Happy Day!  In March I turned 50 years old.  (First Event) So far there hasn’t been an age that has bothered me.  I don’t feel old, but I wonder where all those years went??  We also decided to move from our neighborhood that we had lived in for 10 years. (2nd Event)  It was time to get some space.  We were planning to wait a little closer to retirement, but why not right? We found a lovely house on 5 1/2 acres that we lovingly call the Farm.  With 3 dogs and 1 turtle plus all the moles in our yard, it is a farm.  This place wasn’t especially close to my school and after 12 years I really wanted a new adventure (3rd Event).  So I changed school districts.  I left Kirkwood and began teaching 5th grade in Union Missouri.  I only live 8 miles from school.  It takes me about 15 minutes to get to work, that’s if there is traffic. My son and daughter-in-law have been on a journey for years to start a family.  I get to meet my grandsons, Maddux and Griffin, in November.  (4th Event).  While on our family vacation this year celebrating 50 years of life and 30 years of marriage, my daughter got engaged (5th Event).  It is only September!  What will the rest of the year bring?  Stay tuned.

First, let me apologize for the gap in updating this blog.  I would love to say I have a great excuse, I don’t however.  The beginning of the year is busy, but still no excuse.   I work better having things scheduled so I have decided to make Wednesday nights my Blog Night.  If I put it on my calendar it will happen, right?  Yes, I realize this is Sunday, trust me I know what day of the week it is.  Hehe

Now let’s get to this post.  This year’s challenge was the fact that our class sizes have increased.  I had to make a decision based on room size and storage needs.  I requested desks for my classroom.  I probably haven’t had desks since…well I don’t even know.  I asked for them for a couple of reasons, the first and most important, they are great for storage.  Each student can keep their supplies in their desk, instead of cubbies or bins that I have purchased in the past.  I didn’t have enough for the increased size, having to purchase 10 more didn’t seem budget friendly, so desks was an option.  I said two reasons, and for the life of me I can’t remember reason number two.  Hehe

I still love to have soft lighting and the stand up counters are still a popular option for work space.

Pods of six seem to work well. Notice I did cover them with blue vinyl, just like my tables in the past.

My daughter-in-law suggested the quiet reading space. This was our “patio” last year with deck chairs and no rug. I like this better.

Bought these two little tables from IKEA for $7.99. Sweet deal. I put labels for Open House that these were not benches. Hehe They are great for games, writing, and building with Legos.

My daughter-in-law also hung all our research QR codes for easy access.

I also tried these little u-shaped pods for a bit. They drove me crazy. It was also difficult for kiddos to work in small groups.

Sweet space for meeting.

Of course you can arrange, arrange, and arrange…but until there are kids, you just never know.

I have tried three different arrangements since the beginning of the year and finally found one that works for now.  There is still alternate seating so students can have choice.  The desks serve the purpose for storage and my 4th graders think they are cool (for now, that will wear off I am sure). I have a new idea that I am going to try after Winter Break.  Stay tuned for that post. 

We are reading Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord as our first read aloud.  This was the first book I read over the summer and it quickly became one of my favorites. I love photography so it was easy to get into each of the chapters, also photo challenges.  I knew immediately I wanted to incorporate this into my class this year.  This will be a year long project for all of us.  To kick it off we had our first challenge.  Students were asked to photograph their interpretation of their First Friday of 4th Grade.  Because this was the first challenge I thought I would let them “make” what they would photograph.  This will not always be the case.  As we read this book we will going deeper into our creative mind.  Stay tuned for more photo challenges. Here are the submissions for our first challenge.

Jami from HandMadeKidsArt posted a 5 Day Spring STEAM Challenge.   One mentioned  The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, since I love that book (and all things Dr. Seuss), and we have been talking about solving problems it seemed like the perfect fit.  

We read the book and then discussed how the Lorax had a problem and how important natural resources are.  I asked what could we do to help bring the Lorax and his friends back?   We thought if we could create a new species of tree it might bring back the Lorax, his friends, and maybe even new types of Suess characters would visit. 

We started, as we always do with our design challenges, sketching our ideas.  I am very impressed each time the kids do this.  They are all so creative in many different ways. Each artist labels and explains their thoughts so explicitly.  Anyone could pick up their sketch and know exactly what they were thinking when they drew it.  

After we got our initial ideas on paper (or notability), I dumped materials on the floor.  Just like the Legos from the other day.   They went to it.  The only constraint we had was it had to stand on its own.  Because a tree needs roots to stay in place.  We learned that in 3rd grade. 🙂

 We dug in and started putting our designs into action.  I always find myself telling the kids that don’t worry about changes that come about in the building process.  Their model may not look like their sketch, but almost every time they build true to their design.  Funny.  

I know you will find this hard to believe but you could hear a pin drop while they worked.  I never insist on silence in the classroom, because lets be honest I can’t stay silent, so how can I ask them to. But when they are in building mode they are so focused.   I walk around, taking pictures, asking questions and they just build, build, build.  

Next step…write.  Name your tree, what type of Suess character would it attract? How would it help bring back the Lorax and his friends?  What other important details should we know about your tree?  Then we take a tour of all the new species…  

Finally, we have our exit ticket.  Of course the first question was an easy one.  1.)What did you like best about this challenge?  2.) What makes this a STEAM challenge?  3.) How can we apply this to real world problems? 

I honestly thought the last one would give them trouble.  But they thought like true scientists and talked about how we can help by not abusing our natural resources.  But, realistically natural resources are not cared for, so we need to be ready to create new species of plants and trees to replenish what is taken away.  They also loved the idea that they got to create like Dr. Suess.  I really liked that part too.  

Today Mrs. Sisul joined us with her tub of 3,000 legos.  She began by sharing a funny video of her kitten that keeps getting into the cat food.  Problems…they are everywhere.    We spent a little time thinking of a problem we wanted to try and solve.  A few ideas that came up were: Create a machine that will clean our room.  Create a car that won’t add any pollution to the environment.  Create the ultimate pair of basketball shoes.  Create a baseball uniform that is lightweight and protective as well. Create a watch that people with asthma will wear.  There is a button that you push when you have an attack.  The watch works with your body to open your lungs so you can breathe.  This will be perfect for athletes.  I was so thoroughly impressed with the work the kids did as well as the reasons behind each invention.  

We are the innovators, the inventors, the problem solvers.