We started our day by joining the Lowell studentsfor a performance by the Treasure Valley Children's Theater. It was fortuitous that a character in the play was a tardigrade because today was the first day of our microscopy study! A good chunk of our day was spent assembling our Foldscopes. Before assembling, we had a discussion about The Learning Pit. This is a metaphor that we use to describe the learning process and the benefit of active struggle. Based on past experience, I knew that following the detailed directions to assemble the Foldscopes can be very challenging, so I prepared the students to be ready to be uncomfortable and work through a potentially challenging situation. When they find themselves in "The Pit" they need to seek out resources and strategies to help them work through the challenge rather than giving up or bailing by asking someone else to do it for them. Some students were introduced to the adage, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."
After finishing building their Foldscopes, the students finished the day with Choice Time where they read, sewed, and played brain games.
Next week, we will dive head first into our microscopy study, including making our own slides to view in our Foldscopes!
Thank you so much to all of the families that have donated allergy-friendly snacks for the 2nd and 3rd graders who don't have lunch until 12:45pm and 1:00pm! We should be all set for the year for the students that have allergies. If you happen to come across a screaming deal for less expensive, not-necessarily allergy-friendly snacks, we could still use some of those on back-up.
Thank you so much for all of the donations to the classroom Foundation account! I was able to use the donations to buy 6 drones just for our GATE classes, which means that we can have more students use them during the entire year! Last week, I submitted a grant proposal to get 6 iPads to use as remote controls and iMovie editors, but if we don't get those, we can control them through the class Chromebooks.
I don't have the capacity to have conferences with all 100 of my students' families, but if you have any questions for me about my observations from the first 7-8 GATE classes, feel free to shoot me an email or arrange a time to chat on the phone/video chat. You can also ask your student to show you around their Book Creator Portfolio reflection that they will be adding next week in class.
I know that it can be annoying to get even more emails, especially from a school your child only attends once a week. However, we need to keep you on the Lowell parent communication list because that is how we efficiently communicate to parents in the case of a school-wide emergency. Our admin assistant, Sam, is really good about only sending out a couple school-wide messages per month, so feel free to just delete those non-emergency emails as they arise.
As we begin our school year and face new challenges, we are seeking new ways to enrich your child's education both in person and virtually. Our current wish list includes a set of classroom cameras (~$100 ea) and Rubiks Cubes ($12)! I just put in a grant application to get 6 iPads (and accessories) for our classroom, so I will cross my fingers! Please click on the link below to donate to my Boise Foundation Account. [LOWELL/GATE/GABRIELLI,AUDREY]
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THOSE WHO ALREADY DONATED!
IT WILL BE PUT TO GOOD USE RIGHT AWAY!
(I'll start posting as soon as I have confirmed which students from each school are on the No Photo List. Thanks for your patience!)