PPBF: So Much Slime

Happy PPBF; today we're talking about something puzzling.

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PPBF: Our Classroom Rules

Today I'm feeling grateful that my friends at Teacher 2 Teacher

would want to share this reflection about student agency.

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PPBF: Whitney Wins Everything

Happy April, dear readers. Today I'm still thinking

about the amazing blanket of bluebonnets that are 

in full bloom down here in Texas right now.

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From Silos To Bunkers

How can it be that in less than a week it'll be February already?

In preparation, I spent yesterday making this friendship resource.

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PPBF: The Tallest Tree House

Do you ever feel like this as you slide into summertime?

What are your go-to strategies

to prevent this from happening?

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Making Something Spectacular

Today I'm thinking about how cool it is when parts come together 

to make something whole.

About how seemingly small pieces quickly combine 

to create something really special.

About how every little contribution

makes a big difference.

It's something that has been on my mind for a while now, something that came to the forefront today as our fifth graders started to paint their mosaic mural.

Each student paints their portion of the mural, whose theme this year depicts how our school and community came together to help one another recover and restore after hurricane Harvey blew through.

UPDATE: After day 2.

Finished masterpiece: Restoration

We actually once made a rainstorm five-hundred-students strong at one of our character assemblies, to illustrate what happens when we all do something small to create something big.

In unity, strength.

I love experiencing the magic when parts of the whole 
unify to make something spectacular.

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When Life Gets Dicey

Today I'm excited because yesterday I saw the most beautiful light in this child's eyes. Meet Bella, one of my fifth-grade girls. I can't remember if I shared her story yet or not, but we snapped this picture in our Clothing Exchange, shortly after Hurricane Harvey took everything but her clothes away. She wanted to donate these beautiful items, some that still had price tags on them, because the flood made her realize that she didn't need so much stuff. She said she knew that there would be someone who did lose their clothes and needs it more than she did. 

And she was right.

Just to give you a frame of reference, this is Bella's house during

 Hurricane Harvey.

Please don't misunderstand; Bella smiles every day. In fact, she's one of the sweetest children I know. In kindergarten and first, she used to draw me these beautiful pictures and write me these heartwarming love notes. It was clear early on that Bella has a heart bigger than the flood that would one day destroy her living quarters. {I'm pretty sure she gets it from her mom!}

So why was Bella's smile extra big yesterday?

Because today is move-in day, to their new house.

She was simply giddy with joy as she told me the good news and added that the move would be pretty easy, too, since all they have to move is their clothes.

Can you imagine?

Life has been really dicey for Bella and her family and their neighbors. But she has managed to find a silver lining along with a way to hang on to her joy and to 

be the rainbow in someone else's storm.

Bella, your school counselor is so proud of you

and grateful for the impact your kindness footprint is making.

We're so happy that you'll be home for the holidays!

Speaking of dicey, have you heard the great news?

Our friends Susan Ragsdale and Ann Saylor

have published the Dice Edition of Great Group Games 

just in time for your holiday gift-giving.

Click the image to purchase it on Amazon.

I've already read through it and earmarked the games

that I want to try with my superheroes:

My favorite part has to be that all of the games include a Going Deeper section to help sustain the activities and make them more meaningful.

 And since we all know that play heals,

this will be a great resource to keep next to that

favorite pair of dice for when life gets dicey

and you need a play break.

Click image to download and share with family and friends.

Who's ready to roll? 

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PBLs: Engineering Experiences

As we head in to Joshua's last 9 week of high school, I find myself reflecting on the projects that he really connected with and enjoyed during his days, months and years at Friendswood High School. 

Hands down our favorite from junior year is when he built this boat. 

With these two teammates. 

From cardboard. 

And clear packing tape.

Photo courtesy of FISD

I know it made a splash with Joshua because he chose to write about it for his college and scholarship essays.

After seeing this picture on Twitter and curious about this project-based learning experience, high school teacher & blogger Brian Sztabnik asked to interview Joshua. Here's what our son had to say.

1. What was the assignment? In a team of three or four students, build a boat (designed to withstand the weight of two high school students crossing the school's pool) out of only cardboard and clear packing tape.

2. What unit was the assignment situated in? AP Physics - the Archimedes Principle.

3. What permissions, clearance, scheduling, etc was needed to complete this activity? The teachers had to schedule time in the natatorium for the boating race. We students had to schedule weekend meetings to build our boats from cardboard boxes.

4. What instructions were provided to the students? Click {here}.

5. What content-area learning occurred during this activity? Testing the Archimedes Principle (buoyancy). 

From Mr. McGowan, the Physics teacher: Boats come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. And, some have trouble going the same direction as others. Have you ever wondered how a large supertanker filled with oil can float? Objects submerged in a fluid such as water appear to weigh less than they do when they are not in the water. The liquid exerts a buoyant force on the object. Archimedes is credited with discovering that the buoyant force on an object is equal to the weight of the displaced fluid. He is said to have discovered this principle in his bath while trying to think of a way to determine whether the king's new crown was gold or a fake. Legend says that he ran naked through the streets shouting, "Eureka." Archimedes Principle also applies to floating objects. An object floats on a liquid if its density is less than that of the fluid. For our supertanker to float it must displace a volume of water equal to its weight.

6. What soft skills did students demonstrate during this activity? We had to work together to make calculations, design and draw their boats. After we submitted the initial report and boat design, we had to talk to each other to plan and then schedule work dates. We had to cooperate and be flexible, working around other school projects, activities like band and cross country, and work schedules. The process of building the boat took negotiation and teamwork, for sure. When one of the four members failed to show up, the three of us who did all of the work had to discuss what, if anything, we needed to do about that. 

From Barbara: When I, as the mom of the student who hosted the boat-building sessions, asked the senior in the group how this project has been for him, he answered, "It's been fun; it helps that I have some nice guys to work with." The other teammate, a junior, responded, "Joshua's sometimes in a big hurry and we have to slow him down, but other than that, it's been good."    

7. What does project-based learning mean to you? It's kind of fun to do the projects, but it's the reflection piece that really stretches us to extend our learning, to think more deeply about it, to grow from it. There's also an assessment piece that forces us to take a critical look at our work.

For example, we had four boys, but only 3 showed up. Ever. Except for to the actual race. In the report, we had to grade ourselves. We gave ourselves each a 10 but when we gave the teammate who never showed up a 2, it dropped our scores to an 8 each, even though we showed up every time and did all of the work. (If we would have given him a 1, our scores would have dropped to a 7.5) So we really learned the importance of showing up and being a responsible team member. 

8. Could this learning have occurred in other ways? What was gained in the process? What was lost? We really didn't think our boat would make it across the natatorium pool. At all. We worked really hard to give it a good try, but we remained skeptical. Then on Sunday when we checked our boats in and saw ours compared to others, we thought we'd done a pretty decent job building it anyway. We were pleasantly surprised that our boat made it across in 38 seconds and could have gone back and forth a few more times. We ended up in 7th place out of 50 boats. I was disappointed we didn't land in the top five, because then we'd have gotten extra credit, but being in the first heat, we just didn't know how fast we'd have to paddle to get a competitive time.

9. How time consuming is it to do activities like this in class? We spent about 21 hours of out-of-class time on this project, which counted as a major test grade.

10. What other project-based learning do you do? We haven't really had a lot of these in school; I'd say Science Fair is another significant project-based learning I've done. Senior year we did a Poetry Museum in AP English IV. We had to research a poet, study one of his poems, find complementary artwork and music, analyze the poem, make a brochure and a visual presentation, recite the poem, and present our research in class and at Poetry Museum Night to an audience.

We are so grateful to the passionate educators who engineer experiences for our kids to encourage them to think and grow outside of the {cardboard} box.

What project-based learning experiences do you offer at your school?

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The Power of the Circle

Today I'm energized because yesterday afternoon I got to visit my high school PALs for a few minutes. Those superheroes-in-training exude excitement about the chance to empower and supercharge those special someones under their care this year. I gave them each one of these capes to decorate as we anticipate and eagerly await their flight to our campus:

Click to order yours from Really Good Stuff.

It's a visual representation, I told them, of who they are.
Our first impression of them and what they'll bring to us.
We can't wait to see their superpowers posted on our walls.

Speaking of superpowers, I found this tiny treasure on my morning walk ...

and it made me think about the power of circling up.
Part of the excitement about my new space is that we've got lots of room now, 
to huddle up, 
to sit and stand in a circle,
to sing, move and laugh together.
Knee to knee, shoulder to shoulder, sometimes hand in hand even,
with the person beside us.
Eye to eye with the friends in our group. 
To utilized inner-outer circle pair and share time.
To engage in team-building time.
And to look at each other with a message that clearly conveys
"I see you. You matter!" 
as we play to learn and connect to lead. 

On my walk I also got to thinking about the circular nature
of collective responsibility {So much interconnectedness when I walk}.

In our #leadupchat Twitter talk this morning, Bob Abrams shared this food for thought nugget that was posted on a wall in the gym at a Chinese school, so I attached it to the picture I took this week of Joshua in his new FHS letterman jacket.

Such a powerful reflection question ... 
How do I make my school proud?
... one which we could ask ourselves wherever we go. 
How do I make myself proud? 
My family proud?
My friends proud? 
My community proud? 
My Higher Power proud?

And why might it matter?

 I guess it boils down to this:
What goes around comes around.
And therein lies the power of the circle.

How do you use circle time to empower your super class family?

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Talk About Teamwork

It's so hard to explain with words how spectacular 

our third-grade Orffestra is ...

so I decided to show, not tell.

Click {here} for an Orffestrations Pinterest page,

then prepare to enjoy a delightful musical treat

under the direction of Matthew Gammons:

That might be why I love music so much,

because the life skills learned reach so far beyond

just reading notes and counting rhythms on a page.

Talk about teamwork

and

self-discipline,

responsibility,
perseverance,

reliability,

dependability,

trustworthiness,

accountability,

determination,

dedication,

collaboration,

sacrifice,

need I go on?

Make it a musical, harmonious Wednesday.

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Destination Imagination

As March turns into April, one of our fifth-grade Destination Imagination Teams has a big State Competition coming up.

Imagine my surprise when I saw them gracing the front cover

of this local magazine as I was about to recycle it!

Just beautiful, especially since DI is designed

with kids in mind ... as the project masterminds.

It's all kids.

Their thoughts, their designs, their productions.

Oh, sure, there's a sponsor, but basically she's an adult

who is on site when they create just to keep them safe, encourage them, and cheer them on. That's it. I've seen it work. 

Talk about voice and choice!

The State-bound Survivor Diver's sponsor is our very own second-grade teacher Peggy Matejowsky, whose daughter happens to be on the five-member team. And did I mention that they also won the special Renaissance Award for their exceptional performance?

Innovative. Inspirational. Incredible.

Here's the magazine article to tell the story.

Congratulations, Survivor Divers. We're so very proud of you

and we wish you well at State and as you lead us into the future!

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The FUN in Fundamental

Today we're home on a inclement weather day and I'm thinking about fun because of a blog post I read this morning over at PreKandKSharing. 

It was there I was reminded that:

Then I discovered this fun film clip - Sesame Street style -

featuring one of my favorite musical groups, Pentatonix.

Talk about putting the fun back into fundamental! They're basically just singing the numbers, but it's done in such a way that it promotes the solo, the duet, the trio, the quartet, and the quintet, all getting along and working together to make 

magical music.

I don't know about you, but I also hear a very strong character piece peace. One, I'm basically by myself and that's okay, for now. But add another voice (one plus one makes two) and we're a little stronger; it's more fun because someone's at my side. With three we can do a little more, and so on and so on. 

Teamwork. 

We can't all talk at the same time, 

but we can totally all sing at the same time. 

In harmony. 

With or without instrumental back-up. 

So many choices; such rewarding consequences.

Can't you just feel the fun they're having?

It's like an invitation that begs me us to sing along:

Come and play, everything's A-okay!

Have some fun on this sNOw-school day ...

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Winning Is A State Of Mind

Yesterday just after noon, my school family had the pleasure at school of seeing our Hometown Heroes off as they headed to State Marching Band Competition. 

It's one of the perks of small-town living for sure!

Tonight I'm coming off an incredible, natural high after spending the day at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio watching the 28 high school marching bands that made it to State. I met my two older children there to watch our youngest, Joshua, compete with his band family.

Here's how it works: There are 250 4A-sized high schools in our state; bands who score a Division 1 rating advance out of their district to Area, then one band for every five advances to State.

In our area, that was four bands. Two of those bands, Friendswood and Dawson, made it out of the preliminary competition and headed in the top ten bands to finals competition. 

Click {here} if you would like to watch this year's show, 

Metallic Treasures.

This year's competition was tougher than ever, 

and we ended up ranking fifth in the State of Texas. 

Here's what I know ... there will be some disappointment with fifth place. Because we set our standards high. And because of how hard we've worked. And because of the illusion of the illustrious gold medal that we've created over the years. 

But here's what else I know ... winning is a state of mind. Because there were thousands of students who didn't even get a trip to the Alamo Dome today because they didn't advance out of their district or their area. 
So just getting there makes us winners. 

Making magic with a band 271-members strong makes us winners. 

Placing in the top five at State for the 7th time makes us winners.

And leaving it all on the field, heart and soul, makes us winners.

So tonight before I turn in, I'm thanking all of the directors and anyone who had a hand in mentoring, guiding, counseling, teaching, and loving our children so that they can be the best that they can be. I am inspired and humbled by the gift that you've given to our future. Please accept our most sincere gratitude for sharing your time and your talents.

And I'm congratulating each and every one of those thousands of musicians and guard members who performed at State, whether you ranked in the top ten or not. Your diligence, devotion, dedication and drive will take you places that you can't even imagine going. Keep up the good work and thank you for being role models to the kids on the curb who want to be just like you one day.

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