Collaborative Inquiry

Yesterday was the first day of the class that I am taking this year.  (Each year I take a grad class to keep ideas fresh and stay up to date on new things in education---usually I take the class at the beginning of the summer.  This year I found an amazing opportunity that is 3 Saturdays and will be done just in time for spring break!!).  I knew this class would be great because the instructor is one that I absolutely love.  Every time I've taken a class or even a workshop with her I have left with ideas that I could use right away.  Yesterday was no different!!

I left the house at 6:30 because I wasn't sure about the directions.  I made my way with no hurry or worry about time because google told me I would arrive by 8:30.  Even with a stop at Wal-mart and a gas station, I arrived at 8:28.  (Next time I will leave about 1/2 an hour later).

Went inside, picked my seat, chatted with Deb, and took a quick little walk around Shannon before class started.  Once everyone arrived, Deb went over the class layout and collected fees.  Everyone completed the registration process and the day began.  GAMES GAMES GAMES.

My notes:

How can I get kids to learn the content with games?   What about taking the learning to the next level?

If you’re playing games for fun that’s okay but honor that.

Competition does different things for different kids.

Where the Cool Wind Blows (add content)

Codename

With spelling words

With vocab

With topics

Card Games

Canadian Salad

Spades Rule

I've never taken a class that holds people over but nobody complains.  That happened.  We were all so busy and enjoying what we were doing that at 3:10 when we realized it was past the dismissal time, we just kept playing!  Deb wrapped up the day and gave us our "assignment" for next class.  I'm so excited to create my games.  I got home and had to share some game time with the family, too!  

Wrapping up the Week

This week was such a fun-filled and fabulous one!  Here is a link to our newsletter.

I also wanted to share some fabulous resources that go along with our IMMIGRATION Unit.  We started with a 4 corners poster activity to brainstorm what we knew and to record some of our questions.    Then we did a literature log to go along with this story:  Dreaming of America by Eve Bunting.  If you follow the link, you can listen to the story again.  There were so many great thoughts and questions as we read the story.  Afterwards Michael did some extra research about the main character.   Here's a link to one of the sites that he read.

Next week we will be welcoming a new friend to our classroom.  Thanks for checking out what's happening!

Writing with Different Purposes

This week I shared a couple of lessons on Author's Purpose with the class.  I'm really happy with the end results even though our time was cut short due to a snow day on Wednesday.   Below you will find examples of what students wrote to show persuade, inform, or entertain.   Enjoy!   Feel free to leave us a comment here or on our facebook page!

Persuade
     Everyone should have a cat.  If you had a cat you would be healthier and happier.  Cats provide an instant feeling of calm that you would enjoy.  Take it from someone like me, everyone should have a cat.

     When was the last time that you went for a walk with a dog?   If you were outside in the cool air holding on to the leather leash of a fine, divine dog, you would know just how wonderful taking a walk with a dog can be.


Inform
    Dairy cows are very interesting animals.  They are raised for producing milk.  Cows have 4 stomachs to digest many things that we can't. The four stomachs are the Rumen, Reticulum, Abomasom, and Omasom.  You may think the only way to milk a cow is by hand but there are many ways to milk cows.  You can milk by hand, by machine, or with a robot.  Calves are young cows.  Calves drink milk.

     I'd like to tell you all about dogs.  Let's get started.  Sometimes dogs can get a fever and to tell that a dog has a fever your dog might be vomiting, have a dry nose, not eat, and so on.  The way to get rid of a dog's fever is to put wet towels over their ears and paws.  Rest is also important.  After awhile try to give them some food and water but don't push them to eat it.  Give them time and space.  After a little while they should be feeling better.  If the dogs ears are hot, they might have a fever.  These are excellent ways to tell if your dog has a fever.

Entertain
   I have a husky named Lexie.  Would you believe that she cleans my room and does my homework?  She is very happy.   She even looks like a leopard.   She is so cute to watch especially when we are having Nerf Gun wars.  We have so much fun together.  While I am at school Lexie usually sleeps in a tin can.  She's a tiny husky.  One time she got stuck in the tin can.  We got her out with a silver spoon.  This little husky named Lexie weighs just one pound.

   Have you met Zoey the Zebra?  You haven't?  Well I will tell you her story.  Get comfy.  This might take a while.  Zoey is one of a kind.  She was a rap star like no other:  funny, nice, and rich.  She had one problem.  Her problem was that she was the sassy kind.  One day she was bragging on and on telling everyone that she had so much money.  A witch came along with some words to warn her.  The witch let Zoey know that if she didn't stop bragging, Scarlet the pup would disappear.  The witch was very specific with her expectations. She said that at noon the next day Zoey would lose Scarlet.  Everyone knows to trust a warning from a witch but Zoey didn't think it could be real.  She really thought the witch had been part of a dream.  Well sure enough when 12:00 came, Scarlet the pup shrunk away.  Some people say that she still runs around Zoey's house late at night or early in the morning.  There are even reports that the witch and Scarlet check out Zoey's house every day at noon.      

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Running Wrap Up for 2016

 "Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it."
                                     --Oprah

As 2016 comes to an end, I have been reflecting on the past year and setting new goals for 2017.  On January 1, 2016, I was having a pity party for myself.  My way of getting out of my funk was to sign up for a challenge - "Run the Year."  The challenges was put on by Run the Edge and it meant that I would attempt to complete 2016 running miles during 2016.  I decided from the beginning that I was only going to count my intentional running miles.  It averaged out to be just over 5.5 miles a day.  That seemed manageable.  Even if I missed a day here or there, I would have some long runs on the weekends.  I also hoped that I could bank some extra miles during the summer (spoiler:   that didn't happen!).

To everyone who thinks, "I could never...."  I encourage you to TRY!  Whether your, "I could never..." has to do with running or anything, set a goal and go for it.  The journey will be worth the work.

I didn't quite meet the goal of 2016 miles but I am really happy with what I was able to finish the year with.  I stayed healthy and never went more than 2 days in a row without running.  I couldn't have done this without the support of my family (Rog, the kids, my dad, my sister, etc.),  friends (the ones who came to run races with me, the ones that showed up at finish lines to surprise me, the ones who ran to train with me, the ones who encouraged me to keep working toward my goal), co-workers (who knew my goal and believed that I could possibly do it), and even strangers!  My running journey this year has been amazing.  It helped me balance life so much better than in years past.

So  I didn't meet the mileage goal of 2016 but here's a summary of what I did accomplish:



4 10Ks

1 15K

2 10 milers (including a crazy TRAIL run)

3 half-marathons


Best Mileage month:  November (200)

Total Miles for the Year:  1941
Avg miles per day:  5.32

After the Mississippi Riverview 10K --1st place
female!

96.3% complete----In grading terms that would still be an A.



75 miles short....

January - 143 miles
February - 108 miles
March -158 miles
April - 132 miles
May - 160 miles
June - 159 miles
July - 168 miles
August - 177 miles
September - 175 miles
October - 171 miles
November -200 miles
December - 190 miles

Day of the week with the most miles - SUNDAYS with 327 miles

Will I attempt this challenge in 2017?  DEFINITELY and my sister is joining me!!
Goals for 2017:
-Run a double-digit long run at least once a month
-Complete Core de Force 30 day program before my 1st half on April 1
-Run a sub 1:50 half at some point this year
-Drink water  (this one is probably the toughest one for me....)

Mel from Fellow Flowers (Just completed their challenge to move you a** for 30 minutes EVERY day), had a live video as I was finishing up this post and she challenged us to answer these 4 questions:
What was your biggest lesson?
What have you left undone?   What still isn't figured out?
What did you accomplish?   What were your really great wins?
What should you let go of?  What can you leave in 2016?

Minneapolis Hot Chocolate 15K

2016 taught me many lessons (as do all years and experiences).  I think my biggest lesson is that PERSPECTIVE is a powerful and important thing.  I love the commercial  where the characters say the exact same things but they mean VERY different things.  I like to think of myself as an optimist but this year I learned that I need to work on my perspective.  How I am viewing things and feeling because of things hurts me when it doesn't need to.  The year also taught me that my favorite distance is 13.1 miles.  In 2017 I am going to focus on halves---6 races at that distance.   The first 4 (April, April, June, and July) will allow me to wrap up 40 halves in my 40th year!!!! (I'm super excited about that---especially since I was NOT a runner until my mid 30s.)

I have left some miles undone and some things I don't have figured out is how to improve my communication with others.....I'll keep working on that.


Accomplishments are many.  I made it through a big family vacation and I'm still talking to my sister ;-)   just kidding.   We had an amazing time!  I ran almost 2000 miles!  I traveled on my own but also with friends.  I tried running with people (very hard for this introvert who really uses running time for the quiet solitude).  I was a 1st place female in a 10K. I have continued to grow and learn and try new things (including a zumba class--outside my comfort zone for sure).  I have continued to laugh and love hard.  My biggest accomplishment this year is that I still have passion for the things I do.



I need to let go of worry.  I need to leave behind feeling like I need to control things so much.

Thank you, 2016, for the lessons.  I am moving into 2017 in a great place!

PS--- I had to edit this to add a pic of me with my sister.