and play various games put together by the POEC. They may still be looking for volunteers.  If you're interested, contact the office.  Each year, at the end of Field Day, the Syracuse Fire Dept. comes out and sprays water from their trucks.  I might recommend those who are interested in getting wet don't wear white, bring a towel, and even possibly a change of clothes.  Usually, we allow this to be a surprise, but I think it's happened often enough that it doesn't surprise them anymore, and a little heads up goes a long ways.

Monday, June 3 - 1:30-3:30 - Talent Show

Tuesday, June 4 - Morning Time (In hour rotations) - LEGO In-School Field Trip
The kids are going to get the opportunity to work with some LEGO professionals to build and keep a LEGO car.  The cost per student is $11, however, the school is able to fund much of that with Dollar Dress Day funds.  We are still going to need to collect $2 per student.  This is another limited volunteer opportunity as well.

Tuesday, June 4 - 1:00-3:30 - Graduation

All parents are invited.  It will probably end closer to 2:30.  Parents are encouraged to come, and then check their students out at the end to celebrate!

Wednesday, June 5 - 8:30-1:00 - End of Year Celebration, Field Trip

Time and date are set but the rest of this might change from what I had, so we'll pretend I didn't have anything for now. 

7000?!?!?!

I feel a little celebration is in order!  I don't know exactly what it means, or how special it is, but it feels kind of cool to me!  This blog has broken 7000 page views.  I realize in the grand scheme of things, that's not a lot considering there's billions of people in the world who could look at it, but considering this is only my fourth year teaching, I'm happy with that!

There's not a whole lot to report this week.  This biggest thing would have to be that testing starts next Wednesday, May 15 and runs until Friday May 24.  Please, please, PLEASE! Do not have your students miss any school during that time unless absolutely necessary.  If you have to schedule an appointment for them, I can let you know exactly when our tests our certain days, and you could work around it, but it's so much easier on all of us from students through administration if there isn't any make-up tests to be given.

We have a lot of information on the horizon.  I will get it to you as soon as I know details.  In short, we'll behaving field day, a talent show, graduation, and a calebration field trip.  A lot of that comes in the last week of school, so as I said, as I know more information I'll get it to you.

One thing I do have some information on is DARE graduation.  Previous years, we've done this as a part of our overall graduation, but Officer Behm is going to be out of town that day, so we're moving up so she can be at it.  DARE graduation will be on May 28 at 8:45 in the morning.  Parents are invited.  I would guess to plan about an hour, though that's just  an estimate.  Officer Behm and Mrs. J. will be speaking, she's trying to get the Mayor and Police Chief to attend as well. It should be a fun little celebration.

It is with DARE that I will bring the blog to a close with a few pictures.  Last week, the students got a chance to put on some "Beer" goggles, which simulate the effects of drinking.  With them on, they had to walk the line, and then they got a chance to pedal the karts around the cones.  It's always a fun thing to see!  Enjoy!  And I will get you more information on things as it becomes available.

"A life without love is like a year without summer." (And we're almost there!)

April 26, 2013

This isn't going to be a long post as it's been a really long week with tech for the junior high musical keeping me here until around 9:00 all week long.  In fact, Kameron has been here with me running spotlight for the show, and craziness takes over the brain after 12 hours at school.  Here he is saying goodbye to the spotlight after a performance, and it was only the Thursday performance, we still had Friday to go!

Just a few things to remind you about: book reports are May 6-10.  End of level testing starts the week after that.  We finish with our science core with the space test Monday and we'll begin reviewing the first few terms.  We also finish the math core this week and will review a bit after that.  The end's coming, and it's coming fast!

"Our eyes are placed in front of us because we are meant to look forward and not to look back." ~ Nishan Panwar

Classroom Technologies

Technology is everywhere.  From the cell phone in your pocket, to the TV at your house, to the GPS in your car, to the computer I'm typing this on.  It wasn't but back in my childhood that the internet required the telephone line and made those awful squealing sounds to connect.  Now I sit here connected with no wires, no phone lines, and no awful sounds, transmitting information faster than we ever thought possible as kids.

When it comes to educational technologies, we're always making leaps and bounds as well.  I remember punishments that were dished out, to others of course, where you would have to take those wretched chalk erasers outside and beat the daylights out of them to clean them out.  I'm guessing there were several sets of lungs that were ruined by such punishments.  Luckily, mine are still in good health.  We thought dry erase markers were a bright new invention.  They were cleaner and more efficient.  In our classrooms, we've taken  yet another stride past that, using a Mimio, which turns our regular everyday whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard that uses computer based lessons.

Well, recently, we've taken yet another huge leap beyond even that.  A few weeks back, I went to the UCET (Utah Coalition for Educational Technologies) Conference.  I spent a good two days learning everything I could about iPads.  I bought one, and began using it in my classroom.  Since, the school has supplied us with another, as well as an Apple TV so the smaller screen of the iPad can be displayed upon the larger screen of the television.

There are a lot of apps that I've already found much use for.  Splashtop allows me to control my computer from the iPad, giving me full control of the interactive lessons displayed on the board from anywhere in the classroom.  There are several science, language and math apps as well, that I currently have and are currently in use.  It's an amazing technology, so far fetched from anything we could have dreamed about as children, but it's here, and it's not a dream!

If you feel the urge to buy any gifts for me, or the classroom, as I know tends to happen, especially during Teacher Appreciation Week  and the with the end of the school year, consider including iTunes gift cards with it.  They will allow for the purchase of apps to further expand our classroom and allow me to use  these technologies to extreme!

It's amazing where the world has come in such a short amount of time, and all I can say is, I'm excited to see where it goes within my lifetime! Who knows, the Jetsons may be a reality sooner than we ever thought possible!

Ever so fitting for an iPad post, I think I'll end with a few of my favorite quotes from the man himself, Steve Jobs:

"What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with.  It's the equivalent of a bicycle for the brain."

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me... going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful - that's what matters."

"My job is not to be easy on people.  My job is to make them better."

April 21, 2013

Let's start this post off with a little bit of fun!  Every year with the book fair, Clifford the Big Red Dog comes to visit.  I was able to capture this moment between Zen and Clifford.  I warned him it'd be blackmail, but I think the blog is far more fun!  He laughed and couldn't wait for it to be posted, so here it is!

Another prize for us this week was the Spelling Bee.  Congratulations to Kourtney and J.J. for winning the classroom bee, and representing our class in the school bee.  An even bigger congratulations to J.J. for taking second place in  the school spelling bee.

Beyond all this, this are moving along as usual.  We're working on our last couple of units for Language.  We're on the last unit for math.  Pretty soon we'll start reviewing for end of level testing, which takes place the middle of May.  It's unbelievable that there's only about 34 school days left before the end of the year...unbelievable!

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come.  We have only today. Let us begin." ~Mother Teresa

The Essential 46

As we come back from the break, it's a perfect time revisit all of our classroom rules. It's a well known fact among teachers that the closer we  get to the end of the year, the more the students struggle with controlling their anticipation for summer break.  This means that we sometimes have to rule with heavier hand.  Over Spring Break, I reread a book that I have on my shelf, "The Essential 55," by Ron Clark.  He's a fantastic educator.  In fact, if you ever get the chance, there is a movie that tells his story called, "The Ron Clark Story".  I highly recommend you watch it.  In the introduction of the book, he encourages those reading it to adapt his rules for their own classroom.  I thought this could be a "fun" way to tighten up a little bit around our classroom. It includes the required school rules as well as those of Mr. Clark's rules that I felt appropriate or adaptable to our classroom. So, here it is! The Essential 46:

The Essential 46

Based on Ron Clark’s, “The Essentail 55”

SAA’s Essential 7:

1.       Follow instructions

2.       Be prepared and participate

3.       Use hands, feet, and objects appropriately

4.       Use kind words

5.       Signal and wait to be called on

6.       SNAPPE

·         S-Sit up straight

·         N-Nod (show that you are paying attention)

·         A-Act interested

·         P-Be prepared

·         P-Participate

·         E-Evaluate

7.       Hall of FAME (Mr. Clark’s Rule 44)

·         Face forward

·         Arms to self

·         Mouths silent

·         Even line

Mr. Pratt’s Essential 39:

8.       Be attentive when any adult is talking and respond respectfully.

9.       Always have good sportsmanship when winning or losing.

10.   Respect other students’ comments, opinions, and ideas.

11.   Always use ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’.

12.   Never make an inappropriate comment when given a something from someone.

13.   Surprise others be performing random acts of kindness.

14.   Use absolute caution when grading another student’s paper. The only marks you should make are an ‘X' over the number and a score at the end.

15.   When we read together in class, you must follow allow.

16.   Answer all written questions in complete sentences.

17.   Never expect rewards for behavior. If you ever ask for a reward, you will not receive it.

18.   Homework should be turned in on-time every day.

19.   Transition times need to be swift, quiet and orderly.

20.   You will make every effort to be as organized as possible.

21.   When I assign homework, there is to be no moaning or complaining.

22.   While you are with a substitute teacher, you are to obey the same rules that you follow when I am with you.

23.   Do not get out of your seat without permission.

24.   Do not speak unless:

a.       You are called on.

b.      I ask a question and you are responding.

c.       It is recess or lunch.

d.      I instruct you otherwise.

25.   You may bring a bottle of water and leave it on your desk throughout the day. Do not ask me if you can get water while I am teaching.

26.   Flush the toilet and wash your hands after using the restroom.

27.   Do not ever try to exclude anyone from anything.

28.   If any teacher in the school is speaking to or disciplining a student, do not look at that student.

29.   If you ever have any questions about your homework, do not hesitate to ask.

30.   Use your manners when eating in the lunchroom.

31.   After we eat, we will clean up after ourselves.

32.   If someone drops something, help them pick it up.

33.   If you are the first of a group of people to a door, hold the door for the others.

34.   If you bump into someone, even if you feel it was not your fault, say, ‘Excuse me’.

35.   During an assembly, do not speak, do not look around, and do not try to get the attention of your friends. Pay attention to the assembly.

36.   When you answer the phone, do so only in an appropriate manner, “Mr. Pratt’s class, student speaking.”

37.   Never cut in line. If someone cuts, do not say or do anything about it. Let it happen, tell me about it, and I will deal with the situation.

38.   If we are watching a video, there will be no talking whatsoever.

39.   If any child in this school is bothering you, let me know. I am your teacher, and am here to look after you and protect you.

40.   Stand up for what you believe in.

41.   Be positive and enjoy life.

42.   Live without regrets.

43.   Accept that you are going to make mistakes. Learn from them and move on.

44.   No matter what the circumstances, always be honest.

45.   Carpe diem. (Seize the day.)

46.   Be the best person you can be.