Eyeballs on math

I was wandering around this afternoon when I happened upon the math lesson Mrs. Bennett was doing with her Kindergarten students. Modeling numbers is a great way to develop number sense. In this class, Mrs. Bennett has added an October twist to make the lesson just a little bit more enjoyable. Sometimes it's all in the approach!

One final question...

Over the years I have interviewed dozens of people for jobs in our school. At the end of each interview, almost without fail, I add my own personal question - "What is your favorite children's book?"

The question is intended to move people out of best-behavior-interview mode to a more personal moment. The titles, and the reasons behind them, are sometimes very revealing. Candidates will often ask, "Is there a 'wrong' answer?" and I tell them yes. After the candidate answers the question, I tell them (if they ask again) that the "wrong" answer is The Giving Tree. I think the book sends a less than positive message about the expectations boys should have of their mothers. (I know, many people think I'm way out of line here, but that's where I am.)

This morning I took a break from the professional development session I was leading on web site design to check in with my teachers in a different program. While there, our new Fifth Grade teacher, Brittany Ouellette, said to me, "I have a dark secret." She then showed me the cover of her personal laptop...

Oh, how I love my job some days!

Fifth Grade Student Council Elections

Our fifth grade students have selected their Student Council representatives for the year.

Students hung posters and talked with classmates about their interest in Student Council. This morning, candidates made their speeches, and then classes held a vote. The following students were elected by their classmates for the 2016-2017 school year:

Chloe Casperson

Will Cranford

Daniel Jurdi

Genna Murphy

Henry Murphy

Vivi Murphy 

Congratulations to these students, and to all the students willing to help this year.

Rockin' it in Second Grade!

If you hear, "Yo-yo, Dojo!" you can be sure a member of Stephanie Woodward's grade 2 class is near by. Mrs. Woodward has been awarding "dojo points" for a couple of years now. Class Dojo is a great app that allows her to offer students recognition in the moment, and best of all, parents who sign up know when their child earns a dojo point!

These members of Mrs. Woodward's class were the first two to earn 100 dojo points!  Congratulations to Samantha Wheatley and Sofia Eaton for a great job!

Tahanto Staff visit Grade 5

Ms. Diane Tucceri, Principal of Tahanto Middle-High School, and Mr. Greg Picariello, the Middle School counselor, met with our fifth grade students this morning to begin the talk of the transition to life as a sixth grader! After some math work, they talked about life at Tahanto - everything from changing classes to how to open a locker.

This is the first of several events designed to ease our students into the middle school way of life. Reminder to Grade 5 parents that Scheduling Nite for our current fifth graders is Thursday, May 12th, starting a 6:00 PM at Tahanto. A little further out, our students will be traveling to Tahanto for Buddy Day on Wednesday, May 25th.

A Minion Reasons to Buy Lunch!

We've been hearing from kids that they would be more likely to buy lunch if they knew what the lunch would be. So, our lunch room aides, Dara Hughes and Chris O'Neil created a bulletin board in the hallway with the week's menu posted. Their next goal is to create lunch menu reminders for the cafeteria.

We have been looking at our food service program, and how we can make school lunch more appealing to children and parents. We've been re-evaluating our menu, dropping lunch items kids do not like, and trying new items out.

If you have any suggestions, we are all ears!

Environment Investigation

Ms. Jo Hainey worked with Mrs. Donahoe's Grade 3 students as they continued their investigation of how oil spills can effect our environment and the most effective ways to clean an oil spill. Students looked at ways to absorb oil (sponges, cotton balls and felt), as well as ways to contain the oil, using yarns or rubber bands.

As students tried different methods for addressing their oil "spills" they recorded information and discussed observations with their partners. They then documented their findings on data sheets.

As work proceeded, students excitedly discussed their findings. We learned, for example, that "chasing" oil in water disperses it, and makes it more difficult to collect. The students will come back to review their work and decide on the most effective way to remove oil from water.

In Door Recess

What do you do when it's too cold to go outside?

At Berlin Memorial School, we build a hallway obstacle course!

Led by Grade 2 teacher Stephanie Woodward, teachers and students created an indoor obstacles course to work off some of their excess energy. Whether it was stepping through hoops, doing push ups, or climbing through tunnels, students had a great time meeting the challenges together. It's just the start of a long winter, but this is one way we will "weather the storm" with a smile on our face!

Professional Development Day

Teachers in Kindergarten through Grade Two from Berlin and Boylston came together for professional development today to develop our skills in talking about and teaching mathematics. Our children today are learning so much more than just arithmetic, and finding ways to guide them to a fuller understanding of mathematical concepts is important work indeed. Working with Cheryl Condon of Looney Consulting, our teachers did a great deal of challenging work which they will bring back to their classrooms to benefit all our children.

Greg Mone visits BMS

Author Greg Mone visited Berlin Memorial this morning to talk about the writing process with our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. Mr. Mone will be spending time working with Grade 5 students working on the writing process, in support of our Empowering Writers curriculum.  He will be returning to BMS two more times as he models the writing/editing process, creating a story with the students.