A somewhat quieter than normal day

Today was a school day! Yes! Why did only 14 of my 22 students showed up for class today? I'm kidding, right? Ah, no, not kidding. Yes, I had a lovely day with the 14 students who did come to school today.

First of all, why were there so many away? Well, I don't live in China, but there are many people of Chinese descent in Cambodia, and both yesterday and today the markets were closed (apart from all the people who moved as much of their stock as they could outside or who had outside stalls) along with many businesses for Chinese New Year! Last year we closed too, but with so many holidays it was decided not to take this one (which wasn't compulsory like some of the others). Unfortunately for me, our local photocopy shop was one of the business that was closed, so I had to do a little improvisation, but we got there. After school I went to a big photocopy shop a little further away as was suitably impressed with the speed and quality of their work and the price was the same as well. The material I was copying was all designed to be copied, so no problems with copyright.

As I knew last week that I would have three students absent all week this week, plus one more definitely away today and tomorrow, I decided to do a mini-unit on Chimpanzees this week. It fits in perfectly with our Biomes curriculum content, and the material I discovered incorporates maths, science and language arts, so I'm not feeling bad about diverging from core curriculum for a week. Pity I wasn't more organised with my printing and copying.

Something I like to do, and which was suggested in the curriculum guide I'm using, is to start the unit by creating a KWL chart. For the non-teachers among you K = Know, W = Want (to know) and L= Learned. Today we did the K and W sections. At the end of the week we will complete the L. It's always fun doing this, and I usually discover some interesting knowledge already existing among my students as well as some erroneous knowledge. That was certainly true today. In doing the K section, I don't discard anything, but rather hope that, as the unit proceeds, the students will discover the errors themselves. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. Mostly it does.

So just what did my students think they knew about chimpanzees. Here's a snapshot of what I got on the whiteboard.

As for their questions. Wow! These kids had some amazing questions. Once again, I try to record them all, eliminating overlap as far as I can. Here's what I got down, and they actually had a few more which just wouldn't fit.

So what do you think of those questions? Aren't these kids great thinkers? I'm really looking forward to the rest of this mini-unit. I already know we're going to answer a lot of their questions. Hopefully they'll be encouraged to go searching on their own for those which we don't answer.

Tomorrow I plan to create a poster with this information, leaving lots of space for the L section. On Friday I'll give students small pieces of paper in various shapes so they can record what they have learned and put it all together. You might want to check back next week to see the final product.

Silent Night: A Rock Harbor Christmas novella by Colleen Coble

What do you get when you mix a rebellious student, a stray parachuter, a loving family and a search and rescue dog team? You get another great story from Colleen Coble. It's a while since I read the first book in the Rock Harbour series, but reading this book has me itching to read the ones I missed.
 

When Laurie turns up unexpectedly in Rock Harbor, followed closely by a search and rescue call out for Bree Matthews and her canine partner Samson, you can expect excitement. As Bree struggles to come to terms with a recent miscarriage and an unsuccessful search, while Laurie is confused by the desire of the adoptive parents to share her identity with their adopted daughter, Kade and Bree also seek to help the local sheriff solve a mystery.


So, will they find the parachuter? What about that missing girl? Look out for a surprise twist at the end of the story.


This short novella is great quick read. The characters are real, and the situations equally real. Once again Colleen Coble captures her reader’s attention with just the right amount of suspense, romance, and descriptive writing. While this is a Christian novella, there isn't a huge amount of Christian content in it, which would make it an ideal book for those wanting a good clean read.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

"Gonna" - No, I have not forgotten my English grammar ...

I'm gonna do this! I'm gonna do that! He was gonna go to the beach. She was gonna have a swim.

No, I haven't forgotten my English grammar, but it is so hard at times to correct words like "gonna" in children's writing when I hear myself saying, "We're gonna have fun next week."

Now I know, and I'm sure most of those reading this know, that the word "gonna" does not exist and is a colloquialism or slang from of "going to". The difficulty comes when you are teaching English Language Learners in the context of mainstream English education, and you know that you say it that way yourself. Grrr.

Another thought. It is much easier to write correct English than it is to speak it. The difficulty is that my students hear me a lot more than they see my writing.

So what do you think? Are you "gonna" have fun this weekend? Am I "gonna" see you on Monday?

I guess the first step to addressing my oral use of this word in the classroom is realising that I'm saying it. Next I need to stop myself before I say it and say "going to" instead. Hmmm, I wonder how I'll go?

How would you go?

P.S. I just ran a spell check on this article and the only errors it highlighted were "Grrr" and "Hmmm". I guess that means "gonna" is acceptable English - NOT!

Waiting for Morning by Margaret Brownley

A Brides of the Last Chance Ranch Novel

Molly Hatfield only has her 14 year old brother Donny, who is paraplegic as a result of an accident when Molly was only 8. When their home is destroyed by fire, she answers Miss Hatfield's advertisement seeking an heir for the Last Chance Ranch. The catch is, to inherit, Molly will have to sign a contract saying she will stay single for the rest of her life. In her desire to provide a home for her brother, Molly neglects to mention Donny in her application. Things become complicated when Dr Caleb Fairbanks comes on the scene, along with his tin lizzy, Bertha, and dog, Magic. Can the young doctor win Molly's heart? Can he help Donny gain some independence? There a mountains to be overcome by all of the main characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the characters of the Last Chance Ranch for a second time. They are well developed and the plot is intricately woven. Sub plots add further suspense to the overall book.

As a Christian novel, this book challenges the reader to think about how he/she responds to people who are different, both inside the church and out. It also reminded me of God's love, and how important it is to remember that while God is perfect people are not, and we cannot expect them to be. People will hurt us, and we may hurt others, but God asks us to forgive and to accept forgiveness.

This is a great book, and I highly recommend it. If you can, read Book 1 first as it helps set the scene, but this book can easily be read as a stand alone novel.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Meet the newest member of Grade 4K

Hello everyone, my name is Lamb Chop, and I've just joined Grade 4K at East-West International School.

First thing this morning I was a very naughty lamb. I kept shouting "I want a story! I want a story!" Eventually Miss Karen said that if I was a good lamb and did well on my Spelling Test today, and my Maths Test tomorrow I can have a story on Friday. So now I'm trying really hard to be a good lamb.

Later in the day I helped Miss Karen with the maths lesson. She was talking about really hard stuff - per... per... permets? perims? permitres? No, that's not it. Oh, yeah, Perimeters. Some of those kids were really clever. So now I know that a perimeter is the distance around the outside of a shape, and you can work it out using measurement and multiplication. See, aren't I clever!

Some of the girls wanted me to go swimming with them today. Miss Karen said I couldn't, and I'm so glad. I wouldn't want to get my beautiful white wool all wet. I might drown. I don't think I'd be a very good swimmer.

Well, Miss Karen wants to write something, so I'd better sign off for now. Lovely to meet you all. Don't forget to come back and say "Hi" some time.

*****************************************************************

So now you've met the latest addition to my classroom. Lamb Chop was one of my purchases on a recent visit to IKEA in Thailand during the "Winter" break. I think he's pretty cute, and my students love him, and I can see us having lots of fun in the coming days.

Back again ...

Sometime in the last month this blog has clicked over the 10,000 views mark. OK, so that's not many in the land of blogging, but it's a milestone.

In view of that milestone, I thought I'd have a quick look at some stats.

Pageviews all time history: 10,146

Comments: 86

Most popular post: Welcome to Grade 4K (12 Sept 2011) - 1399 Pageviews

Most frequent traffic source: http://dedertfamily.blogspot.com/ (which is rather interesting because this blog is no longer being updated)

Reader locations (in order of volume): USA, Australia, Cambodia, Russia, UK, Canada, India, and heaps of other places.

Most frequent keyword search:

• noise o meter,
• classroom noise meter,
• noise meter classroom,
• noise-o-meter,
• noise o meter poster,
• noise-o-meter poster

So, let's do a quick update on what this blog is about.

 

I'm a middle-aged Australian, who heard God's call to serve overseas in my early 40s. I embarked on a major career change, after 20+ years working in various administrative roles for Queensland Health, and undertook graduate teacher training. I moved to Cambodia six years ago with two subjects and my major practicum still to be completed in my Graduate Diploma of Education (Middle Years). I finished my course, graduated in absentia, taught three and a half years in a Christian school in Phnom Penh, then transitioned to East-West International School where I'm currently teaching 4th grade.

 

In this blog I do a number of things. Initially I started this blog because I could not fit all my experiences into my bi-monthly/quarterly newsletters. Since then it has developed into a place where I not only share about what happens in my classroom - the good and the bad (but mostly the good), but share a little more of who I am. Sometimes I reflect on deeper issues that are impacting on my life. Other times I review books I've been reading. I also share snippets of what it's like living in Cambodia. Sometimes there are photos, sometimes, it's just me writing and thinking.

 

If you've read this far, can I ask you to do something for me? Would you make a comment to let me know what things you enjoy reading about? One of this year's resolutions is to get back to writing at least once a week. We will see if I can keep it up. Meanwhile, this day is almost done so it's time to post this and head for bed. Be sure to check back soon. I promise to post more in the near future.

Covenant Child by Terri Blackstock

Covenant Child by Terri Blackstock

Imagine two precious 3 year old girls, ripped from the arms of the only mother they have known (following the death of their father), to be dragged up, abused, and lied to by their grandparents, who only wanted custody because they thought it would be easy money. Meanwhile, their adoptive mother, Amanda, continues to watch over the girls from a distance. As they grow up, she seeks to meet their needs, despite the conflict with their "grandparents". Eventually, the girls are independent, and it is possible for Amanda to legally make contact with them. Will her loving be accepted, or rejected. Will they believe the truth she tells them, or the lies they have been fed during all their growing years.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, although this wasn't the first time I had read it. I kept turning page after page to find out what happened next (I first read it many years ago and so I'd forgotten much of the details of the plot). The detailed descriptions were clear, and the story-line kept flowing. As the story unfolded, and the characters developed, I was reminded again and again of our heavenly Father's love for us, a love that is freely given, but never forced on us. While different to other Terri Blackstock novels, Covenant Child is certainly worth reading.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.