Memories Made on Friday

Congrats to all who made the final class elections, even more so for all those who had the courage to try and didn't make it. Remember how Abe Lincoln lost MANY times before he succeeded. As you study history, really study how successful people achieved their success. It appears the more temporary "failure" one is willing to go through, the greater their long-term success is.

Ryan - You and I talking about my story I'm writing about my father called "I Met a Man". I told you it will make him tear up. Then I confessed it makes me tear up when I hear it in my head.

You allowed words of wisdom to pass from your lips, as you said, "Real men can tear up". Your father must be a real man for you to have said this, and you definitely are in the process of becoming one.

You and I share the ability to feel greatly, to feel deeply. You are very good at your core, and all others around you will feel your "light" (now I know why calling you "The Light of Ryan" came to me. It's even more than just how your eyes shine).

With this wonderful gift you can give to others, making their lives better simply by your presence, please become as marketable as possible, so your skills put you in an influential position in the world. We need people like you.

Have a great weekend my young scholars. Read lots, play lots, and have fun doing both.

Becoming Independent Learners

I know it was only a day, but being back with you guys feels great. I really enjoy teaching you. I like that you can't help giving me a hug first thing, Kenny, even before I can finish saying good morning to Sofia.

My trip to Illinois was one of tremendous learning and growth for me. So to come back and discover all the learning you have done in my absence lets me know you are truly becoming independent learners.

A few shining examples of students DOING MORE than just what I had the sub ask you to do in class yesterday: (from the MATH QUIZ on Friday)




Summer - you created a terrific PowerPoint on the questions you missed. You recognize you are a visual learner and create more elaborate presentations than I do.


I have much to learn from you, Graphics Master, and need to figure out how to get these on the blog.

Mahrukh - you used the internet to find websites that showed you different ways to learn how to do the problems you didn't understand.

You are our webmaster, correctly using the web to surf for learning resources.

You are now.............Spider Girl!


Ryan & Briana - you both used the FCAT Explorer to find similar questions to the ones you missed. This is excellent! I see you as Great Thinkers.



Serena - you used a word document to quiz yourself on the ones you missed. This is exactly what I do to help me learn what I don't know. I had great success becoming fluent in Spanish this way, and now am applying it to Italian. We both go with what works for us.

*Remarkably, you got an "A" on the quiz but still chose to learn the little that you didn't know. You are truly unstoppable by making these kinds of "growth" choices. I can't tell you how excited I am to watch your future unfold for you, because YOU are conciously choosing what you want and taking action to make it happen.



Belle - although you got a poor grade on the quiz I wanted to take the time to discuss your real ability to "do" math. Many times being able to "do" math is confused with being able to memorize algorithms, or ways to answer problems correctly without really understanding the problem at all.



This is dangerous "learning" since in the real world you won't be given a set of ways to memorize to solve the problems you'll encounter. Those that thrive are those that can solve problems that others can't. To do this you have to UNDERSTAND the problem fully.





YOU CAN DO THIS! You were the first one to solve a college level math problem, meaning your brain operates very well at higher levels. This also means you CAN learn the simpler 5th grade problems, and I expect you to!!!!!!


I was proud to see how hard all of you worked today. MALCOLM you were definitely MIGHTY in your determination to solve the problems that challenged you. We worked hard together and fused our minds in coming up with the right answers!

Remember to try to think in terms of place value versus "columns" and you'll understand the problems better.



The classroom really became a learning playground today. It was so enjoyable. I'm going to miss you all next year (sniff, sniff, no.....I'm not crying......someone must be cutting up onions... =:-)

Click here to see all the pictures from today.

Bridget - A Real World Changer?

I'm trying to hide behind Bridget to check up on some classmates to make sure they really are working. As you can see Bridget wasn't big enough to hide me, and the students saw me coming. Fortunately they were working, just like I hoped they were.

Why I'm writing is because I'm hearing a voice in me saying that as great as I know Bridget is, and as much as I've already been impressed with her this year.....I have this feeling that I still have no idea how wonderfully talented this person is, and I tend to be able to see the gifts students have, waiting to be developed.

Forget the top 10% of her field, it could really be as high as the top 01%; she might just be a real world-changer.

**I have these intuitions about every student in the class, some stronger than others, some clearer than others, but they're all there. Please have patience with me while they connect themselves with the neurons they're looking for. A few I feel are close are:

The Amazing Amanda, Mighty Malcolm, The Light of Ryan (your eyes hold the key - I think I have to adjust my personality to flow better with yours, and I'm working on that), the Strength of Skyler, Sandeep's Hammer (like Thor's), and Quiet Genius (Zack).

As Bruce Lee said "Be water my friend". The meaning this has for me is to let the flow between you and I flow naturally.