Don't Worry, I'm still alive!

Wow!  I'm not sure where the past two weeks have gone...but they have certainly flown by!  Last week Friday marked my last day in my second grade classroom.  I definitely had mixed emotions about this event.  I was sad to be leaving my students, and I absolutely loved the environment in the elementary school setting.  I enjoyed building those one on one relationships with the students, and having a class to call you own!  Over my last week I was able to observe in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade rooms to just get a taste for the different age levels.  Between all of the grades I saw, I really enjoyed 5th grade!  Honestly, I'll be happy wherever I get a job!

On my last day of school I read one of my favorite books called When I Grow Up by Weird Al!  And I finished off the day with the book Last Day Blues.  I gave all of the kids a bag with rock candy and a note that said "You Rock! Thanks for being such a great student!" and then put a sweet little poem inside that I found from Pinterest.

Today I am starting my first day in a 6th grade math classroom in one of the middle schools here.  I'm interested to learn more about his age level because 6th grade was one of my absolute favorite years!  Although, 6th grade for me was still elementary school...it should be interesting!

I am also making a big push to finish up my portfolio and get that submitted so I can focus all of my attention of hunting for a job!  Here goes round two!!!

WHEW!

Well...here I am at the second to last day of my unit!  I honestly cannot believe how fast time has flown!  Over the past couple of days we have:

• Made trail mix to demonstrate mixtures
• Learned about the substance water, which commonly exists in all three states of matter
• Discussed ways we can make changes to matter
• Started an experiment with orange juice
• In this experiment each child got their own Dixie cup full or orange juice and made observations about the orange juice in liquid form (look, feel, taste, and touch)
• We then made predictions about what will happen after it is freezes
• We put Popsicle sticks in our cups and then placed them in the freezer
• We will finish this up tomorrow!

And that is just science!

I also had my final observation by my university supervisor.  It was wonderful to hear so much positive feedback and support from her!  She said she believes I am going to be an incredible teacher!!!  (ego boost!)  It is so great to hear her talk about her time in the schools.  I can tell that she misses being in and around the classroom a great deal just in watching her during my observations.  I hope I will have a positive a supporting principal like she was when I first get a job!

Tomorrow we are finishing up the science unit with an experiment about adding heat to matter where we are making applesauce in the crockpot!  And did I mention....tomorrow is PAJAMA DAY!!  In second grade, this is very exciting!!!  So we will be eating orange-sicle's, eating crockpot applesauce, and wearing our pajama's! ;)

Oobleck! Oh My!

Last night, my mom and I prepared the Oobleck for today's science lesson!  I can't believe we have never seen this before!  It is basically one part corn startch to one part water...seriously the craziest substance ever!  Here is how I felt about it last night :

After mixing up a couple of batches, we put it into bags for each of the tables in the classroom.

In the morning I read Bartholomew and the Oobleck out loud to the class...If any of you haven't read it before, prepare yourself...it is VERY long!  My throat was sore by the end of it!!  I didn't tell the children exactly what we were going to be doing with the book (because we weren't getting the Oobleck out until after lunch) just that they needed to pay close attention to the different states of matter we noticed throughout the story.

Here I am reading ;)

In the afternoon I sat all of the kids in a big circle and basically told them that I had made a few important phone calls and was actually able to get a hold of some Oobleck!  I really had them going...they got the chance to examine the Oobleck sitting at their tables (without taking it out of the bag) and then tried to make a decision as to whether it was a solid or a liquid.

All the students got to watch when I took a bit of the Oobleck out so they could really see how runny it was when you held it in your hands...they were AMAZED!

Needless to say, we had a great afternoon in science class!  The students were very engaged and fascinated that I was actually able to bring Oobleck in... ;)

Happy weekend!
Alec and I are heading to the PAC this weekend to see The Addams Family musical!