A Busy and Beautiful Fall Week

The 2016 Saint Luke-a-Thon

My "costume"

This week we had the school's walk-a-thon, complete with a pre-assembly mid-week to get the kids excited about the end of week event. I ordered a sweatshirt to go along with my classroom's chosen very scientific theme of water weather. It is both hideous and funny, while being ridiculously comfortable. I have never spent money on an outfit for an event like this, but as one of the boys in my class said first thing in the morning, "It's a llama and a unicorn... What's not to like?"  And the compliments and reactions lasted all day long, from students and adults alike.


Wednesday's assembly had a very high school pep-rally feel to it, as all of the community building assemblies under my current principal do. And, yes, these assemblies do happen multiple times a year at my school. Although this my third building, and all three of my principals have always said building a strong community was important to them, this is the first place where observable action behind that idea occurs regularly. Kids who get to spend a part of a school day tossing water balloons into a bin, keeping a beach ball aloft in competition with other classes, and watching their teacher race other teachers (each towing a student on a skate board), are kids who know their school can be a fun place - even when they struggle with academics or social skills. For the record, my partner teacher *creamed* the other teachers in our grade band at the race, and my homeroom kids tied for number of consecutive hits keeping the beach ball in the air.

My partner teacher winning by several yards

Students cheering on their teachers

Friday's big event, a huge fundraiser for my private school, came with blue skies and perfect weather for getting the entire school, in shifts, up on the big field for walking, running, or otherwise completing laps to earn pledges. One seventh grader was even carried for part of the event by her teacher because she was on crutches this year. This was the first year I collected bracelets myself, and therefore the only year I can say with certainty how many laps I walked. Twelve. All of my students beat me, but I expected that since I spent my time walking and talking, having important conversations with parents and students. I had four conversations on my mental list to see if I could have during the walk-a-thon, and I was able to have all of them. It was a very productive event for me. Here's to hoping we raised enough money to meet the expectations of the development director.

Some of my students ready to head up to the main event

My principal (who runs during all three shifts) completing

his final lap of the last shift

In between the assembly and the walk-a-thon I had a couple of good science lessons with my class. I brought out numbered rock samples, courtesy of the science teacher in my building, and had the students write down observations and sketches in their lab notebooks. They got so involved in investigating their samples that many needed reminders to record their observations. I am excited to see what questions they have to investigate further as we continue with our unit on paleontology and geology.

I also brought my students up to the garden in preparation for a parish harvesting event next weekend. I wanted everyone to see what will be harvested, and give the fifth grade representative some preparation for his role in the event. The students always love going to the garden, and I love getting to see them exploring the space. It turned into a little bit of pre Outdoor Environmental Education preparation as well, where we talked about learning in an "outdoor classroom" and practiced attention getters and counting off to ensure everyone is present before moving forward. Truthfully, I am so excited for my annual trip to Camp Seymour. I cannot wait to see how my students learn and grow in that outdoor environment.

Entering through the

Bean Arch

Exploring the space