Christmas

Stephanie and I had a wonderful Christmas. We both so feel so blessed and fortunate to have family and friends around us. Stephanie's parents were able to come over from Billings to spend some time with us. Rick and I were going to repair to roof on our carport, but it turned out to be a bigger job than either of us expected, and will wait for this summer. We were able to celebrate Christmas a few days early with Rick, Elaine, Isaac, Jeff and Michelle. Isaac is an expert at opening gifts. Wrapping paper doesn't stand a chance! It is so cool to watch him grow up.

On Christmas Eve, we had dinner at Jeff and Michelle's, than went to my brother Nick's house for desert and presents with them. Mostly, we took turns holding and playing with Jacob. He had a little santa outfit on, and is just the happiest little baby. He got a jumping swing thing, and loves it.

Christmas day was spent at our home in Port Orchard. Tim, Mom and Dad came over, and we did presents with them. The rest of the day was spent playing with the three dogs, eating a wonderful ham dinner, lounging around, and just plain enjoying each other's company.

As I finish writing this, I can't help but think how blessed our family is. Everyone is healthy, safe, and loved. I can't ask for anything more.

Wow, wind

The windstorm knocked out our power for almost 24 hours starting Thursday night. The wind woke us up and I watched nearby trees sway at impossible angles. The gusts were incredible. We could hear them coming through the trees, and then feel as they slammed into our little house. We feel very thankful and fortunate that our home wasn't damaged, no one we know was injured, and that our power is back on again. Thanks PSE! Around Port Orchard, we saw many fallen trees. The photos show one near our home, and the power lines it took down.

Electric Joy

The Christmas lights went up on the house today. It was raining out, as required, but they went up fairly quickly. I also replaced the electrical outlet near our front porch. I think it was original vintage 1954 - it broke apart as I was removing it. The lights look great, nothing too fancy, but full of holiday spirit. Tomorrow we'll get the Christmas tree, or as our cat calls it, the jungle gym.

A Major Award! (no, not a bowling alley)

Today I got the good news that I am the recipient of a SmartBoard interactive whiteboard for my classroom. I wrote a grant several months ago to a foundation at the University of Washington, and have been anxiously waiting for a several weeks to hear. This addition just about rounds out the technology in my classroom - I have GPS receivers, digital temperature probes, a remote student response system, a wireless slate, document camera, and digital projector. I have been so fortunate to receive it all through awards, grants, and curriculum. The SmartBoard has the potential to completely change the way lessons are presented, and the level of student involvement I can achieve. Gone will be the regular roll down screen. Students will be able to write directly on the board using "digital ink" with just their finger. They will be able to construct graphic organizers by moving objects around and typing text into them - with just their fingers! Classroom technology has come a long way since overhead projectors and film strips. Hopefully, it will be up and running by the new year!

Nope, not the butler...

It seems that the mystery of King Tut's death has been solved. It wasn't a candlestick, letter opener, or revolver. A simple infection resulting from a broken leg (maybe someone broke it intentionally?). I know it is morbid, but I was hoping for something more juicy. As a kid, I was fascinated by King Tut. I drew pictures of the sarcophagus in high school, and really dug into ancient Egyptian history. A great mystery, finally solved - except for the curse part.

Poinsettia Fundraiser

Sixth grade students at Sidney Glen go to outdoor education camp in March. We head off to Olympic Park Institute near Lake Crescent. This year will be our second year, and the students are pretty excited. Money presents a major obstacle for this experience. With over 100 students attending at a cost of over $150 each, we have our work cut out for us. Selling poinsettias as a fundraiser is the first major way students can earn money towards their camp cost. This year, they sold more than 200 poinsettias! Belfair Valley Nursery generously sold us the plants at a much reduced price, and then students sold them to friends and family. They were beautiful all together.

Wet Blanket

It is wet and soggy, but it is definitely snow! This morning we awoke to a layer of heavy flakes. Stephanie immediately played the "Skating" song from Charlie Brown's Christmas CD, and made hot chocolate. Toby was let outside, and he played around, biting and throwing it up into the air. Toby usually hates the rain and getting wet, but snow is different - he ran around and played by himself for about five minutes. It is forecasted that it will snow again this evening and again on Monday morning. Will there be a delayed start to school?

Thanksgiving Hijinks & Homage to Laika

When my family gets together, there is always a fair amount of goofing around. The three dogs were the brunt of our jokes this year. After Tim and my mom made antenna for Emily and Holly, Toby joined in on the fun. Soon all three dogs were sporting aluminum foil headgear. Emily stated that she was "Thankful and proud to pay homage to the first dog in space, Laika." Toby agreed by wagging his tail, and Holly headed toward the back door to be let outside.

Mystery Tube of Science

This was a short week at school - perfect for the Mystery Tube of SCIENCE! The Mystery Tube has four holes, and strings come out of each. When one string is pulled, the others react in unexpected ways. They are all linked somehow - and that is for the students to figure out. They are given a Pringles can and as much string as they want. This is more than a puzzle - it is a way for students to work their way through a problem using scientific thinking skills. They must observe, ask questions, make and test predictions, and compare their results to the model. The first group to solve it did it in about two hours. On the final day, I gave some clues, and almost all groups were able to build their own Mystery Tube, which they promptly took home to amaze family and friends over Thanksgiving Break.

Shocking!

This afternoon at about 1:30, and powerful storm moved through the Puget Sound area. My students were at lunch recess, and the pea sized hail fell as the bell rang. As I went out the get them, thunder and lightning rocked the area. After we got to class, I turned on our LCD projector, and we watched the Doppler Radar animation of the storm moving toward Seattle. It finally got there, and let loose with lightning and hail. Three buildings in Downtown Seattle were struck, simultaneously! I love crazy weather, but not too crazy.

November Evening

After all the rain and wind and a disappointing Seahawks loss, the sunset tonight was refreshing. Steph and I are looking forward to a short 2 1/2 day week at school and a long Thanksgiving Break next weekend.

A weekend at Pete's

My brother Tim came over and spent Friday and Saturday night with us. We had a great time watching select episodes of the second season of the Office, eating pizza, and building lego robots. Tim built a great praying mantis model, and I built a robot that follows a line on the floor. It was harder than I thought, but I'm getting the hand of engineering and programming Lego robots (how old am I?). This afternoon we watched the Hawks game, in which Josh Brown scored a last minute, game winning field goal against the Rams. The game was made even better by the entire jar of salsa con queso we consumed.

FEMA, can you handle this?

Earth has it's fair share of violent storms. Hurricanes and typhoons form in our oceans and batter nearby land-masses, and people. Recently, there seems to have been a rise in the frequency and intensity of Atlantic Hurricanes, although currently there haven't been any major doozies this year. Some scientists think that this might be related to global warming. On Saturn, the hurricanes don't mess around.

At 5,000 miles across (two-thirds the diameter of Earth) and 350 mph, this thing packs a punch. It isn't really a hurricane though - there is no ocean below it, it does not drift around, but has eye-wall clouds. The most amazing thing is that these eye-wall clouds allow scientists to see farther down into Saturn's interior than ever before. FEMA, get those trailers ready.

This isn't good...

So getting a kit a build a robot may not be all it is cracked up to be. Apparently, robots think humans taste like bacon. If robots love bacon as much as I do, we should be worried.

Mindstorms NXT

Today I received a Lego Mindstroms NXT building kit for my classroom. A generous community member wanted to donate the system to a classroom, and after a grant-type selection process, I was chosen. The kit was delivered in a tough Pelican case with a Masterlock. The Pelican case has foam cut to fit the pieces, which are in small compartmentalized containers. Not only did I receive the Lego kit, but it came packaged in an indestructible, waterproof custom made case! Wow! During the next few days I am going to figure out how to build and program the NXT system, then I'll get it going in my classroom.

Blog changes ... and rain



I changed the title of my blog today to reflect the fact that I want to publish more than just about things that happen in my classroom. The previous title was "Mr. Darragh's Class".

Today was the second day of the projected three day rain/wind experience for Washington. It was rained over 2.5 inches in just 2 days! Snoqualmie Falls is raging, and flooding is predicted for low lying areas such as Skagit Valley. In anticipation of this deluge, I worked on our roof and gutters today. Our carport basically needs a new roof, but it will do for now, and our shed needed a few repairs.

Tomorrow might be a big day at school. I applied for a Lego NXT Mindstorm kit through a grant provided by a community member. I think I will receive it, and am really looking forward to learning how to use it, and then use it in my classroom. Tomorrow in class we begin a new math investigation, and start memoir writing. Soon, I hope to get the kids outside and use the GPS devices that PTA bought for my class a couple of years ago. The geocache that was placed two years ago was recently muggled, so it is time to place a new one with this class.

The Legendary Marble Challenge

A few years ago I was wondering what to do with some marbles I had in my classroom cupboard. The marble challenge was created, and it has become a lesson that students hear about, and look forward to. The challenge is to build a ramp, or ramps, which will make the marble take the longest time possible to roll down them. Students are only given a sheet of tag-board, masking tape, and marble, and access to a timer. Groups work together over two class periods to build their ramp construction. Students test their ramps and make changes, sometimes redesigning the entire structure. Finally, it is time for the "official" timing. Each groups gets three chances, and their longest time is recorded. Although there is a competitive aspect to this lesson, the main point is for students to learn to work as an effective team, to understand to adaptive nature of design and science, and to test their predictions. Can they do all these and still have a great time? Absolutely!

The Process Begins...
Today we started the formal writing part of our class. The first lesson focussed on "Writing Territories", a lesson from the book, "Lessons That Change Writers", by Nancie Atwell. Each day during our writing time, students will be taught a mini-lesson and have time for structured or independent writing. By the end of the year, students will have learned to write in a variety of genres and will have taken several pieces completely through the writing process. It will be a busy and productive year, but by spending quality time each day writing, these sixth graders will become proficient and confident writers!

The first few days of school are the most important of the entire year. The classroom tone is set, expectations and procedures are established, and the students begin to form a community of learners. One of the fun activities that students participate in is the "Straw-Tower Challenge". This lesson helps students see that working as a cooperative team, they can be successful. Group work in class is a part of almost each day during the year. Students need to be self-sufficient, but they also need to learn how to work together to accomplish a common goal.