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!

Inservice Insanity

It's August and that means it's time for substitute inservice!

Much as always, it was long, it was sort of boring, and half of the risk management presentation didn't apply to substitutes at all.

Our table had a lot of laughs at the ridiculousness of it.

One good thing that came out of it was that subs finally have our own user names and passwords to log-in to district computers!

Oh, and I'm planning on writing a sitcom. I think a show about a substitute teacher following all the rules and procedures to the letter would be quite hilarious. For example, you are apparently encouraged to report all injuries you receive on the job - including paper cuts. Also, I guess it's my responsibility to remove a paper cutter that is missing its finger guard. The ridiculousness of it is just made for television comedy! :)

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.

The End of Another Year

Well, here it is, June again, and the end of my fourth year subbing - third year for Salem-Keizer and second year blogging about it. Thankfully, this year has been much less frustrating than last year, and probably one of the best years subbing yet. I'm actually not horrified at the chance of doing it again next year. We will see...

Anyways, don't abandon my blog for the summer though! Starting on July 10th I will be teaching "Super Saturdays" at the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation. There will be 7 weeks of Saturday classes - all focusing on science activities. Kids will be building cars, boats, rockets, and other things. It should be a lot of fun! And I'll definitely be writing about those here when they start!

In the meantime, I'll be baking cakes - (http://www.vividcakes.webs.com/) - hopefully posting this link will be motivation for me to update this site! Also, I plan to spend a lot of time reading a reviewing my hordes of books! (http://novelobsession.blogspot.com/)

Happy summer everyone!

Substitute Inservice

It's that time of year again! The time for the yearly substitute inservice. The time where all the returning substitutes for the district gather at West Salem High School to listen to the lecture on child abuse, risk management and how to use the job assignment system. Last year, it took place in the auditorium and we were all very excited for the online system to go up! We also enjoyed a performance by a woman we still refer to as "cranky lady" who was cranky about everything and didn't possess the skill of speaking under her breath. It was quite entertaining!

This year was mostly the same but slightly different. There were still cranky ladies (as well as some cranky men). In fact, I almost was one of the cranky ladies! We watched the SAME slide shows about child abuse and risk management. Yes, the same. Same slides, same pictures, same script - a few more years of this and I could give the presentation! We weren't in the auditorium this year - instead being demoted to the cafeteria. However, the biggest difference this time was that instead of being excited for the new system, we all seemed to be waiting for the opportunity to complain about it!

I've mentioned here before that I'm not a big fan of the system. In theory, it's wonderful - and being able to get jobs online is a nice feature. However, a lot of jobs are still assigned in the morning by phone calls made by the system. And the system is not fair. My roommate and I have the exact same coding, however she gets called twice as much as I do. If it wasn't for the fact that I could get jobs online and that I got requested fairly frequently, I wouldn't have worked very many days.

Anyways, we eventually came to the point of the day where those leading the inservice asked if anyone was having any problems with the system. I eagerly raised my hand and told them of my plight. They responded that lots of jobs were assigned online and that's why there weren't as many calls. I then had to say that that wasn't what I was talking about - I was talking about JUST the jobs that got called out in the morning and that I got half as many of those as my roommate. They then brushed me off with the "its probably a coding problem" answer and immediately went to the next question. I was frustrated that they didn't seem to be listening, but was gratified that lots of other people were nodding their heads while I was talking as if they had the same problem, and that other people after me stated that they had similar experiences. Obviously, no one knows why this is happening, so I don't see it getting fixed anytime soon, but at least they were made aware of it. Can't say nobody told them!

Other than that the day was pretty boring. Some of the sessions we had to sit through were super long and filled with information that didn't apply to substitutes at all. I'd wished that they had edited down their speeches to the parts that were relevant. Also, the question and answer sessions all went awkwardly. We got lots of cyclical reasoning and non-answers. It was frustrating.

That being said, it was only 3 hours, and now it's over for another year!

Summer!

Well, I have no sub stories, but I figured I needed to wrap this baby up for the year. I didn't work the last week of school, which isn't really surprising. Most teachers don't want to be gone during the last week, and they're not allowed to take personal days anyway. So there are sometimes a few jobs for people who get really sick, but not many. Roommate did get a job on Monday (which figures, since if there's a job available she'll always get it before me). But apparently the kids were horrible, so I wasn't too jealous.

But yes, school is officially out in Salem-Keizer as of last Friday. I'm spending the summer relaxing, catching up on reading, tinkering with cake decorating and trying to see if I can stir up any business, and the dreaded applying-for-jobs-for-new-year! I may try to update this blog occasionally, but I'm still going to try to keep it mostly teaching-related.

If you have facebook, you can keep up with what I'm doing there: http://www.facebook.com/nessajean

Have a great summer everybody!

-Vanessa