My first field trip...

Tomorrow I go where most novice teachers shouldn't boldly go on their own...my first field trip. I heard through the grape vine that the upper grade students were heading to the Museum of Science and Industry to partake in some lectures. I was looking for something to take my students on this fall and looked forward in my book to find that space and technology were two topics that wouldn't come into our plans until the end of the year (if we were lucky). I couldn't do that to my kids! I even heard from my three third graders that they didn't even get to study space last year as second graders! How sad! Since Daniel is in such a space kick I figured I should probably take advantage of the vast amount of knowledge I have gained in the last few months (since the end of July) about our solar system and space in general, ask permission (from the teacher who coordinated the trip as well as my principal), skip ten chapters and then go back after I'm done.

So now, here I am, the night before my field trip and I'm a nervous wreck. See, one of the things I brought in with me when I first interviewed at this school was my itinerary from a field trip my mentor teacher had me organize under her supervision...a five class, 125 (roughly) student, two day, three location trip around historical Glen Ellyn. Yeah, I was really proud of that accomplishment...and still am. But I had help. A guide. A previous itinerary upon which to lean on in the event my plans went awry. I mean, really, what if my kids misbehave? What if I lose one? What if we don't make it back to the bus in time? What if I kill my kids? I am hoping they are on their best behavior but this hasn't been an easy bunch so why would they make it easy on me? I mean, I only have four of their parents coming to play referee and to see if I am either A) under paid, I mean, some of the issues I have had so far this year are unbelievable or B) a complete liar, how can I say there have been problems with immaculately behaved cherubs? And so here I am - with 18 students and four parent chaperones thinking - I should be able to do this.

I'm going over pictures of the places within the MSI I have taken Daniel to. I'm mapping out the best places to go and best times (based on the time we get there and the time we have to leave). My head hurts...

If I post again it won't be until Sunday. I will hopefully have recovered by then. Stay tuned...

Fun in Science

Our first chapter in science was called ALL ABOUT PLANTS. It talked about woodlands, prairies, marshes, deserts, what plants lived there, how plants have adapted to their environments and what kind of things plants do to survive. One of the experiments was placing stalks of celery in water to see if it needed roots to absorb water. I had a mason jar, the celery, and as a tip from my MIL I also had food coloring. We chose red.

The kids drew their predictions for what would happen. On the first day I was just putting the celery in the jar without any water. Just as they thought, the celery wilted.

I put water in on day 2 (like the experiment said to do) and added the selected red food coloring. I had them predict what would happen. They were right. The celery turned red (in the leaves and some parts of the ribs).

The kids enjoyed seeing the celery turn red so we kept it going. Then they asked if we could put other food coloring in. I thought, sure. Why not? Well, this is why - after ten days of a successful celery stalk changing color we added blue food coloring to turn the fresh water purple...and over the weekend the celery melted into the water so I had to toss it out.

I can only hope our experiments with space, seasons, gravity and the phases of the moon go better. Much better. At least the kids were able to work on some scientific processes!

Overplanned vs Underplanned

People call me a "planner" and I think I'm perfectly okay with this name. I like to have a game plan and a back-up plan...and sometimes a third plan just in case things in plans 1 and 2 go awry. For instance, yesterday I panicked because I felt that I had nothing planned. Yet I was able to get through literacy - teaching both 2nd and 3rd grades the start of the reading lesson, sharing a story (with 2nd), writing in the writer's notebook (with 3rd) and giving the very first spelling pre-test of the school year...

Math was fun in the afternoon, I truly feel my second graders are beginning to have a concrete understanding of place value...except that it went WAY over the 45 minutes I have ear marked for math. I chalk it up as a "win" because they were having fun, learning and getting along - three things I have been working on for these first 10 days of school!

In science we actually got to read our text books and work on the vocabulary that perplexed us on day 1 of science. I sang the silly song that goes with the unit and the kids did too...much to half of their dismay!

So we didn't get to social studies - in the book anyway - I had no arguments, no meanness, and the kids were helping each other...shouldn't that count as social studies working the way it should?

So today I have planned both 2nd and 3rd grade literacy blocks. We'll finish our stories, read aloud new ones, work on graphic organizers about character and setting, write in our writer's notebooks and work on some spelling practice. In math we'll continue place value with greater than (>), less than (<) and equal to (=). In science we'll begin our observations about what happens to a celery stalk in water (thank goodness I already have celery in my fridge!!!). And in social studies the kids will use their cutting and gluing skills to make my friend Lynna's Me on the Map!

And if I don't get to it all? There's always tomorrow!