States of Matter \ States of Mind

What is inside the balloons? Matter? Yes! Molecules? Yes! Gas? Yes!

What's inside my mind? I'm trying to decide what to teach next year. I'll be staying at the same school but I have the choice of teaching the same students in 3rd grade or starting with a new group in the 1st grade. I have taught my current students since 1st grade and know them well. It would be exciting to see them grow and progress in the 3rd grade.

However, I won't teach science in the 3rd grade. Students in the 3rd grade on up are taught by science teachers. I love teaching science to 1st and 2nd graders. I put in a request to teach 1st grade but I still have some time to change my mind. I'm uneasy about my decision though.

Busy

I'm into the third week of the Master's program. Really busy. Lot's of reading, message boarding, journal writing and projects. It's going fine though, just taking up most of my off time.

Last Sunday we did leave the house around 5 am and went stone hunting for a half a day. Nice. I brought the computer and books and got some studying in too. Not only that, we found, or Annie found around 90 stones with the metal in it. That's what we're looking for. About 17 of those were the size of a half-dollar or New Taiwan $10 coin. Nice. I found two. My eyes really haven't tuned into what to look for. Her's have.

I'm still not sure what the metal is in these stones or even know what type of stones they are. Some of the stones in the river also contain iron. Little nodules of iron are rusting through the stone. I'm told the shiny metal could be zinc or bronze.

More research is needed.

Fun Science et el

Our 1st - 3rd grade "Fun Science" projects are to build boats and race them in the swimming pool. The parameters are you should use recycle materials, they must float and catch wind from the fans and most of all students should have fun! (Only one boy was unhappy and had trouble getting along in his group.)

There are two philosophies of boat building going on.
1. Student-built boats assisted by teacher.
2. Teacher-built boats

My classes built their own boats out of mostly recycled materials supplied by me and brought in by them. Their boats are "unique" and look mostly like barges but they do meet the parameters. They were very creative with their designs not missing out on important things like the Hello Kittie view area, the swimming pool, sleeping quarters, drivers and many other amenities... I made sure they float. The design contest is next Tuesday and the boat race is next Wednesday.

et el Really busy with classes these days so less blogs, less golf, less a lot of things. Loving school though. Thanks to my two UH Hilo on-line experiences - science and children's literature - I'm familiar with on line learning.

Masters Program

I've started a Master's program in Education. MaED in ESL. Yikes, back to school. It's a lot of work, of course, and it's only the first week. It will be worth it as the masters should make me a more valuable commodity in the education world both here and in the US. It really is a lot of work. Did I mention that?

It's through Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. The program is 36 units long and only for those with teaching credentials. The course lasts 2 months. I'm starting six units. It's a lot of work. The summer program is 8 weeks long.

I hope to graduate at the end of next year.

My classmates are mostly "older," women and ex-military. Many spent time in Iraq and most have older kids. I only saw one other male name.

Well, time to watch a lecture.