Robotics

I adore technology.  I've kept an online journal since the dramatic age of 14.  I love Wikipedia something fierce and can lose myself for hours reading articles on The Believer, Mother Jones, and the New Yorker (the literary love of my life).


I guess you can say that I love the humanities aspects that technology affords me.  Give me armloads of iPads but don't make me touch a computer chip with a ten foot pole.  I don't understand the proverbial bones of computers, you see.  I'm cozy with words but not with code.



....Well.  One of the rules here in class is "Nothing is impossible".  We have to establish that rule early on.  On the first day of school, the kids are tasked with problems that demand trial and error, collaboration, and a healthy appreciation hard work.  Work smarter, not harder.  This is my favorite mantra that I mutter to myself when I catch myself slipping.  And I think that it applies in our classroom, too.  Because the demands are so high, we are forced to think creatively, differently, try new routes, grit our teeth and start over.


So if I expect that from second graders, I should be able to embrace this "Nothing is impossible" philosophy for myself.


Yesterday was the start of our inaugural Robotics Unit.  Mr. Smith and Mr. O are superheroes, in my esteemed opinion.  They have developed such an exciting program for the kids.  Lego building combined with computer programming.  It is addictive.


Even I, computer chip coward, feel addicted.  It's hard work to build these lego creations.  Complex recipes must be followed.  Once built, teams are tasked with developing the appropriate code upon their laptops.  This code enables their machines to function.


The squeals of glee yesterday were loud and victorious.  These kids are incredible.  I truly doubt that I'd be able to develop a functioning Lego machine.  But these kids are fearless.  And they are so hands on.  I was so proud of them yesterday, diving right into very complex and high concept stuff.

Gabriel and Sophia begin to assemble their first 'machine' - two spinning birds.

Following directions is first, followed by programming, followed by experimenting on how to switch an aspect of the machine.

James and Grace prove to be a super strong team due to their collaboration and communication.

Andrew manipulates the machine while Julia works on the programming.  So exciting!

Thanks again to Mr. Smith and Mr. O for being our trusty advisers.

Australia Day

G'day!  We are official Australian encyclopedias at this point in our year.  I feel like we all need to wear those silly industrial-sized buttons that say something like, "Ask me anything about Australia, mate!"  We charted.  We mapped.  We learned really weird slang (Bonzer means awesome; bonnet means hood of a car).  We learned all about the deadly and amazing creatures that our favorite sunburned country plays host to.  (Cockatoos are my favorite - they're not deadly, only cute.  Also mildly annoying when they strip off windshield wiper rubber with their beaks!)


To celebrate Australia's national holiday, we did not throw any shrimp on any barbies.  We didn't hop a Quantas Boeing and zoom 19 hours straight into the southern hemisphere.  We didn't even use any funny accents (much).  But we did manage to find a legitimate Australian.  We sampled many strange delicacies like ginger beer, Anzac biscuits, black licorice, and (wait for it...)

Vegemite is a yeast by-product, and tastes as 'delicious' as it sounds!

                     Vegemite!



We learned the vegemite smells better than it tastes.  And it doesn't smell all that appetizing.  Some brave souls asked for seconds.  But most of us were content to state that we tried a small nibble.


Matt visits our classroom each year on this special holiday.  It is always interesting to note the specialized interests of the kids.  This year they were fascinated with convict ships and Sydney funnel web spiders.  A strange pairing, perhaps, but I can understand the interest.  They were shocked to learn that overcrowding in English prisons forced convicted felons to travel on a miserable 8 month voyage to a new land.  They'd never see England again.  Some could not handle this fate.

And, the ever intriguing Sydney funnel web was delightfully scary to look at, especially with its fangs ready to strike:

Crazy fangs!

It was another successful celebration and I'm proud of the kids for trying new things and asking interesting questions.  Recipes to follow!

Fred is Trevor's bearded dragon.  Native to Australia, Fred did not want to miss a presentation about his Aussie brethren.  

Trevor feeds Fred a "super worm" - Fred enjoys crickets, carrots, and blueberries as well!

Matt cannot resist a chance to visit Fred.

Matt attempts to have us appreciate the vast distance between here and Oz (slang for Australia)

James nervously samples vegemite and clutches ginger beer.

Mr. Powers keeps his game face on as he tries vegemite!

Academic Miscellany

What is it about a few dozen snowflakes that gets us Maryland residents so giddy?  I couldn't even sleep in during our two hour delay.  I wanted to be out in the wintery fray.  So here I am, excitedly waiting for the kids to tromp in.  (We've got penguins to work on!  Writing!  Typing!  Crafts!)

January might be the heart of the winter doldrums yet you wouldn't experience it here.

Let's start the hodgepodge update.  Not a solitary subject but a bunch of academic miscellany.  It's fun that way.  It is symbolic of how we operate our second grade classroom.

Did you know that there are 17 different species of penguins?  What blessed fate:  there are 17 of us.  16 students, 1 teacher who doesn't want to miss out on research fun.  We each selected a different penguin to study.  I took the leftover:  the mighty, noble Royal penguin.  We've been writing and typing extensive reports.  Above is a little side project we're working on:  studying the various adaptations of all penguins.  My favorite adaptation is the small "heat window" around penguin eyes.  These patches are feather-free and allow heat to escape and the bird to cool off!  Nature is awesome.

Sick of hearing about how much we adore reading groups?  Too bad.  We've been focused on protagonist/antagonist study as of late, along with dictionary and vocabulary skills.  It's so fun to watch the kids rush around as they collaborate on a huge project that is time sensitive.  The adrenaline is palpable.

Tessellations are math?  Yes.  Tessellations are math.  We've been studying the types of tessellations that occur in nature (snake skin, anyone?) as well as creating some of our own using various polygons.  Tessellations are beautiful patterns that have no gaps or overlaps.  It is so fun to experiment and see which shapes can become tessellations together.  M.C. Escher would be proud.

Brain Quest sent our class a ton of amazing products because they recognize how awesome my students are.  I would never, ever be able to come in early on a snow delay day or even work with a smile on my face without these children.  They are sincerely an inspiration, a push to work harder, a push to work smarter, a reminder to collaborate.  They are phenomenal children and they deserve this recognition.  We have had a lot of fun sharing these books and game decks with others.


That's it!  Happy half snow day.  We'll update with more adventures soon.

Oobleck

Our classroom will never in a thousand years win an award for cleanliness.  I try.  I really do.  The kids are equally proactive in their quest for organization and a well-oiled classroom.

We're organized.  We go with the flow.  We can locate all of the essential tools.  We can even pinpoint the locales of some pretty obscure ones.

It's not that we're careless, you see.  It's just that working in a class lab environment does not lend itself to squeaky clean anything.



The precedent in our class is set on the first day, when we immediately pull out the paint, glitter, and the miscellaneous doodads (did I really just use that word?  well, that's what they are) to construct representations of each child as an ocean creature.  We also cut, glue and assemble colorful Tangrams.  Sometime during that first month we create our own modeling "clay" from flour, water, and salt.  Sixteen kids with their hands full of salted dough.  You can see where this is going.



I've learned that the amount of fun work being done is directly proportionate to the amount of mess involved.

It is inescapable.  But I like it that way.




I love Oobleck.  Oobleck is a Non-Newtonian fluid.  That means it is a very odd material that behaves like a liquid and like a solid.  Oobleck is a messy mystery.

Hmmm.. what's the strange stuff in the pan?

First, we list all of the solids, liquids and gases we can think of...

Named for a Dr. Suess book, Oobleck is easily "cooked up" with water and corn starch.  You can even add green food coloring if you're feeling especially ambitious.


What happens when you poke at Oobleck with your finger?  It retracts like a liquid might.  What happens when you squeeze it into a ball?  It acts more like a solid, you see.  When you loosen your hand, mysterious Oobleck is back to behaving like a liquid again.

Natalie and Grace daintily try the finger poking strategy and record results...

Kevin jumps right in and attempts to keep the Oobleck as a solid.

Here comes this post's theme..... messiness and smiles!

I love the smiles that Oobleck presents.  They're smiles of recognition that some materials don't behave the way that they are supposed to.  They're smiles of achievement as we try to wrap our minds around the periodic table and list as many elements as we possibly can.  And they're understanding smiles that say:  yes. I've got a messy classroom.


Messy, yes.  But hardworking?  Always.

Mia.  Hard worker with a great smile.

A Newspaper and Australia Day Preparations

Hello, 2013!  I am loving 2013 in second grade.  January, while bleak in regard to temperature, is so productive in terms of academics.  We hit the ground running and we have not taken many breaks since.  The kids have shown up so matured and so eager for new challenges.  Time flies when you're writing pencils into stubs.

Our first of many large scale projects for the winter is to create a newspaper.  We are a tech savvy classroom yet we also recognize the importance of print!  The Boston Globe, Washington Post, and even the Grey Lady herself will have nothing on our class paper.  Pairs of students have been working hard over the past two days to brainstorm potential articles and to understand exactly what it means to write for a newspaper.  We are trying to blend our informative and entertaining writing styles.  We are researching facts and interviewing outside sources.  Technology is admittedly dominant, but I also hope that print will never die.  Because it is so awesome to witness young newspaper reporters read their own words in tangible format.

Future journalists in action?  Kevin researches on FactMonster while Grace types up her final copy.

Though disheartened by the Redskins' loss in the playoffs, Andrew and Charleston report the facts and interview outside sources for their sports column.

We're also feverishly preparing for Australia Day.  We will celebrate this Aussie national holiday in late January.  An authentic Australian (ahem.... Matt) will visit our classroom and utilize a very colorful PowerPoint presentation about the history, geography and amazing animals of Australia.  We will also sample vegemite, Anzac biscuits and chocolate Tim Tams.  There may even be a Bearded Dragon in attendance (just a rumor.... you didn't hear it from me..)

We want to impress Matt with our vast knowledge of this exceptional country and our world's smallest continent.  We have started our Australia study by analzying geography.  We will also investigate the feral and protected animals of Australia.  We'll learn about Aboriginal art and try to create some of our own.  We will be ready for Matt's presentations with many questions and comments at the ready!

Kevin and James work hard at labeling the Australian states and territories.

Ben, Julia, Mia, Sophia and Grace utilize various atlases to find points of geographic interest.

We love our light up globe!  Mia, Sophia, Teddy and Andrew use this resource in place of the atlas.

It can be difficult to regain momentum after a long holiday, but our enthusiasm and hard work makes second grade such an inspiring place.  I can't imagine being anywhere else.