Have you flipped for Flip-Class yet?

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend a fantastic workshop marketed for G/T students and teachers interested in DI. The presenter is one of the most exciting people I have met in a long time, and I wanted to give him a free plug for his upcoming training in IL on 11/10/11. Google this topic and you'll find all the registration materials you need.

Dr. Cash takes a new perspective on DI in his engaging book, and gave me lots of tidbits that I have already implemented into my curriculum to reach those various "types" of G/T kids, and various other types of equally unique learners. And he'll make you laugh from beginning to end, which is all we really want out of a day off, right!?

Anyhoo, after listening to Dr. Cash all morning, we were treated to a variety of break-out sessions, and as would make sense, I followed the math group over to the math session. I had read the brochure and wasn't quite sure what to make of it, until it began. Then my heart started pounding, my brain began racing, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since!

So what exactly does it take to get a Zombie teacher into "crazed" mode? (other than several caffeinated beverages) The newest topic to hit the educational waves... although it's so ancient in its core principles, as to be laughed at for calling it a "new idea". It's called FLIP CLASS. 

What the heck IS flip class, you may ask? Well, it's what people used to do all the time before education became an institution. It's called TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN LEARNING. Grab a book, or in this case, an online lecture, watch the lecture, interact with the materials provided, TRY YOUR BEST AS A STUDENT TO FIGURE OUT THE CONCEPT FOR YOURSELF. AT HOME. 

http://theactiveclass.com/2011/04/29/flipping-your-classroom/

When you return to class the next day, the teacher gives a warm-up or sort of pre-assessment of the topic, allows students to self-grade and self-sort into instructional groups (independent, semi-independent, direct instruction), in order to complete the homework or assignment IN CLASS. Hence why it's called the "Flip-Class" method. Because they do their instructional piece at home, and their work in class. 

The biggest benefit to home learning is that students can spend as much or as little time as they need on mastering the concept, and then come in and get the help they need (or not get the help they don't need) during class. Please click on the link above to read more... as I'm probably not explaining it very well. Maybe the "Lost" metaphor, used by our Flip-Class presenter and high school math teacher Andy Schwen, would help you too. I know that my students responded very well to it, and I was able to look through their homework papers to see their self-identification (Dharma, Smoke Monster, or Lost). 

The Dharma Initiative

Your advanced and/or 

independent learners

"This is OUR island. We know it, we live here, we can survive and we DON'T need your help". This group is for the kids that either already understood the homework concept/ objective, figured it out on their own quickly, or are very capable of managing their own learning. They sit in the back of the room and work on the homework either together or individually, and when they're done, they work on extension projects.

The Smoke Monsters

Your semi-independent learners

 "We are starting to figure out this island. If we work together and help each other out, we can probably survive on our own. We at least know to RUN AWAY from the Smoke Monster!!!" This group is for students who kind of understand the concept, but want to talk about it and try to figure it out with their neighbors before asking the teacher for help. Students in this group should sit in the middle of the room and work with 4-5 other students on homework and concept mastery.

These groups are not static. "Smoke Monsters" can discuss the flip-lesson they watched the night before, ask each other or a "Dharma Representative" for help when they get stuck, before asking the teacher. Otherwise they should be able to complete the homework/assignment relatively independently. Students may get up and switch groups at any time, if they have made a breakthrough and want to move "up", or if they hit a wall and need to move "down". Which leads me into the third group:

LOST!

For students who need 

direct instruction

"We just fell out of a plane and are walking around dazed and lost. What is this place? What is going on? Am I alive or dead? And why do I keep seeing a white unicorn running through the underbrush?" This group is for students who tried the flip-lesson and couldn't make sense of it, or were absent, or for those few learners who always need to be shown one-on-one before it "clicks".

"Lost" students meet up front, and are scaffolded through the first few problems until they get it. As soon as that light bulb goes off, they can get up quietly and go join the Smoke Monsters. After 5-10 minutes, you will probably be left with 2-3 students who may very well need guidance through the entire assignment. And that's the POINT! Everyone is getting what help they need, when AND if they need it!  Assuming there is time left, everyone reconvenes towards the end of class and discusses common problems, finishes correcting homework, and turns it in. 

No late work! No excuses! No confused parents! Students are held accountable!

Now for the buy in... think it over... check out the linked articles and blogs... I will dedicate my next few posts to debunking myths and possible concerns over the flip-class method, and also to keeping a log of how Flip-Class is going in my own classroom. My goal is to phase it in slowly... 1 lesson per week, maybe 2... we'll see how it goes.

Coordinate Graph Art : Student Edition soon to be published!

The student edition of my book is being published as we speak. I hope to have it available on Amazon.com in the next week. The keys have been removed, and in their place, are full-sized copies of the corresponding graph paper needed to complete each puzzle. Students will now be able to cross off coordinate pairs as they graph them, in the workbook, with no copies needing to be made by the teacher.

It is currently for sale electronically in my eStore at MathByMandy.com so check it out!

A very dear teacher friend told me that a few local schools were interested in ordering class sets, and I said, "Of the teacher book? With the keys? Why?"... and then I went, D'OH! might want to start working on a student version that a kid could keep all to themselves, that would actually justify the purchase of a class set. And maybe make me a little more money ;)

So keep an eye out on Amazon for the new title, under ISBN #978-1466455382. The free preview is available at: https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1089649 

This now makes me realize, the book is set up for right-handed students... I wonder if I should write a left-handed version!?!?!? AHHHHH!

HOOBBLE HOMEWORK APP IS UP AND RUNNING!

www.hoobble.com

MARK THIS DATE IN HISTORY!

No, it's not just pay day. Although if you want to assign monetary value to each minute lost in redundant, unnecessary communication, then this site does nearly equate to willing the lottery.

Hoobble Homework is now available on the android market and is as easy to use as Facebook. In fact, you can even LOG IN with your Facebook account! I am not getting paid for this publicity, I swear, I am just really really excited about it. Can you tell?

What is Hoobble?

Hoobble is a free website that allows teachers to update homework online. Once they have generated a class and added homework, an "embed" button appears, in which teachers can copy and paste the embed text into their school website, and it will AUTOMATICALLY UPDATE THE HOMEWORK TO MATCH THE MOST CURRENT CONTENT ON HOOBBLE.

Great. So how is this different from everything else out there?

Parents and students can create free accounts from their home computers. They can also DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP to see the homework FROM THEIR CELL PHONE if they have an Android phone.

Most importantly, if multiple teachers choose to sign up and enter their homework there, parents and students can see all the homework in one place, without having to go to each teacher's website of choice. Parents can even create multiple "profiles" for their different kids, so they can see any and all homework that is listed in the system.

That sounds complicated.

It's not. Follow the below instructions and you'll be up and running in no time.

1. Go to Hoobble.com and sign up for a "Teacher" account.

Hoobble Website - Click Here 

2. Click "login" in the top right-hand corner.


3. EITHER log in using your Facebook account, or Under "Get Help" on the bottom right, click "Register".

IF you register using an email and not facebook, you will get a verification code sent to the email you provided. Log into your email, open the Hoobble registration email, copy the verification code and paste it into your browser. Hit enter. You should get the following screen if it worked.

4. Now you can click the "Login" button again, and actually log in this time. I have made a dummy account, shown at right, that you are welcome to try out.

Just email me at support@mathbymandy.com if you want to try it.

5. Complete the "Create Account" fields. Type in something like Mrs. Bellm or Mrs. Mandy Bellm or Math 7. Something obvious for parents and students to find when they look up your school. Make sure your account type is set to "Teacher". Then click "save".

6. You will be sent to an "Instructions" screen. It will inform you that you must create a "profile" before you can enter homework (logically!).  It even has an active link that you can click to go to "your settings".  Click it.

7. Click on the only choice on the screen, which is "Add Subject".

8. Select your school. If it is not in there, select "Add School" and type in your school's information.

9. When your information is correct, go ahead and hit "OK". You will be redirected back to the "Settings" page. If you teach multiple subjects or classes, repeat steps 7-8 until all the classes you teach show up on the Settings page.

10. Now you can click on the  "My Homework" tab from the top menus and start adding homework!

11. Click the "Add Homework" button to add a new assignment. If you have multiple classes built, you will have a drop-down menu. Select the class you want to add an assignment to.

12. Enter something in "Group". If you differentiate, you might type "level A" or "gold level". If everyone has the same assignment, just type "Everyone" into the group. You must have something typed in that box or your assignment will not save.

13. Click inside the field to the right of  "date" and a calendar box will appear. Click on the date you want the assignment to be posted under. It will then populate in the date box. 

14. Now you have freedom to choose which boxes you want to fill with what. Your assignment choices are "learn", "read", and "make". You do not have to use all three of these boxes, but you must fill in at least one of them. If a box is left empty, it will not show up on the published assignment.You can type as much or as little as you like in each box.

15. When you are satisfied, click "Create".

16. Viola! The assignment has been published. It is now viewable to you, parents and students. If you see something that looks off or wrong, you can click on "details", "edit", or "delete" to look at it more closely and/or change it.

17. Continue adding homework for the week/month/year/millenium until you are satisfied with your updates. DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE THE CLASS NAMES IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE!!!

Here's what mine looks like for this week. Since I teach multiple classes, I can see both of them at the same time.  You'll notice I have clicked on "weekly homework" so it is gray. You have to click the arrows to go to the week you want, otherwise it will default to whatever week it is right now. You can also click the "daily homework" if you'd rather just look at one day at a time.

I also noticed that I have a bad habit of forgetting to change the date, or putting in this week's date instead, so when I went to look for the homework, I couldn't see it. If this happens to you, just page back and forth to the previous/forthcoming weeks until you find it. Then click the assignment and click "edit", change the date to the correct one, and hit "save".

18. Now comes the fun part.  This is the only "techy" part. I promise. Hang in there, you non-techy people. You don't need to know what it is or what it means, you just need to follow the steps carefully. If you do it right, you'll look way smarter than you really are. (like me!) (I mean, I look smart, but I'm really not. I just know some tricks ;)

Go to the "Settings" tab from the top menu again, and click it. Then click on "My subjects" in the bottom right corner. You should be able to see your class or classes listed, with three choices to the right of them, that say (embed/update/delete). To transfer all the information that you just typed into Hoobble, to your school website, click the "embed" button. A pop-up screen will appear that looks like this:

19. Highlight all the text in that little text box so it turns blue, and then right-click your mouse, and select "copy". 

20. Boot up your school website. Decide where on your website you want this information to post. IT NEEDS TO GO INTO A "PLAIN TEXT" FORMAT BOX. Most school website programs already have this format anyway. It's usually a welcome page or a default setting page that is blank, but you can type in it and sometimes add pictures to it. What I suggest to new teachers who can add tabs to their website, is to have a tab dedicated to homework for each class you teach. Here is what mine looks like.

21. Go to the homework tab or welcome page, or wherever you normally type your welcome and/or homework in manually. YOU NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!  Click in the text-box like you are about to type. Now right-click and select "paste". Some text boxes only allow you to paste by hitting CONTROL+V. Either way works. Your lovely little text should now show up in your text box. Here's an example of what mine used to look like, when I manually typed it in, and what it looks like now, with the text box embedded.

22. Now for the MAGIC.  (Assuming you pasted it correctly into a plain-text formatted site)

Save your updates. View your site. You should now have an interactive, live-feed, full-color menu that parents and kids can click on, drag up and down, and press the links to see more assignment information.

If it didn't work, it is probably your website that has the problem, not the Hoobble app.

Here is the fully functional Hoobble app, embedded into my updated website. Tell me which interface you like better.

The old-school text on the bottom of the picture? (which I used to think was pretty high tech)

Or the new Hoobble homework box on top? (DUH!)

You can visit my TeacherWeb Site, if you want to play around with the text box and interact with it. Click either the "Math-7 Homework List" or the "Accelerated Math HW List" tabs to check it out.

 

 

And that, my friends, is a wrap. You may have to instruct parents on how to download free apps from the Android market, but my guess is, if they have an Android, they've probably been playing with it non-stop and/or could figure it out on their own. Just make sure they spell it right. H-O-O-B-B-L-E. I do not yet know when or if the app will become available for iPhones.

To sum up the benefits, which I now cannot remember if I stated:

 

-This is a one-stop shop for parents, whether or not they use it on their phones or just their computers. They can see all of their kids in one place, IF all their teachers are on board and choose to use the system. They can check homework from home, work, on the go, and yell at and/or ground their kids from the cabin if they are lucky enough to get a signal for their phone.

-The more teachers who jump on board, the more useful of a tool it is. The less button-pressing and manipulating and repetitive communicating will go on between teachers, parents, students, administrators, etc... because the information is all stored in one place.

-The automatic updates from Hoobble to parent phones to your school website, using the "embed" tool, will keep everyone in the loop, and provide a long-term record of when assignments were given, thus improving accountability. 

-BEST OF ALL!??!??!  IT'S FREE!  'Nuff said.

PBJ Sandwich lab hilarity

Who would have thought, something silly like Sunflower Nut Butter would start a new trend!? What a smashing success the PBJ (or SFBJ lab) was. I don't know how many students actually liked the flavor of it, but we put those two jars and another two loaves of bread and several knives through the ringer and back.

Launch to the lab: "Many five-paragraph essays were vague at some points, even the A-papers. It was common to see sentences such as, 'The x-axis goes horizontal and the y-axis goes vertical and there is an origin in the center of the graph, and now you know how to graph!'. Well, no, unfortunately, I still don't. Or I don't know that you know how to graph." That got some blank stares. 

So we started a discussion of what steps actually are involved in making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... and compared that thinking process to writing an outline to a paper. Then, we thought about how to break down the steps of each of our "bullet points" into its components, in order to complete the directions correctly. And then the fun began. They could not touch the materials. They could only look at them on the table. I know for a fact that some cheated, and went home, and made a PBJ sandwich step-by-step in order to perfect their directions. But whatever. You KNOW that scientists do that sometimes too ;)

The first day, I had 3 groups (1st and 2nd hour) and 4 groups (3rd hour) who were ready with their so-called procedures. During the trial run, the jars got spread on the bread, the bread got stabbed with the knife, the bag got ripped open from the side, and the jelly got smeared on the back-side of the same slice as the peanut butter. The success rate was around 60%. 

After doing the demo to the lab, my table was SWARMED with other students who wanted to try it for themselves, to see if they could be more specific. Some wanted to try it as is. Some wanted to try it with nachos or burritos or getting dressed (argh! start with your underwear on, PLEASE). Others wanted to make their siblings write the directions so they could play teacher/skeptic. Which I can't blame them for. It was really fun to think of how to mess with them ;). 

On the second day, results were better. Students had learned from prior mistakes about taking the lid off the jars, and placing the lids on the table, and of picking up the knife before sticking my own hand in  the jars. Still, some errors were found, and I got to dump the jars upside-down onto the bread, and my favorite, "cut the sandwich into 2 equal parts"... I PICKED UP A SCISSOR AND CUT THE SANDWICHES IN HALF!!!!

Awesome. I wish I had gotten a picture of THAT! I will say, though, the second day had a success rate closer to 80%, up from 60% the day before. And more importantly, students were starting to realize the mistakes in their directions as they were reading them, instead of after I had completed the directions. I heard groans and "d'oh"'s and other semi-appropriate exclamations as I flipped the bread around, turned the knife upside down, and then dropped it on the table. Memories were definitely made in my class this week. 

This may seem frivolous and a waste of time to those nay-sayers out there, so let me lay the objectives out for you. 

1. Giving clear directions and being able to articulate them in a meaningful, logical, understandable way is not only an important life skill, and cause of many a misunderstanding in life, but also it is a 7th grade language arts standard. 

2. I have the benefit for the rest of the year of using various code phrases, like "It's a sandwich!" or "That's definitely not a sandwich... your bread seems to be upside down", to tactfully tell certain students that their process needs refinement. Whether we are writing another essay, completing a lab report, giving a small group presentation or just sharing in class, I can say "be more specific" and hold up the scissor I used to cut the sandwich with, and they will get the idea. 

BECAUSE THERE IS MEANING TIED TO THE TASK. 

They laughed while we learned. They learned while they laughed. They were inspired and wanted to go home and replicate the feeling in their own way. And they received valuable life skills that will apply not only to many other aspects of their math career, and 7th grade, but to becoming better human beings, more understanding of the difficulty of clearly communicating meaning to fellow beings. 

3. Many students tried (or at least smelled) sunflower butter for the first time. They had never heard of its existence, nor realized that they could buy it at nearly any store, nor how difficult life is for highly allergic students to get around in the real world. We had a short, but meaningful discussion, about how wonderful it is for kids (and grownups) with allergies to have even a "fake" version of a favorite ingredient. 

While some students disliked the flavor of the sun butter, I reminded them that to a kid who could get deathly sick from smelling, let alone tasting peanuts, this is a really special treat, that makes them feel kind of "normal" for a while. We talked about what it must be like to find foods to eat when you are milk- or -egg or nut-allergic... how difficult must it be to find anything to eat at all, let alone something healthy or that tastes good? I felt, at least, that it was a good reality check for many of my kiddos. 

4. Essay writing quality will undoubtedly improve, due to this activity, and already has, in the 10 re-writes that I have since graded. Each student was given specific feedback as to how to add "meat" to their essay, and after the PBJ lab, they saw exactly what I meant. How specifically do you make an input/output table? What specifically does it help you to understand about linear vs. non-linear data? Do you prefer a table to a graph? How do you make a graph from a table? What is better about a graph that you like?

As the day winds down and I sink back into my zombie tired state, I will now head to the bathroom to clean the remaining sun butter goo from under my nails. I spent a whopping $10 over 6 classes and 2 days of labs to facilitate this wonderful learning experience. Lesson for me for next year? GET A P.O. for MACKENTHUNS AND STOP SPENDING YOUR OWN MONEY ON WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!   

You'd think that would sink in one of these days.

SFB&J SANDWICH LAB LAUNCH

We are entering the mid-trimester week of our fall semester! I cannot believe how fast it has gone by. It sounds like a broken record, I say that every year; but, this year especially, I feel that I have lived every second possible over the last five weeks to its fullest. 

Many firsts have taken place in my classroom: first Barbie Bungee, first graphing performance assessment, first 5-paragraph essay IN math class, and tomorrow, another first! The dreaded "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" lab moves from the science classroom into the math classroom. 

Why, you might ask? Well, because the number one, biggest issue that I saw from students in their five-paragraph essays, was an inability to articulate precise meaning and directions. Great, you know how to make a graph, but specifically how do you get to a coordinate on the grid? What is it used for? How can you use a graph to understand change in math? The essay topic was describing linear patterns in graphs, tables, equations and words. While the class average was 80% in my regular classes and 90% in my accelerated class, the inattention to specifics in language and procedures was a major red flag in nearly every essay. 

Hence the PB&J lab... though with nut allergies in today's classroom, we will be using "Sun Butter", (short for sunflower butter) instead. Same concept, new twist. And I have NO idea how it will taste! Neither does my kitty Toby, but he sure was willing to sniff it out! (I hope that doesn't invoke pet allergies now)

So what exactly is the point of the PB&J or SFB&J lab? Whatever you want to call it? The point, which I referred to in my "Ghosts of Zombie Teachers Past" blog, is to master the skill of giving specific, exact, step-by-step instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You can't say non-specific things like "put the peanut butter on the bread" because you probably forgot to tell the lab rat to open the jar, or to open the bag of bread, or to open the lid to the peanut butter jar, or to take a piece of bread out, or to put it on a plate, or to pick up the knife, or to put the peanut butter on the knife.... get what I mean? Or what I meant to say? D'oh! Do what I mean, not what I say.

The main objective for students is to sit down and stare at the materials, and to work in their heads, breaking down a seemingly easy task into its components. The best reward for correct completion of the procedure... is that you get to eat the sandwich! More likely, it will be a big mess of sunbutter on the desk, bread on top of the bag, jelly on fingers, and so on and so forth. 

Students will have the image engrained in their brains forever that there is a reason for precision and accuracy in life. Especially in math and science.

I am hoping that after this activity, our next attempt at writing for meaning in math class will demonstrate much more thoughtful reflection into the individual steps and procedures we do in our brains, to solve mathematical problems. It is NOT good enough to be able to solve a problem, if you can't explain how you solved it, or why it is the correct answer, or even if it is the correct answer. And most importantly, what it means in real-life terms. 

Isn't that the whole purpose of math? Of school in general? Of LIFE in general? 

Peace out, PB&J zombies.

Bungee Barbie gets schooled

I hate to say I told you so, to Kathleen Porter-Magee regarding her CCMS+Bungee Barbie = Epic Fail blog post, so instead, I'll say NA NA NA BOO BOO! This was the most fun I've probably had in any math class EVER! For my students too! My other classes can't wait to try it out for themselves. And guess what... we actually LEARNED a few things!

A little background, for those who have not been following my blog long: the article above insinuates that the Bungee Barbie lab boils down to throwing barbies around the room, and that students don't really get a good grasp of linear equations from the experiment. I have concretely and soundly proved this WRONG. Or my students did anyway. 

Over the past few weeks, my accelerated class has been learning how to calculate slope using "rise over run", making steps on their coordinate grids, following the online analogy of "Joan the Chameleon" to graph lines using slope intercept form. We then took the concrete visual/kinesthetic approach to a more mathematical, algebraic understanding, playing with x-intercepts and y-intercepts, solving equations for both variables, and making input/output tables to demonstrate linear patterns in the numbers. 

Upon introducing the Barbie problem this past Monday, I gave them a simple ratio tool from my own trial, stating that I tried 2 rubber bands, and Barbie fell around 48 centimeters. They were asked to predict intuitively or mathematically how many rubber bands they would need to drop a doll to a height of 530 cm (That is the distance from the top rail of our balcony to the floor below). Predictions brought forth various comments on weight of the dolls, elasticity of the rubber bands over time, and ability to accurately measure the drop height. They also named their dolls (the headless Ken doll, now called "Leonardo", as well as "Tape" and "Ian" for Barbies) and to practice the slip knot method for 2 bands, as well as the drop motion to be used.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, students practiced and perfected drop measurements; many decided to redo data that did not seem accurate, or to adjust the number of rubber band inputs to meet the height constraints of our 2.5 meter - high upstairs ceiling. I suggested trying odd numbers of rubber bands, instead of the even numbers given in the spreadsheet, as 10 and 12-bands made all the dolls hit the floor. We determined that our rubber bands were bigger than were probably used in the initial design of the experiment. Groups then averaged their data, plotted their coordinates, and drew best-fit lines. 

The REALLY cool part of the project came on Thursday, when groups were able to calculate the equation for their best fit lines. There were moments of real joy and understanding when they realized that the y-intercept of the equation, the value of x=0 (no rubber bands), was the height of the Barbie herself! This prompted many students whose best-fit lines didn't seem quite right, to go back and measure their actual doll, in order to write a more accurate equation. 

Other break-throughs came when I asked students what their "3 boxes rise / 4 boxes run" slope actually meant. I queried, "are you counting by 1's on either your x-axis or your y-axis?" Student response: "ummm, no?"... my response: "then what do 3 boxes actually represent from your experiment?".... pause.... thinking... "Oh! That's the height of the drop!".... my response... "and so what did you count by?"... student response: "We counted by 20's... AH! So the rise of my slope is SIXTY!!!" ... I prompt the same question for the x-axis... pause for thinking... "AH HA! That is for 2 rubber bands! We skipped every other line!" (queue heavenly music of bliss as actual learning takes place)

It didn't take much more prodding for students to interpret their slope as a unit rate, shrinking their 60 cm/4 rubber bands to roughly 15 cm per band. Then they could set up their slope intercept equation, and actually get a visual, kinesthetic, tactile interpretation of y=mx+b with "m" as their drop rate, and "b" as the Barbie height. Solving for the equation of 530=15x+30 was an absolute cinch. They had that down for over a week. 

But now it MEANT something. 

Leading into the actual drop test on Friday, with all Barbies poised on the cliff... and the final drop challenge proved a little more complicated. Groups found out quickly when their Barbie hit the floor, or only dropped to the ceiling of the floor below, that their experimental bands had stretched out. About half of the groups had taken into account the variables of aging/usage of the rubber bands, as well as the weight of the doll and the slight added pull of gravity from the greater height. Theirs were the drop heights of 18, 36, 40, and 48 cm's from the floor. The top two groups actually tied, with heads dropping to a dare-devil 15 cm's from the ground. No one had a clear photo, and even after two trials, I couldn't venture to declare a winner. So both groups will get silly bragging rights certificates on Monday. 

We then returned to the classroom where students were given reflection time; to think about why their dolls exceeded or failed to reach an appropriate drop height. Were their predictions correct? How did their experimental accuracy help or hurt their data analysis process? What tips might they use in the future to minimize error? 

I was greatly pleased to see that several students chose to take their packets home, to continue reflecting over the weekend, rather than rushing through answers to get it turned in today. How many would have done the same thing, had it been a boring old pencil and paper test? Fewer, I'm sure. One thing I do know for sure... they will never forget the day that Barbie plummeted off the balcony. And I wouldn't be surprised if they remember some of the math behind it too.

Giving thanks a little early this year

It's Wednesday, which means we had our weekly team meeting at work this morning. Between hall duty and being sick, it was my first one of the year. I felt a little bad because I could not think of anything to say during the "thanks and appreciations" jam session. But I have plenty now!!!

On this gorgeous eighty-degree September day, I have a lot of things to be thankful for. The amount of my paycheck is not one of them. After surviving two days with a total zombie frog voice, I am thankful that my cold did not render me mute. My favorite comment of the day, repeated frequently, was, "Mrs. Bellm, are you sick?!?!? Awww."  (No really, I am talking like Kermit from the Crypt just for the heck of it).

I had a gloriously peaceful drive home through the country side of Watertown, listening to Persuasion by Jane Austen, stuffing my face with an entire bag of popcorn. Really good for my sore dry throat too, eating popcorn... at any rate, I am thankful to not be living in the 1700's as many of Austen's characters are, getting ready to marry a cousin. EWW!

After my marvelous drive, I pull up to our cul-de-sac and spot three energetic boys and my hubby Chris and his mom "Nanny" running around in the back yard, wearing out our filthy dirty boys. THANK YOU BOTH!! They were so tired that they crawled right into bed after their baths and virtually collapsed. Despite the streaks of mud on their faces and random scrapes and bruises, they are both really lucky to have 1+ adults at home during the day while I am at work, bonding with their cousins and breaking each other's toys.

The first thing I see on the counter in the kitchen, which I have been greatly anticipating, are the Coborns Penny Pincher coupons!!! YESSSSSSSS....  these are way better than Mackenthun's "Dollar Days" because even on a busy day at Coborns, there are like five cars in the parking lot. Seriously, have you ever tried to shop at Mackenthun's during Dollar Days? You'd think Justin Bieber stopped by and the teenagers had been camped on the curb for weeks, the way the cars fill the lot and the lines inside reach back to the isles, and crazed soccer moms and elderly grannies are elbowing and shoving (sometimes not so gently) their way through the produce section.

Now I am not usually a coupon person, but these are just too good to miss. Milk for $1.48! Cereal for $1.83! Chili beans for 47 cents a can! Shredded cheese for a DOLLAR!!! I can make CHILI this weekend! Add on the 24-oz pop bottles at 24 for $9.96 and $1.96 frozen pizzas, $1.71 12-grain bread loaves and $5.97 twelve-packs of TP, and Mommy is a happy camper! Gotz to make that dollar stretch as far as possible. So THANKS Coborns!

While I am talking slang, I absolutely must throw a shout-out to the awesome website Icanhazcheeseburger.com for their many hilarious, cat-themed, grammatically incorrect posters. You can type just about anything into Google, add the word "funny", click on the images tab, and you'll get a silly picture and phrase that will make you laugh and go "awww" at the same time. I regularly insert these into my Smart lessons just to make the kids laugh. However I do advise the kids NOT to visit their website directly, as there are some not-so-appropriate comments and pictures mixed in with the cute and cuddly ones. Stick to Google with "safe search" on and you should be fine.

My final thanks is to my sister Ashley, who is flying back from Boston tomorrow night on a random cheap ticket she found (probably on Kayak.com) and is actually willing to drive out and do lunch with me in my classroom. Granted, she's never seen it, but how many people actually ever go to school when they don't have to? It's got to be about an hour drive both ways, plus another hour to hang with me and catch up, so she's basically willing to give up her entire afternoon just to see me. I'm blown away. Thank you Sis!! 

And now, thanks to Top Chef: Just Desserts, I get to watch other people cook really delicious food that I wish I could reach through the TV and devour, but thank goodness, I really can't. Already microwaved myself a S'more and ate that in about 30 seconds. Thank you taste buds for returning, I've missed you!