The Daily Blog (Sept 1) - Mr. McMurray

I arrived at school in great anticipation of what would turn out to be a fabulous first day of school. I was anxious to meet all of my new students while at the same time equally anxious to make sure my daughter, Claire, made it to her new second grade classroom to start her school year on a good note. Luckily I bumped into her teacher at the office just as I finished organizing my back-to-school September packets. I snapped a picture of the two of them together and then headed to Room 16.

When I entered the classroom, several students had already found their desks and were organizing their books and school supplies. The atmosphere was a combination of excitement, nerves, and enthusiasm for a new beginning.

After taking attendance, I took a moment to introduce myself to the class. I shared my family pictures, my Master's diploma, and my spoon collection. The kids asked a few questions about me and then I decided to have the students share out about themselves a little bit. Each student introduced themselves by saying their name and something fun they did over the summer. We came to learn that students in Room 16 traveled to the island of Madeira, Romania, and as far away as Egypt. We had students who traveled around this country to places like Texas, Phoenix, Oregon and Washington. And locally, students traveled to Santa Cruz, Lake Tahoe, and Discovery Kingdom. It was clear that these students had quite a productive summer.

Following our introductions, we took a walking tour of the campus. I showed the class our evacuation plan in case of a fire or disaster. We walked over to the Science Lab and Computer Lab. We stopped at the garden, cafeteria, and kindergarten room by Redwood Road. Mrs. Byrne, the lunch lady, met us in the cafeteria and described the lunchtime procedure and reminded students that soon they might be able to sign up to work in the cafeteria, which allows them a free lunch.

When we returned to the classroom I shared the Responsibilities wall with the class. It contains my responsibilities as the teacher and their responsibilities as my student. The main point that I emphasized was the success equals effort and that I expect all students to put forth their best effort this year if they expect to be successful.

After reviewing the responsibilities chart I distributed information to the class about McMurray Bucks. I also started to the share out some information about our class jobs, but it was nearly time to head to science.

At 10:05, Mrs. Foy-Couche began our first science lab of the year on mixing liquids and learning about salinity and the density of water by using a hydrometer. I arrived towards the end of this lab which concluded after recess. The students shared out that liquid with high salinity has more salt and floats high at the surface. Water with low salinity has a low amount of salt and sinks. And water at the surface is warmer, while deeper water tends to be cooler, depending on the salinity.

When we returned to class I distributed a back-to-school questionnaire with 20 items for students to answer about things like how many siblings they have, their earliest memory, favorite food, TV show, and school experience. As students finished early, they went to their September packets to complete a few open-ended, fun, and challenging activities.

As lunchtime drew near, I had the class write a reflection about what they learned in science in one of their notebooks. I also encouraged them to record important vocabulary words at the bottom of the page, such as hydrometer and salinity. When this was complete and we had a wrap-up discussion, students put their notebooks and questionnaires over in their mailboxes.

The class enjoyed lunch in the cafeteria and then went to the upper playground for recess. I brought the class back to the classroom where we reviewed our class jobs and discovered which students had assignments. Our class president, Isabella, called on students to read the job descriptions.

It was time for the math pretest for chapter 1 which was distributed to the class. The first chapter focuses on whole number operations like comparing, round ordering. After the pretest, we finished the day by taking our binder reminders our and updating tonight's homework assignments.

Students are supposed to have their parents complete a survey and sign the Code of Conduct form. They are also supposed to bring a chapter book to school for personal reading time. Claire, our paper monitor, distributed those fliers while the class got packed up for the end of the day.

With minutes to go, I pulled out our first read aloud book, The Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Patterson. We learned about Jessie Oliver Aarons, Jr., and how he's been preparing to be the fastest kid in the fifth grade at Lark Creek Elementary School. Will he or won't be the fastest kid, or will something more important happen to Jessie during fifth grade that could change his life forever? We'll find out tomorrow.

We were able to quickly sing "Happy Birthday" to Kannen who celebrated his big day on August 31, and I gave him a No Homework Pass. Then, it was time to go! Students exited the room after stacking their chairs and headed for home. It was a successful first day of the last year of elementary school for the students in Room 16!