Here we are counting down the last days of summer. I was lucky enough to get in some of the following: reading for pleasure, vacation camping in the White Mountains of NH, swimming, picking blueberries (SO. MANY. BLUEBERRIES.) and hiking.
Now I need to turn my full attention to preparing for the start of school! I'd like to still focus on inquiry and helping students use CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning). Also, thanks to the Greenfield Education Foundation's generous purchase a set of science escape rooms, I'm planning to do many more of them in class. There is usually a lot to prepare with the clues, but it's worth it. We'll use both digital versions using Google Forms, and physical locks. I lost a good lock last year because I *thought* I had put in the correct code, but alas I was wrong. I still need to get Coach K to cut if off with some bolt cutters!
I'm still planning to run a Robotics Club via Green Room on Mondays! Perhaps this year I'll have my husband build us a playing field and we'll step up our game by competing. I know many of the incoming students have lots of experience thanks to Ms. Winn and Ms. Cummings!!!
Lastly, there have been some changes in my personal life- some difficult, some exciting.
I'll stick to the exciting stuff. My husband is almost ready to launch his own carpentry business! I've spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks designing a logo, a new website, and business cards for him.
(Click Read More to see a GIF of the action) Such a simple way to add a little challenge, movement and competition into the classroom! The idea for this came from a teacher I follow on Twitter, John Meehan @MeehanEDU. Find more information on his site here: https://edrenalinerush.com/resources/eggdashchallenge/
I loaded up the plastic eggs with Lego models of elements and compounds. Table partners had to take turns getting an egg and sorting the model. I could then easily walk around and check their work!
I had also tried this without the eggs for an activity to review phase changes. This used a cut up worksheet and students had to fill in missing information. That also went well and the kids really seemed to enjoy both versions of this little challenge.
