After completing Eldest by Christopher Paolini, I began to read Brisingr, the third book in the Inheritance series. I am finding this book to show more maturity than the two previous books. Of course, the author, who was 15 years old when he wrote the first book, Eragon, is now in his mid-twenties and has grown as a writer. The story is not only engaging, but also, exciting. As I read, I find myself comparing it to Lord of the Rings and Star Wars--many similarities, but yet different. I can't wait to see how the story unfolds!

The "Substitute"

On my second "shadowing" trip, I visited 6th grade Pre-AP classes. During 2nd period, I decided to go to Choir--even though I knew the teacher was out and a "sub" was in the class. What an experience! I got to see real 6th grade behaviors! Most of the students totally ignored the very cute guy; but some of the girls really enjoyed interacting with him. Some of the girls wanted me to take their pictures but insisted that Mr. Farmer be in the photo. During the class, several of the girls tried to direct the class and do the things the teacher usually did (drills, singing, etc.). The students were never "out of control", but their behavior was so different from what I saw in the other classes.

A Day in the Life of a 6th Grader

“I hope I can find the classes I’m supposed to go to!”

“Where’s the restroom?”

“How do I get lunch?”

No, it’s not a 6th grader asking these questions. It’s the slightly older person who thought “shadowing” a 6th grader throughout one day would be a great idea —Me! Ok, it’s been just a few (well more than a few) years since I was a 6th grader and I am curious about what it’s really like. How hard can the life of an eleven year old be? Well, I was about to find out.

The day began at a few minutes before 8:00 a.m. (actually 7:56). I quickly followed my new friend, William, to his locker, where he successfully opened the combination lock, and continued to the first period of the day, math class. In math, the students completed the bell work using calculators to find prime factors and, then, studied for their Five-A-Day (nothing to do with fruits or veggies) test which would be given later in the day. At 8:52, the bell rang and we quickly moved (only three minutes allowed) to William’s English class in which he had to write a description of himself using adjectives. This activity was followed by a review and discussion of Pronouns. After reading a book about The Planet Without Pronouns, the bell rang at 9:42 and we had three minutes to navigate the hallways and get to Art class. William decorated his art project portfolio while other students mixed colors to create a Color Wheel. After completing their projects, the students checked their grades on EdLine.
The bell to end the period rang at precisely 10:32 and we proceeded to band. This was an exciting day because the students got their instruments. A very patient band director helped the students assemble their instruments. Can you imagine twenty 6th graders sitting still waiting for the director to get to them? Well, it didn’t happen here. The situation can be compared to telling a child to just sit and look at a Christmas present without opening it. Not gonna happen! The band director was very patient and permitted the students to manipulate the instruments and make all those weird sounds that only beginning band students could possible manage. Watching them was so much fun!
But, it was time to move on to the next period—11:20. The next period was Lunch—which I was very much looking forward to! What more could I ask for than a chili dog with cheese, a salad, and pickles! Yum! After eating the delicious meal, we went outside for about 20 minutes until the bell rang at 12:00. We had until 12:03 to get to back to the math class where William completed the Five-A-Day math test using TI-15 calculators. After completing the test, students could read, write notes to each other, or talk to their friends. The 12:48 bell rang (only three more periods to go!) and we went to Science class.
By 7th period, I have to admit, I was beginning to get a little tired and, I noticed, so were the students. I saw eyes glaze over more than once, but the teacher seemed to expect this to happen and planned activities that provided opportunities for moving around. The period ended at 12:51, and we used our three minutes to make it to 8th period, Social Studies. The teacher reminded students of the vocabulary test on Monday and gave them words to review.
It was now 2:26, time for the 9th (and last!) period of the day, Reading. The students were just finishing the book The People Under the Bridge and the teacher read parts of the book aloud to the students. The teacher showed pictures of the Eiffel tower and gypsies she had found on the Internet to assist student’s understanding of the story. Even though the teacher was keeping the student’s attention, my eyes kept straying to the clock and counting the minutes until 3:15 when the period (and day) would be over. I just knew I could make it!

A Day in the Life of a 6th Grader

Last Friday, I "shadowed" a 6th grader to find out what life was really like in the 6th grade. I can't wait to tell you all about it! Check back later for more details.

Typical 6th Graders!

Monday, Sept. 8

Last week's weather was weird, to say the least. Labor Day started the week and then, Gustav made his visit leaving trees down across the road and power outages for more hours than I like. That in itself should have made for time for deep contemplation of how we as humans are at the mercy of the elements in more ways than we want to acknowledge. Students in school are always restless when weather conditions are unsettled. I wonder how many new teachers are aware of this concept? Probably very few.

I am trying to present my online classes in a different format this semester. Less assignments, more time for completion. It's good for me in that I don't have to post a new module every week--lots of work, but it seems to be less confusing for the students. I do miss that interpersonal connections of hearing from them more and reading their responses on the discussion board. Maybe it's just because it's the first of the semester and everything is crazy for them now. Maybe after things "settle down" I will have more contact with them. Maybe I just want more control over their learning instead of trusting them to learn in their own way what they need to know. What they need to know right now is SURVIVAL. Content Literacy may not be high on the list. Well, perhaps we will get around to that soon.

The Saturday classes are a pain right now. We had to change some of the dates because of activities on campus. Not sure why that wasn't discovered sooner but, oh well, be flexible and "go with the flow". Because we waited so late to reserve the rooms, no rooms are available. Maybe this issue will be resolved soon. I just have to work on the assignments and plans for the Saturday meetings--which will be soon.

Our friendly UPS dude, Henry, delievered yet another wonderful book to my door on Friday, this one is about Teachers and Action Research. I promised myself I would not work on "school stuff" this weekend (I think there was a promise to read a book for fun in there somewhere...Ok, Ok, reading about action research is fun, for me!). There's some really good, thought-provoking stuff in there. I will have to place it in the "composte pile" and think about it for a little while.

I actually did began reading a book, Eldest (the sequel to Eragon). I have had the third book, Brisinger, pre-ordered for sometime (due out next week) and want to have this book read before my friend Henry brings the new book to my door.

The student blogs are coming along well. Some students are really into it and, for others, it's a challenge. Hopefully, each of them will come to realize the importance of them being writers and this will transfer to their students.

Well, it's another new week and an oportunity to "change the world--one student at a time." Taht's a big challenge but, hopefully, all of us will make a difference.