Kid Pix and More Boxes

Well, I'm slow to write this (it's actually Sunday). But I have excuses!

You see, I had my week all planned out.

I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get called to sub since it's the last full week of school and I usually don't. So I was going to do some errands and some projects and some homework and keep busy and such. Thursday was going to be a particularly busy day (more on that in my next post).

But then I DID get called to work!

I'm as surprised as you!

So I went to the school I really like and subbed in the library. I had a grand total of 3 classes for 30 minutes each, and they each got free time in the computer lab. During the rest of the day I went around to various teachers' classroom and did odd jobs for them. In one room I re-filed a bunch of stuff. In another room I clean out toy boxes and sorted out the toys. In another room I packed boxes of books. (haha sound familiar?!)

I had lunch with the first grade teachers and it was very interesting. The school was having a BBQ for lunch today and lots of parents were coming to it too. Well, apparently they have a service elevator from the cafeteria to the outside level (I didn't know this until today!), and the elevator got stuck with all the hamburgers and hot dogs in it! It was a mess! The 1st grade lunch got delayed by 30-45 minutes as they waited for the elevator repair person to arrive and/or tried to get the food out on their own. The next 2 lunch times got delayed as well. It was pretty chaotic for a while there and I just tried to stay out of everyone's way. That was probably the only time of the day I didn't have something to do because I didn't want to bug anyone by asking if they had any jobs for me. Eventually it all got fixed, the teachers and students got back to their rooms and I found some more work for myself.

Books and Boxes and Me

Today was probably the oddest day of subbing I've had for a while!

Technically I was subbing for the LRC teacher, but apparently they'd finished meeting with their groups yesterday, so there were no groups for me to work with. Instead, I was was supposed to go to the library and help box up books. (They have to box up the entire library because the school is one of the ones getting remodeled this summer due to the bond that passed a year or so ago.)

At the same time they were also having a book giveaway in the library today. I eventually learned the books were purchased by the parents' club and one of the teachers was kind of in charge of it, but obviously, she couldn't be in there to run it all day since she was with her class. So I sort of ran that too. I helped kids pick books, and straightened out the books on the tables after ever class left and replenished the supply from the extra boxes under the tables. Every class came in for 15 minutes except the 3rd graders because they were on a field trip.

When I wasn't occupied with that I was packing, packing, packing! I was supposed to meet with two kids in the LRC right after my lunch, but the first one was busy in his class and the second was absent. So I went back to my boxes. By the end of the day I had packed 40 1/2 boxes (they were a little bigger than the box for a ream of paper). Then I had to move them over the the corner of the room and stack them up. It was quite an impressive collection.

I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

Waxy Wonders

Today was a crazy, busy, read-a-book, run-around, make a chart, calm-them-down kind of day.

I'm back with the first graders who I believe I've spent the most time with this year. They started off the morning not at their best. Super chatty, can't sit still, not always listening, ugh. After a while of this I resorted to bribery. I told them I was going to keep a record of who was following directions and listening all day by making a star by their name on list I made. Whoever had the most stars at the end of the day would get a treat (a.k.a. candy). This seemed to help. Most got better because they wanted to have the most stars! More on this later...

Today was also unique because we went to the "Wax Museum"! The fifth graders have been working on biography projects for a while. They've made time lines, Time magazines, I think reports, etc. Today they dressed up as their person and sat at their desks in the room while other classrooms came down to see them. Each kid had a "button" on their desk that the visitors could push and the students would give a speech or a few facts about themselves. We went down to one class in the morning and the other class in the afternoon. The first-graders loved going around and seeing all the "statutes". It was really fun! The fifth graders had obviously worked really hard and you could tell they were proud it! Also saw a lot of visitors in the building today making their way down to the museum with their bright yellow/green visitor stickers from the office. This is something their fifth graders do every year, but the first year I've gotten to see it - very fun stuff.

Anyway, after all the events of the day, it was time to go home and I had 6 students on my list who had 5 or more stars by their name. I announced their names and let them pick a candy. Well, lo and behold the very child who had the least amount of stars (none) was absolutely shocked to not be getting a candy! The kid looked at me with such a look of shock, I just couldn't believe it. Really? Really?! You honestly think you did a better job than most of the class? I do not know what world this kid was in but wasn't the same one as me!

"Fur, Feathers, Scales....

...Shells or Skin,

What do they wear to keep their insides in?"

Sang that song about 5 times today.

It sticks in your head!

We also sang, "Going to the Zoo", "I'm Being Swallowed By A Boa Constrictor", "If I Were a Little Frog", "Rattlesnake, Rattlesnake", "I Was Sittin' Down to Eat", "Hakuna Matata", "If I Were...", "I Can't Spell Hippopotamus" and "Crocodile."

Do you detect a theme?

If you guessed animal songs - you're right! The 1st and 2nd graders are preparing for a program in a couple weeks. I had 5 classes of primary kids, so I sang most of the songs 5 times! I came home humming the tune of about everyone one in turn.

As for the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders, we played recorders for about half of their music time (I learned last time that was all I could tolerate!) and then I taught them a game that my music-teacher mom taught me. Basically, it's a bean-bag toss game. Two teams try to land their bean bag on a musical staff and name the note it lands on. Higher notes on the staff are harder to land on so they're worth more points. They all seemed to enjoy it - especially the boys in the 3rd grade class because they absolutely creamed their girl opponents.

The 5th grade class was enormous (34 kids!) but they were pretty enjoyable - although any tiny bit of chatter seems super loud with that many of them! Still, I enjoyed the 5th grade more this time than last time.

And, on the plus side, howling boy was not there today!

It was busy and tiring, but a pretty good Friday. I survived despite the "crazy hair day" and intermittent snow. :)

Recorders Are Not Sub-Friendly

Today I ventured back into the world of subbing for music!

It was part irritating, part fun:

Irritating: fifth graders with attitudes, fourth graders with attitudes, fifth, forth and third graders who won't stop playing their recorders when I tell them to, and a first grader who doesn't listen to me and sometimes howls like a wolf when I'm talking.

Fun: having kids I haven't seen for a few years remember me with a smile, having two of my neighbor girls in class and having them be so excited to tell their class that they know me, having a problem child from last year happy to see me and eager also to tell his class that we are "pals", teaching the third graders to notice a rest in their recorder music and to separate the notes they are playing, and listening to the 1st and 2nd graders sing songs about animals all afternoon.

A Little Bit Noisy

Got called late this morning for an afternoon job with some 5th graders. The day was mostly pretty ordinary, and they stuff I was doing with the kids wasn't that exiting.

I did some epic crown control while they worked on a thesaurus project. Then we discussed the project. Later, I went over practice problems for their OAKS math test. Then, I continued the crowd control while they had writing time. The kids were pretty nice, if a bit noisy. Noisy, I can deal with - in fact I pretty much always deal with it - but since they were nice kids, it's not as annoying. Not sure how much sense that makes, but it's true!

At the end of the day I took them outside, stood around watching kids go home for about 15 minutes, then went and sat around "Homework Club" for a half hour doing pretty much nothing. But I went because the teacher said I should go be an additional "adult presence" in the room. I'm pretty sure I didn't help at all, but oh well!

At first they indicated that they might ask me to come back tomorrow, but I checked with the office before I left and they said they hadn't heard from the teacher yet. So then I checked the sub site and I'd been requested for an afternoon tomorrow at my favorite school, so I took that because it was a sure thing.

Very Observant

Today I branched out from my K, 1, 2 streak and subbed in a 5th grade class.

They were very enjoyable despite a short period of time when they all started making paper beards and mustaches and not doing their work.

The rest of the time they were on task and quiet and so independent that I didn't quite know what to do with myself! I've gotten very used to the demanding cries of little kiddos who need my help at every turn!

The class was also quite observant today. They noticed my necklace (it was admired by many girls and boys), the very old blond streaks in my hair that are now grown out like 4 inches because I'm too lazy or cheap to get them touched up (the kids liked them though, so I think that's validation enough), and my Invisalign aligners. I've had those for 5 weeks now and this is the first day anyone has noticed them before seeing me take them out or something. I guess it's because the average fifth grader's eye level is about at my chin. When the first kid asked about them I was afraid I was about to get the dreaded lip question!

However, no comments about my lip were made. (Sorry to disappoint.)

3...2...1...Blastoff!

Well, it official - I am done with Super Saturdays for the summer! The last session was one of my favorites - rockets! It was also one of the most highly-anticipated sessions (seemed like every week some kid asked me when the "rocket week" was). I think we lived up their expectations.

We started today's class at the Foundation, as usual. We spent about 40 minutes building rockets. Each kid made 2 to 5 versions. Then we walked the block over to Riverfront Park. They have a nice big lawn area there were we set up the rocket launcher and rolled out a 100 ft. tape measure. After that I pretty much held the launcher at the angle the kids wanted to try, and blew up the 2-liter bottle over and over and over again! I was a little winded after an hour of this activity!

In case you don't know what I'm talking about now, I suppose I should describe the launcher in a little more detail. Basically it's a PVC pipe with a bicycle inner tube attached to one end. The other end of the inner tube is attached around the neck of an empty 2-liter pop bottle. The kids put their rocket on the free end of the pipe, and then stomp down on the 2-liter bottle. The air gets pushed out of the bottle, up the inner tube and pipe and propels their rocket into the air. Some of the rockets traveled over 130 ft across the lawn!

It was pretty simple for me (I was grateful to have the help of two assistants - shout out to my mom and Dani - as well as the parent of one of the students who stuck around and impressed (and challenged) the kids with his far-flying rocket!) The weather was nice, the kids had fun. No one got hit in the eye. Good week, good summer. I'm glad to be finished, but wouldn't mind doing it again if the opportunity arises.

Stayed tuned in September for my return to the world of subbing!

Cleared For Takeoff

Forgot my helmet, but thankfully paper and Styrene airplanes do not cause to much trauma to one's head. :)

Today was airplane day!

We started the session with paper airplanes. The original plan was just for the Styrene kind, but since we were a little limited with that material (just enough for each kid to make one), and since I didn't think that would occupy them for 2 hours, we added paper airplanes to the mix. I found a great website (www.funpaperairplanes.com) that had bunches of paper airplane designs (complete with templates!). I chose two designs for us to do, then printed the directions for each plane for each table, and one template for each student. I printed one set on green paper and the other on some salmon/orange colored paper. That way they knew which directions went with which template.

After about twenty minutes of that, we started the main project. I took a little time to talk about lift and such (great kid-friendly explanation found at the same website as the paper airplane templates), and then we did the build phase step-by-step. For most of the other sessions I've let them experiment with their designs more from the start, but since we only had so much Styrene (and since I knew some of the kids from previous weeks and I knew they would need all the steps explained), I went over the basic assembly a little bit at a time. Once they'd all built their first plane, they had the rest of time to tweak it, add things, or make other designs with Styrofoam plates.

A few even thought really outside the box and made "not-planes" out of the plates. There were a few "flying saucers", a few hats (really, when you cut the rim off a plate what else are you supposed to do with it than put in on your head?), and even a sailboat! That kid should have been here a few weeks ago! :)

Another interesting happening today: when I was putting supplies away and doing a final clean-up of the room, a man came in. He was the parent of a kid that was signed up for today's class, but didn't come. He said they'd forgotten about it until it was too late, but he wanted to know if he could have some material for them to do the project at home. Thankfully, I had some extras, so I handed him a Styrene tray, some paper clips and the directions and templates for the paper airplanes. He seemed grateful and I got rid of some stuff! :)

Next week is the last Super Saturday, and while it's been fun, I'll be glad to be done! Hopefully it's not 95 degrees out next weekend because the plan is to make rockets and walk the 2 blocks to Riverfront Park to test them. Should be a fun finale.

It's a Whole New Board Game!

Well today was an interesting session. To start off we had one boy show up, then have his mom come pick him up 5 minutes later - before we even started the activity! Strange.

The majority of the kids seemed to be happy making a board game for the two hours. We talked about things to consider when designing their game, such as how to incorporate the element of chance, if the game has a theme, how you win, etc. Most had lots of ideas and happily worked away making their games they way they imagined them.

Most.

However, there were a few kids who did not seem at all interested in our activity for the day. It seems that perhaps it was their parents' idea and not theirs to take the class in the first place. About 3 of my older boys spent a good part of their time just sitting there and drawing stick people on paper. Oh well, I suppose you can't win them all.

Thankfully, the kids who did participate seemed to have fun, and were very eager to tell me ALL the details about their game.

Next week is Styrene Airplanes. I imagine a constant stream of flying objects is in my near future!

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Despite some doubt on my part for the ability of this activity to last the 2 hours allotted, all went well and the time flew!

Today, as you can see, we made balloon powered boats. Kids started with a milk carton some straws and a balloon and constructed a boat. Some eventually added multiple balloons and complicated add-ons, but we found that the ones with one balloon seemed to work the best. One the two girls in the class had the most reliable boat - one that traveled in a straight line from the front to the back of the "pool" with no assistance.

Last night I decided milk cartons were boring to look at, so I went to the store and bought a couple rolls of colored duct tape. Green because it's awesome, and for the Ducks, and orange so the Beavers don't feel left out. Most of the kids didn't seem to have a strong team allegiance, so they used both colors together.

All in all, it went pretty smoothly, despite the fact that we had to wait for everyone to finish building before we could travel outside to test...and then all go back in together to alter things. It was just me supervising the class today (as it has been from the start despite my wish for an assistant - she hasn't been able to make it yet!), and since the test pool was out back right by an alley that cars drive way too fast through (!) it was kinda important that I be out there when they were.

Next week - build your own board game. To me this seems like the most sedate of the sessions, maybe the least exciting, but I keep hearing kids talking about how they're signed up for it all excited-like! Who knew?

Stormin' the Castle

Today's Super Saturday featured....Catapults!

I have to say, this has been my favorite activity so far. Surprisingly, it was required less assistance from me, and I was able to spend more time walking around, talking to kids, seeing what they were doing, and taking pictures! There were a great variety of catapults (some more effective than others), but they all worked!

The building phase of today was NOISY! The wheels were a very tight fit on the dowels, and most of the kids found the most effective way to get the wheel on was to "hammer" the dowel onto the table. So for about 5 minutes we had a loud chorus of banging coming from our room.

We used marshmallows as our projectiles. At first the kids just launched their marshmallows to see how far they could go. For the last half-hour of the class though, I brought out the big bin of plastic cups and the kids worked together in pairs (mostly) to build walls of cups, then attacked their walls with an assault of marshmallows. I think they could have been entertained doing this for an extra hour! I got lots of great videos of the destruction too --> and that's a screen cap of one of them! :)

Set the Wheels in Motion

Today was the second Super Saturday! This week we make propeller-powered cars. The kids attached a propeller to a small motor, and then connected that to a 9V battery. Then we did lots and lots (and lots) of time trials! We set up a 30 ft course in the hallway and measured how long it took their creations to make it from start to finish.

This week went a lot smoother than last week, at least it felt like it to me! I was still running around like crazy trying to help 5 kids at once, and time the trials, but it was more orderly. The kids worked at their tables, and I broke the building into 2 sessions - first everyone built their car, then we added motors. There was generally less chaos and it was easier to get their attention. I still wish I had an assistant though. It would have been nice to put an assistant in charge of the stopwatch (my phone), so I could have focused on helping the kids who still needed it. But I'm multi-tasking girl, so I just did it all!

Oh, I did have one funny conversation with a kid this week. One of the boys said he remembered me from a day I subbed in his class - not from the school year that we just finished, but the year before that! He then went on to tell me, "Ya, you were there the day we got our yearbooks and I have your signature in mine!" :) And yes, you can read my blog about this day - it was June 4, 2009.

Once again, they all seemed to have a lot of fun! Next week is catapults...I may have to go searching for a helmet. :)

Full of Hot Air

I can't believe it's finally here, but today was the first day of Super Saturdays! As I mentioned in a previous blog, I'm teaching a series of 2-hour science classes at the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation this summer. The first class was called "Full of Hot Air" and we built balloon-powered cars.

There were 11 kids that showed up - 8 boys and 3 girls. Most of them had just finished 4th or 5th grade but there were a few older and younger. The kids were really eager to get started. I had all the supplies set out and I think I've learned that that's not a great plan for next week! I barely had a chance to tell them what we were doing and they were cutting stuff up and gluing stuff together!

Some of the kids got very inventive after trying their car with one balloon and finding it anti-climactic. I think by the end of the 2 hours most of the kids were powering their cars with 2 or 3 balloons, or as shown in the first picture - 4!

I set up a "racetrack" in the hallway before the class started by marking

off every foot with a short line and every yard with a long line. The kids used this space to try out their cars and see how far they could get them to travel. I few got theirs to go beyond the original 25 feet I had marked, so I had to add extra markings to the track!

And of course, some decided to race their creations at the end!

The room was a total mess when they left. I spent about 30 minutes cleaning it all up. Might have to do something about that next week. :)

They all seemed to have fun and none of them were terrors, so all in all I'd say it was a success. Next Week: propeller-powered cars.

Memories

Today I returned to the same class from Tuesday...and Monday....and last Friday. The kids were better today than they were the last time I was with them, and I was glad.

It was also a super easy day for me!

We had reading and math in the morning like normal, and that took us right up to recess time. I supervised a lot of independent work - reading, writing, math worksheet-ing. :)

After their recess and my lunch, the kids had lunch in the room, as normal. This is also when they do sharing. And I read a few more pages of George's Marvelous Medicine.

After their lunch they packed up all their stuff, put chairs up and we went up to their 5th grade buddy room. (From there we were going to music and PE which is closer to the 5th grade room than theirs - and since they get dismissed from PE, they had to bring their stuff.) The kids worked with the buddies, and I walked around. This was a different 5th grade from last week, and I saw even more kids from my student teaching class! I think there were about 6 or 7 of them in this class. I stopped and talked with a few of them. One girl (who I didn't not recognize at first) told me she remembered how we sometimes used to dress opposite. "Well, at least once we did - you were wearing a green shirt and black pants and I was wearing a black shirt and green pants!"

How funny that this is the memory of me that has stuck with her throughout the years. :)

Time Flies

Yes I did sub on Friday, and yes this blog didn't appear until Sunday even thought it's going to be dated as Friday.

Confuse you yet?

I went away for the weekend so didn't get a chance to write this til Sunday, but I like the entries to be dated as the day I actually worked, so I changed the date.

Anyways, on Friday, I subbed in a 1/2 blend that I taught earlier this year. The kids were good and the day went pretty smoothly, and quickly. The teacher wasn't expecting to be gone though, so she'd arranged with another teacher to watch his class during her hour prep at the end of the day. Thankfully, the 5th graders were going to be meeting with their "buddy room" (another 1/2 blend) to read and play outside. I didn't do much except sit outside in the sun and watch the kids play. I was amazed to see some of the 5th graders who had been in my 1st grade class when I student taught at the same school! I could hardly believe how old they'd gotten! About ten minutes before the bell was going to ring to go home I took my newly-acquired class of 5th graders inside to get ready to go home. Except they'd already packed up all their stuff! So we played Heads Up 7up and we were all happy. :)

Vanishing Accent

Afternoons are hard sub jobs.

Especially at the end of the year.

Not that this class was bad by any stretch of the imagination. A few were a little annoying, but mostly it was ok. However, I felt like I was floundering all afternoon. I didn't know any of their names (Well, actually I knew 2 names - one because I needed to know her name because she was always goofing around, and the other because she goes to my church), I wasn't familiar with the school or the procedures, and to top it off, they switched classes for math. You could put a line up of 5th graders in front of me and I bet I wouldn't be able to pick more than those 2 out of it that were in today's class. I guess I've forgotten how difficult it is to sub in a school that you aren't familiar with.

But yes, I don't like half-day afternoons. If I'm subbing for a half-day I'd much rather it be a morning job. At least then you get to start off the day with them, take attendance (gives you a slightly better chance of learning names), and be done before they're getting restless.

I hate feeling flustered.

Anyways.

One girl in this class puzzled me with her vanishing accent. When I was helping her with math, and conversing with her, she spoke in a British accent. However, when she read out loud her accent disappeared. A few kids told me she was "half-British." Interesting.

Fifth to Kinder & Lots of Confusion

Wow, I don't even know where to start today's blog! Today was a big mess of mix-ups, tight schedules and mistaken identity. I will try to simplify it so you don't have to spend an hour reading my blog.

Anyways, I started the morning across town in a 5th grade class. I arrived early (hoping that then I could leave early to go to my second school for the afternoon), only to have to wait in the office for 10 minutes for the office staff to arrive and print out the sign in sheet. Then I went to the room to find a mess on the teacher's desk and absolutely no plans or plan book in sight. I did spend a good 10 minutes searching though. Just as I was about to give up and go to the office to ask for some sort of schedule so I'd at least know when PE or Music and Lunch were. However, at this time the teacher walked in. He looked totally shocked to see me there and it was not long before we figured out that the person in the office who puts in the sub requests made a mistake and got a sub for the morning when he actually needed a sub for the afternoon! I told them I already had a job for the afternoon, so they had to get a new sub, and I ended up teaching the class for the morning anyway. They were a pretty nice class and the morning when by quickly. However, in all the commotion of the morning I didn't get a chance to call the second school and give them a heads up that I was coming from another school and might be a few minutes late.

Come midday I ended up racing out of the first school and driving back out across town to the second school. Annoyingly, I got behind some slow drivers and hit a few red lights so I was about 10 minutes late. I literally ran from my car to the front door. Thankfully, the second school hadn't even noticed I was late, and didn't seem to care either (helpful that they know me so well I think). The afternoon was with kindergarten, and when I got there the teacher was still in the room. For a minute I was afraid I was going to have a repeat of the morning, but all was well. The teacher actually stayed and lead the class for the first hour. After she left the assistant (also a sub) and I took the kids to recess, then I read them a story, and then they did math centers. It was pretty easy and the kids were good. It was a pretty drastic change from 5th grade though!

Anyways, despite the two nice easy classes it was kind of a stressful day. I'm hoping I don't have to do two half days at different schools again anytime soon!

Reading Time

I've always wanted to get paid for reading a book! Today came close...

I arrived in the class of 5th graders when their teacher was finishing up instructions for the book discussions they were going to do in groups. She asked me to rate their participation in their groups - something that I found a little difficult simply because I knew nobody's name and had no idea what book they were discussing. This was about the hardest thing I did today though.

After this they had music, and then library. Upon returning from the library they had a handwriting assignment, which had already been written on the overhead. They copied it and a student checked it off for the teacher. Then they had silent reading and then they went home. I pretty much sat at the desk and read my book for most of the day. Even when they were in the room they didn't even seem to need me! :)

Bowling!

Today turned out to be a pretty interesting day after all. I didn't get called this morning until around 7:40 for a job that started at 8. Thankfully it was a school close by and it didn't take me long to get ready. It was also only for the morning, so I didn't need to pack a lunch (or so I thought!).

Anyways, I get to school, walk down to the 5th grade room I was subbing in and find out that the 4th and 5th graders are going on a field trip this morning to Town and Country Lanes in Keizer to go bowling! And by the time we get back it will be lunch time and then time for me to go home! So I wait around doing nothing for about a half hour until the kids got there. Then I passed out name tags that told the kids what lane they were assigned to and what order they went in with the other 3 or 4 kids in their lane. Then I took attendance and we lined up and got on the buses. Twenty minute bus ride later and we are at the bowling alley. The kids all went right to their lanes and started bowling. The PE teacher went around to the lanes and made sure the kids all knew what they were doing. The teachers stood around and watched. There were also a gazillion parents there to watch their kids, so basically I stood around for 2 hours and watched bowling. Easy, but not the most thrilling. The bowling alley turned on the black lights and disco balls for the kids, which was very exciting for them, and made me glow like a stinkin' beacon because I had happened to choose to wear a white jacket that morning!

Anyways, eventually we headed back to school, and after a short game of Mad Libs, I took the class to lunch and supervised them because I had lunch duty. While I was in the lunch room one of the 4th grade teachers came in and said she wasn't feeling well and asked if I wanted to take her class for the afternoon. I agreed, but it did make my lunch time a bit crazy. After duty I had to take the bag of kids' meds back to the office (we had to have them on us for the field trip), then I had to go back downstairs and get my purse and sub bag which were still in the room. Then I went up to the 4th grade room so the teacher could show me a couple things before she left. Then I had to go buy a lunch and eat it in about 5 minutes - not even exaggerating. Thankfully, after I picked the class up from recess the counselor came in to give a lesson so I actually had time to finish my lunch.

The rest of the day consisted of math, read aloud and independent work time. Then we had a birthday party complete with donuts, after which I promptly sent them home! :)