Wednesday, August 31st

Tonight's homework: Word Wisdom p. 10 (there is a quiz Friday over Unit 1, Part 1)

Good morning Lodge students and families,

We are continuing the lifeskill of having a POSITIVE ATTITUDE. The quote of the day relating to the lifeskill is by Mary Engelbreit, and she said,

"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."

This quote had me thinking this morning. As a teacher, I am often faced with the rigors of maintaining classroom discipline, in order to invite a warm, creative thinking environment for all involved. Sometimes, as a class, we need to "change it up," as they say in hockey. In the beginning, Mr. Polk would say "Pride Promise" and most students would respond by raising their hand and quieting. After almost four weeks, I do have students who respond as they should, but not as many as the first week. I had a new student come in and tell me they used a "level system" in order to get quiet. So, for example, students will hear me say, "Level 1!" and they know to "Zip it. No talking or noises will be allowed."

So, I know as a teacher, I will need to keep "changing it up" to to keep the students disciplined in order to get an education. The second part of the quote helps me too. If I can't change it, I need to "change the way "I" think about it." I know sometimes that I can easily get frustrated because I do not tolerate talking or noise when I am speaking/teaching, or when another student or adult has "the floor." I need to remember to have a positive attitude and know that perfection is humanly impossible. I need to utilize the noise and adhere it to the students' strengths. Just my thoughts for the day...

In class, students were introduced to the Student Reference books for Science. These books will STAY AT SCHOOL. They are not being assigned to students because I only have enough for a class set. Therefore, there will be no homework assignments with the reference books; it will be used for classwork only. We read a chapter that dealt with terminology including: sediment, erosion, weathering, deposition...Ask your child what these words mean.

TOMORROW...the students will be doing an outside Science study to discover the "Earth's Changing Surface." A letter introducing the unit is going home today with your child. Also, there is white slip you can sign if you are interested in volunteering tomorrow for the event. Please follow the directions on the form.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at ben.polk@evsc.k12.in.us

Have a great day!

~Mr. Polk

HOMEWORK tonight: Word Wisdom p. 10

Plant Cell Animation

To view the plant cell animation, copy and paste the link below into a new tab/URL.

http://www.cellsalive.com/howbig.htm

Enjoy!

The positive attitude quote of the day was:

"It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to." ~Annie Gottlier

(Tuesday, August 30)

Good evening Lodge students and families,

If you need a reminder for tonight's homework, it is: Word Wisdom p. 9. It is due tomorrow (Wednesday). To do the assignment, you only need to write down the Word Wisdom words in the left column, your prediction for meaning in the middle column, and the book definition in the right column. You can find all of the book definitions in the back of the Word Wisdom book. Some words have multiple definitions; you only need to write the definition that fits the story on the first page of that part (p.6 in this part). There are two words on your list that have check marks by them. You do NOT have to do these two words (because they were already discussed on pp. 7-8).

In class today, I passed back the students' Word Wisdom pre-tests. They get 10 points of participation, just for TRYING. If they leave any of them blank, they will miss those points. I do still grade them to show the students what they missed, and then I put the correct answer by it. So, don't be confused if I put (-5), and you get a 10/10 score. You get all the points just for trying. I will also give bonus points for high scores in the class. Please use the pre-test as a tool to study for the upcoming Word Wisdom quiz, which will be on Friday. Quizzes will be worth ten points. They will assess the students on their understanding of the ten Word Wisdom words for the week. The homework throughout the week should help the students with understanding.

In science, we continued with our note-booking. We finished our template today, and the students should start remembering the seven steps of our scientific process:

1) Focus Question

2) Prediction

3) Procedures/Plan

4) Observation

5) Claims and Evidence

6) Conclusion

7) Reflection

Before the 9 weeks are over, I will give the students a quiz to name the seven steps of our scientific process. I also showed the students a neat plant cell animation. On their science pre-test in week two, there was a question asking about the size of the plant cell. This animation shows that the plant cell is smaller than the head of a pin. Using the animation, we were able to see a magnified view of the plant cell in which the human eye cannot see without the magnification. I compared the animation to looking through a microscope. The students really enjoyed looking at this animation, and plan to share it with you. The website is below:

http://www.cellsalive.com/howbig.htm

Click the link above for the neat plant cell animation!!

That's all for today!

~Mr. Polk

(Monday) August 29

Greetings parents and students of Mr. Polk's classes. I apologize for not blogging yesterday. As I told the class yesterday, it is very important to have a positive attitude (lifeskill this week) daily. On Sunday, when planning for science, I accidentally cut my hand when trying to open one of the gigantic tubs. Two lessons learned here: don't grow impatient because you can't find the scissors and use a knife, and to have a positive attitude even when bad conditions arise.

Anthony J. Angelo, author of The College Blue Book, once said, "Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine." I reminded the students yesterday to bring their own sunshine (positive attitude) daily even when they are having a bad day, or had a bad weekend. It's such a small thing, but it pays big dividends to end up having a great day!

In class Monday, we began our science unit. The first couple of days will be for getting acquainted with the science notebooks (which Mr. Polk is providing). For now, we are going to keep the notebooks in the classroom. That way, we shouldn't have any lost books, or have to go back to the locker to get them. We are going over the template on how to construct their notebook. There will usually be no homework with the science kits. Grades will come from their participation with their notebook, participation with their groups during lab time, and also science bell-ringer worksheets. There will also be assessments (quizzes and tests that they will be graded on) at the end of a unit.

We also began doing Word Wisdom. Students should be familiar with this workbook from last year. We will use it as our homework piece during Science week.

Homework from Monday night: Word Wisdom: Read pp.6-7 (Do p. 8)-Due Tuesday.

If you are wondering if we are doing Spelling, we will have Spelling words during each Language Arts week (every other week). I will try to send a newsletter with the list of words for that week.

Have a great week!

~Mr. Polk

Six Pillars of Character

This clip is a good reminder of how to show good character.

Character Counts

Here is a short clip showing how character counts!

Bucket Filler Skit

Watch and learn how to be a bucket-filler (also notice the person who is not being a bucket-filler).