Spooky Science

Today  Halloween fell on a Monday.  I struggled with what to do with my sixth grade science class and came up with a Halloween story with demonstrations.  I wrote a story last night until 11pm.  It was actually a pretty good story all and all.  It was basically about three kids trick-or-treating and finding themselves exploring an abandoned house only to find a wrinkled lady with a very pointed black hat.  During the story I used dry ice for a number of demonstrations that the kids loved.  One of these included taking a metal ice cream scoop and holding it against the dry ice.  This makes a great squeaky door sound.  Actually it was more like a screaming door!  I plan to revise my story and post it to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to help teachers for next years Halloween.  It turned out to be a very enjoyable day.

Blog on Fire Award

A big thank you to Amy from Science Stuff for nominating me for this award.  According to the rules I have to say 7 things about myself and then nominate 7 worthy blogs!

1.  I went to college to become a geologist.  I never really considered being anything else and somehow I became a teacher.  At least I teach earth science!

2.  I am a native Boulderite!  I originally come from Boulder, Colorado which is a very unique (or strange) place to grow up. 

3.  I have two wonderful children who are 13 and 9.

4.  I grew up playing clarinet and piano.  I can still play the piano pretty well.

5.  I have been a middle school science teacher for 14 years.  I am also teaching reading this year and tutor dyslexic kids after school.

6.  My husband and I love to hike  and spend time outdoors.  I feel like a good hike is an antidepressant.  I guess I belong in nature.

7.  I love animals and have a brand new kitty who is part Siamese named Pippin. He was found roaming at one of our district schools.  He is adorable but now thinks my couch is a toilet.  Cats!!!

And now for my seven outstanding blogs.... hope you will check them out soon!

Ed Tech 4 Science
Teacher Tam's Educational Adventures
 The Teaching Bank
Education Journey
 Sunny Days in Second Grade
Teacher Gone Digital
Life in Special Education

Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, and Tonto Natural Bridge

I have once again taken my fall break in some of the southwest's most cherished locations.  I also take my camera lucky for you!  I haven't been in Arizona's Petrified Forest since 1993.  This year I decided to go back to see it again.  The logs you see in the following picture are indeed very much rocks!

 

You are not allowed to take any petrified wood out of the park of course.  There are however some locations near Winslow, Arizona and vicinity where you can collect pieces.  I found a great blue piece in 2007 in the Winslow area.  But alas, in the park, you cannot.  I guess this bird will stop you if you do!

 The painted desert was just beautiful this time.  It is a little tricky to take quality pictures of, however.  Here are a few from the overlook near the visitor center:

These two parks are in the same area so if you ever visit you can see them both in one day.  My husband and I did most of the hikes as well.  We stayed in Winslow at an old Harvey House on the old route 66.  The La Posada Hotel has been renovated and is a wonderful place to stay.

On our way back home to Phoenix we past Tonto Natural Bridge State Park and decided to stop.  I hadn't been there since I did my field school for my masters up in that area and really wanted to see it again.  It is the largest travertine  bridge in perhaps the world.

You can see the waterfall running from springs at the top.  This creates a micro-climate at the base of the bridge complete with many types of plants.  Here are a few pictures of the water and plant life in the bottom.

If you ever get a chance to visit Arizona, you will find amazingly different landscapes and climates in a relatively short distance.  These areas I have pictured are not far from one another.  They are within a few hours drive of Grand Canyon and Flagstaff as well.  Hope you have enjoyed my travels!

Halloween Crossword

Well it's that time of year again.  Time to welcome fall and ghoulish delights!  I have made a Halloween crossword in celebration of season.  The hardest word is jack-o-lantern and is probably suited to 4th through 6th graders.  It comes with 3 pages.  A full color page, a black and white page and an answer key.  I am hoping to create a spooky science product as well so be on the lookout for that one. Here is the link to my crossword:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Crossword-Puzzle

Fall aspens in Flagstaff

P.O.E.

P.O.E. stands for Predict, Observe, and Explain.  I use this in my classroom every Wednesday.  The only hard part about it is getting a demonstration together to show my students.  Last week I did a P.O.E. where I poured water down a wet string from one beaker to another. Before I actually did the demonstration I asked them to predict what would happen when I poured the water.  They usually write this prediction down in their notebooks as part "P".  I then do my demonstration and the students observe and write their observations in part "O".  The hardest part is "E" which is explain.  My student have to explain why things happened as they did during the demonstration.  They all look forward to P.O.E days!  Oh gotta run, P.O.E. day is tomorrow!

And Now For Some Good News!!

Ten years ago I didn't think the World Trade Center would ever be rebuilt.  I thought it might have some sort of memorial built at ground zero, but I didn't have an inkling that there would be a huge building sitting there a decade later.  The planning for the new tower started almost immediately after 9/11.  Originally called the "Freedom Tower", the skyscraper is now known as the One World Trade Center and is well on its way to being finished.  Here is a short time-lapse video of the tower under construction.  Enjoy!

I Feel Like a First Year Teacher!!!

     I have been a teacher for fourteen years and I feel like a brand new teacher right out of college.  Why you ask?  I think it is the slow piling of more responsibilities over the last ten years on my shoulders.  I am so overwhelmed that I can't keep my email at work straight!  How could this happen?
     About ten years ago we started state "high stakes" testing.  It seemed like a good idea back then.  Soon after the testing began we started interventions.  At first, interventions was leveled by using the state test and you saw the same kids every day.  Then we decided to retest every quarter and switch the students around in interventions  depending on how they scored on the quarterly tests as well.  Three years ago I moved to a school that switched interventions daily!  Some teachers like this, but I never like anything that switches around too rapidly. 
     Last year we lost our wonderful language arts teacher in 7th grade to retirement.  She was not replaced.  I have been told I should be very happy about this due to the fact that I could have been fired (I'm the science teacher) so the school could hire a reading/writing teacher.  So who is teaching reading?  Well our grade level has joined with the sixth grade teachers so we can get all subjects taught with minimal teachers.  That means that I am now teaching reading, 6th grade science, and 7th grade science. We have 36+ in a class.  My principal is very worried about reading because it is now in the hands of several people. 
    I ask you, how can a school get good scores on a state test when there is not enough teachers to bring the class size down to a manageable level?  How can reading scores improve when there is no reading teacher?  How can anyone possibly think that cutting science teachers is an option?  There will be jobs in science in the future.  Will the United States have anyone to fill them?  One thing is for sure, if we pull it off and our students meet the standard on that reading test this year, we won't be getting another reading teacher...