Room 25!

I realized I forgot to post an update with the set up classroom. After many, many, hours this summer, I finally got my room set up to my liking. Now, though, after having had students in it for a few months, there are some things I want to change (like the location of our class library). I may tackle that over winter break or I may not change it this year.

Here's what Room 25 looked like at the beginning of the year:

Starting new!

Today I got the key to my new 4th grade classroom! While exciting to move into a brand new room, this will be my 3rd classroom in only my fourth year of teaching! Fortunately, I think I'll be in this new room for a while (fingers crossed!).

Below is a picture of my room as I found it today with all of my boxes and furniture:
For me, it is really exciting to move into a classroom. Unpacking, decorating, organizing . . . all things I love to do. For this reason, I'm likely to be in my classroom working days in advance of when I actually have to be back. I'll be blasting my music, arranging and rearranging furniture, putting up bulletin boards, and cleaning up my files (nerd!). Yes, all of this really is fun for me.

Here are a couple more views of the new room:I'll be sure to post more pictures when it's all put-together and ready for a new batch of 4th graders. Here's to starting new!

Lessons from an American Idol judge

Teaching my fourth graders about magnetism and electricity will always be a highlight of the year. Simply presenting the little ones with the opportunity to play with magnets gets them so excited and enthusiastic! After allowing some exploration time and going over some basic rules (don't get near electronics with a magnet!), we started to talk about the cool things magnets can do.

You can make "floating magnets" by sticking multiple magnets on a pencil and watching the magnets float in thin air.


You can make a "talking magnet" by laying one magnet flat on a table and gently balancing another on an edge just about a centimeter away. You can move a magnet that is on top of your desk by guiding it with a magnet inside your desk. We learned all sorts of cool tricks, but the real excitement came during a fundamental lesson about magnets.

We began to talk about why magnets sometime stick to one another and why magnets sometimes push away from one another. I introduced the concept that magnets have both a north and south pole and that there is a rule for when magnets attract and when they repel: when two like poles are facing one another, the magnets will repel, and when opposite poles are facing one another, the two magnets will attract.

To demonstrate, I drew two magnets on the SMART Board, labeled the poles with opposite poles facing one another, and asked students whether or not the magnets would stick. They all replied that the magnets would attract. I don't know what prompted this, but between the two magnets I immediately draw a heart and declared that the magnets were in love. This caused some giggling as fourth graders really get uncomfortable when teachers mention love, flirting, or anything having to do with romance (which is why I try to mention these things as often as possible). Most teachers might stop here. I, however, truly enjoy making nine year old children uncomfortable. I decided to adorn the magnet picture with even more mushy gushy . . . see below (and please excuse my drawing skills, or lack thereof):
It's so gratifying to be able to embarrass kids with such simple words as "smoochie smoochie."

I proceeded to teach my lesson, yet now I focused on true love, and not on magnets. I completely switched gears and started what I called "love lessons." I gave examples about how two completely different types of people can fall in love. I talked about how two very similar people can be too alike so that instead of falling in love, they argue constantly. To stop the groaning, I went briefly back to magnets as I drew the following picture:

I dragged the love conversation out for as long as I could, teaching them that opposites attract, while watching my kids squirm in their seats and laugh uncomfortably. For the rest of the afternoon, I took every opportunity I could to squeeze the words "smoochie smoochie" into my lessons. One of my adorable little boys muttered to his table group, "I thought we were supposed to learn about magnets this year, not love. Gross!"

As the students left my classroom at the end of the day (in a rush to get away from their crazy teacher!), I hollered out the door, "Don't forget all you learned today about love!" Smoochie smoochie!

I'd like to close with the words of a very wise woman:

Baby seems we never ever agree
You like the movies
And I like T.V.
I take things serious
And you take 'em light
I go to bed early
And I party all night
Our friends are sayin'
We ain't gonna last
Cuz I move slowly
And baby I'm fast
I like it quiet
And I love to shout
But when we get together
It just all work out

I take-2 steps forward
I take-2 steps back
We come together
Cuz opposites attract
And you know-it ain't fiction
Just a natural fact
We come together
Cuz opposites attract

~Paula Abdul