Snow Day and Earthquake experiences

Well Monday came and went and then the forecast called for snow, LOTS of snow. Not as much as DC but people were preparing. I went to Piggly Wiggly at 9pm and people were stocking up on bread and milk. One couple decided Pepsi and Fiber cereal was the way to go...weird. Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:45am like normal and checked the Milwaukee news and read Kenosha Unified #1 closed...I was back asleep by 5:50am. Woke up and set out to make the day productive, updated the resume and filled out some applications. I know I cant turn them in until May-ish but better to do them now. Wish it was a snow day like I used to have 10 years ago, sledding with B-crew and sipping hot chocolate while playing N64. I wont lie I did get some Super Mario Brothers in on the Wii with Jay.

Apparently all this snow caused and earthquake in Dekalb (I know thats not the real reason). After talking to my friends in Dekalb and hearing they felt little or nothing from this earthquake I didn't expect anyone in Kenosha to feel it, but my first graders did! Here are some of the priceless comments following our talk about the earthquake:

• "I felt my window shaking"
• "I woke up on the other side of the bed so I must have felt it"
• "Do earthquakes only happen after snow days?"
  
• "Can you let me know when the next one is so I can try and feel it?"

Wednesday was a half-day and inservice training for the teachers. I attended the meeting and it was fun to be part of that for the first time. We talked about differentiation in education which was something I was always taught at Carthage so I wasn't lost during it. Today was a LONG day since Tuesday was a day off and Wednesday a half day. I have started preparing and teaching lessons dealing with Social Studies and Science . First graders go NUTS for volcanoes so that is a lot of fun. On Monday we are starting a plant unit in science where we actually get to grow plants. Everything is set up just waiting to start Monday so we can monitor them for a week. These weeks are going by fast, normally at this time I am tapering for swimming and it feels like and eternity. I am getting used to the change of pace and looking forward to being in charge of the whole day with the students.

I met my supervisor on Monday his name is David Filipelli and seemed like a very nice man. Reminds me of my grandpa Bax but with a mustache. He is coming to observe me sometime next week. Ill end this post with a video Mama Mertes sent me and I fell in love with.

What I make...

Days Student Teaching: I knew I would lose track after a week...

Wahoo Wednesday!!

Wednesdays in Kenosha Unified are early release so the students get a break and the teachers get some prep-time. Today was a busy day we had a Paleontologist come from University of Chicago to talk to the school about Dinosaurs. He was actually from Naperville (small world) and worked with one of the teachers at Carthage College so that is how he came to be at McKinley giving a talk. It was very interesting but ran a little long (into snack time!) which made the kids all antsy.

Wahoo Wednesdays are to reward students for good behavior during the week. If the student does not flip their card to RED during the week they are allowed to participate in a fun activity at the end of the day. If the student does flip to RED they are placed in the "stay back" room and have to catch up on homework while the others have fun. Ms. Wrobel's class made Groundhog puppets in honor of Groundhog day yesterday. Kids are dismissed early (1:45) and the teacher stay around to prep. I prepared a lesson I am going to teach on landforms Friday. This will be my first time formally teaching, my role so far has been that of a support teacher where I help students 1-on-1, very excited to teach to the whole class.

If you want to participate Adrian informed me today he will be celebrating HULK -Day tomorrow February 4th. Make sure to wear green and sport the HULK Hands (if you are lucky enough to have some)

I'll leave you with my stats so far for student teaching:

Shoes tied: Average 6 a day

Hugs received: Average 10 a day

Times asked students to "cover your mouth": Average 4 per hour

Pencils sharpened: Average 5 a day

Offered part of students snack: Average 16 a day (16 students in class)

Smiles received and given: countless :-)

Days Student Teaching: 3

First Day :-)

Well it came and went and now I'm relaxing after a long and fun day of student teaching. Going to bed last night was like Christmas Eve when your 8, played a few video games and finally got tired around 11. Woke up at 6am, hopped in the shower and got dressed. Ate my leftovers from Sunday's breakfast, made some coffee and watched the Channel 9 news. Headed out the door at about 7:25 (when I used to start High School) and arrived at 7:35. Writing this reminds me of a great scene from Home Alone that includes this quote:

"I took a shower washing every body part with actual soap; including all my major crevices; including in between my toes and in my belly button which I never did before but sort of enjoyed. I washed my hair with adult formula shampoo and used cream rinse for that just-washed shine. I can't seem to find my toothbrush, so I'll pick one up when I go out today. Other than that, I'm in good shape."

Kevin then proceeds to slap aftershave on and scream. Sorry folks no after shave this morning, trimmed the mustache and beard a little but keeping it till conference.

Ms. Wrobel had a binder for me and a lesson plan book. The binder contained an average day in room 105 and some of the rules and exercises they do. It also had a list of the students along with her hand written "guide" to that student. My day started out walking on the playground to get the students that line up by class. From about 50 yards away I started hearing kids from our class yelling "Mr. Bax!" and put a HUGE smile on my face. Great start to the day. The morning goes by really fast in room 105 and we have lots to do:

• Morning Meeting (calender, housekeeping stuff)
• Reading (classes are shuffled based on achievement level)
• SNACK! (Had a chex mix bar, chocolate) I was also offered some part of every students snack but let them eat it all
• Math and Math Intervention (classes switch and different teachers teach different parts of math)
• Little bit of free time/housekeeping then LUNCH
• Library Time (Where all my Battle of the Books fans work, haha)
• Collaboration Meeting with other 1st grade teachers
• Recess (inside today)
• Centers/Testing (Quarter 2 grades are due the 8th)
• HOME

Day ends at 2:40 for students and I stayed and helped Ms. Wrobel with after school tutoring for student who need the help. Left McKinley at 3:45 and went to coach swim practice at 4pm. After swimming I was in a great mood I went for a run and then swam. Gotta get in shape for the Warrior Dash (link below). Papa Murphys Pizza for dinner and an amazing episode of Chuck. Expecting to be REAL tired tomorrow morning so going to go to bed early. Goodnight followers, day 2 tomorrow will put up a new post later in the week to recap a few days. Day 1 was just too much fun to not post about.

Days student teaching: 1

Mr. Bax

Warrior Dash I am doing this summer