Room 1: October 12, 2012

There are about three types of careers I understand. The first is teaching, of course. After that I understand "Firefighter" (you put out fires and rescue cats from trees) and "Veterinarian" (you fix broken dogs and cats). Anything else, I lump into a category I like to call "Grown-Up Jobs". In my mind, grown-ups drive fancy cars to big, tall office buildings. They wear ties or power suits.They sit at desks. Sometimes, when making important phone calls, they put their feet on their desk. People walk in and out of their office. They shake hands a lot. They make spreadsheets. They hang out by a water cooler. Yes, my idea of a grown-up job is about the same as it was when I was 7. I've only held one of these jobs, and it has been well over 20 years. So here is my immature and probably ridiculous "Grown-Up Job Schedule" for Friday, October 12th:

"I want that report on my desk in 5! And a fresh pot of coffee before the next client gets here!"

9:00-10:00-Conference call to some international place.

10:00-11:45-Type TPS report.

11:45-12:00-Eat lunch.

12:00-3:00-Review TPS report.

3:00-4:00-Sell something. Fax something.

4:00-4:30-Analyze something.

4:30-6:30-Buy something.

Compare this to my work schedule today at The Hirsch Academy:

9:00-9:45-Make Ogre snot.

9:45-10:00-Eat snack while Sarah C. reads Shel Silverstein poems.

10:00-10:45-Conduct a survey-"What is your favorite monster?" Build a graph of results using colored cubes.

10:45-11:30-Make construction paper spider webs and haunted houses to decorate the classroom.

11:30-12:00-Eat lunch and discuss the question "What scares you?".

12:00-12:30-Go outside for recess.

12:30-1:00-Introduce the class to Leslie's 3 month old Havanese puppy, Ruby.

1:00-Say goodbye to the most awesome kids in the world.

1:15-4:45-Plan more high interest, monstrous, ogre-filled, hands-on learning activities for next week!

No, parents, that is not a typo, my first item of business today was, indeed, "Make Ogre Snot". My job is so awesome.

Wait! Before you hang up on your grown-up job conference calls and call Leslie for a tuition refund, let me explain.

First of all, the progression from Trolls to Ogres is a natural one. Yesterday, our read aloud selection was "Shrek!" by William Steig (remember the book "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble from your childhood? Same guy.) The kids loved the book, in spite of it being quite different from the movie it inspired. And in spite of page after page of S.A.T. inspired vocabulary. Blithe? Irascible? Even the high-falutin' vocabulary couldn't hide the fact that ogres are a nasty lot. They smell like rotten meat (great vocab word: putrid), eat children, and shoot flames from their mouths and ears. After meeting the original version of the gruesome Shrek, we did some additional ogre research. We read some cool facts, and drew our own ogres and ogre habitats. And as any ogre-lover worth his or her salt knows, you can't discuss ogres without mentioning disgusting, ogre-y bodily functions. Hence, Ogre Snot.

"Ew", you're thinking, "How is Ogre Snot even appropriate, much less educational?"

Well, I never promised appropriate. Remember, my job is hanging out with a bunch of 7-9 year olds every day. It is, however, educational. In many ways. In fact, it’snot funny how many skills are covered in this activity (sorry…). Ogre Snot is actually what's known as a "Non-Newtonian Fluid". Sometimes it's a liquid, but squeeze it or stir it and it becomes almost solid! Leave it alone and it becomes liquid again. You may recall our quicksand experiment-- this is the same stuff. Except green. Because it's snot.

Here's a list of skills covered in this one icky, gooey, slimy experiment:

Counting
Fractions
Sorting
Sequencing- what comes 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Measuring

Problem solving-what happens if something goes wrong
Making predictions
Experimenting
Changes in states of matter
Five senses
Sensory exploration-with hands on and feeling the ingredients
Responsibility
Working together
Sharing
Pouring
Mixing
Balancing

Here's Tani and Bo mixing up a batch:

Here's Paul proudly displaying the finished product:

Unfortunately, most of the kids left their bags o' boogers at school. But all you need to recreate the experiment is:

1/2 cup of cornstarch

1/4 cup of warm water

green food coloring

Not that much can top Ogre excretions, but Puppypalooza came pretty darn close. There is only one thing cuter that Leslie's new puppy, Ruby: Watching your kids play with Leslie's new puppy, Ruby.

Squeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!