SNAPSHOT: CPR on 15 Nov 2012

 Circle of Power and Respect is the way we start our day in the NMY. It is a vital component in our program and allows us to create community, deal with issues, discuss life skills and to have some fun. At this point in the year, the sixth graders are running our circles. They are leading us in a greeting, discussion/share, and an activity. They must manage their time, their classmates and keep the circle flowing. They try on different leadership styles and find what works best for them. We also give each other feedback on how the circle was run and ways to improve for our next circle.

Today, MG lead us in an exciting and unique CPR. He designed his whole CPR around using the giant parachute from PE class as his theme. We all enjoyed the new environment and applauded his creativity and planning. This is our second well-run student meeting and I am excited to see what else the students in store for the coming weeks!

SNAPSHOT: Science 7 Nov 12

I had a fun today with the sixth graders trying to answer two questions: what is a volt? what is a watt? It may sound peculiar to call this "fun," but it is what I love about my job. The class was asked to do some homework to explore and find their own definitions of these terms. What came back were very intense Google/Wikipedia answers. We put them up on the board and we took them apart word by word until we had constructed our own understanding of the terms. I came up with a strangely useful analogy using football and one of our wonderful seventh graders, AH. We learned, we laughed, we wrestled with complex concepts and walked away more knowledgeable, thoughtful and content with a class well spent. 

Thank you, sixth grade for a great class!

SNAPSHOT: Science 30 Oct 12

Excited about Circuits
 The class jumped feet first into exploring electricity. We defined what electricity is and then looked at the two types of electricity: static and current electricity. Developing an understanding of these categories, the students were eager to get into the lab and get their hands on some electrical equipment. Students have had several class to experiment and dig up their understanding of how circuits work. They were challenged to make various circuits: two-battery circuits, parallel and series circuits, and circuits with motors.

SNAPSHOT: Math on 16 Oct 2012

In math class, the students spent time identifying the words associated with the basic operations. They combed all their previous experiences in school to find all the different ways they had been asked to add, subtract, multiply and divide. All of this was in preparation for translating written words into algebraic expressions and equations.

Can you think of any more?