An Act of Kindness

On the bus ride down to the boats yesterday I attempted to take a picture. I pushed the shutter release button on my camera and nothing happened. I looked at the information screen and it had words that I did not want to see. It indicated that I needed to insert a memory card if I wanted to take any pictures. I immediately realized that I had left my memory card in my computer at school after transferring some pictures the previous day. When I got off of the bus I told Mollie Williams of my plight, and she reassured me that she had her camera and everything would be okay. The girl pictured below was standing right next to us as we huddled under an awning to avoid the rain and couldn't help but overhear my predicament. Without giving it a second thought she took out her camera and handed me her memory card which she correctly surmised was the exact one I needed. I thanked her but gave it back since Mollie would be able to take pictures that I could use and I would be able to borrow her camera to take others. The girl who made the kind offer was on a different boat, and it meant that she wouldn't be able to take any pictures. What a thoughtful, generous act. I have pondered this for the past day...If the situation were reversed would I have made the same offer? I hope so, but I'm not sure. I'd like to think I would after the excellent example I was shown.

Sponge Bob (Kid Mix)

On Wednesday, the entire Ninth Age went on a field trip with Living Classrooms Foundations. All of the students were divided among three historic Chesapeake Bay vessels. I had the opportunity to sail on The Lady Maryland with 22 students. I wish that I could share with you more photographs from each of the boats, but Mrs. Williams, our shipboard photographer, refused to swim to the other boats to get some pictures. All three boats had a great time. The wind blew about 20 knots and the Lady Maryland got up to about 8 knots.

I have started playing around with Windows Movie Maker (what a cool program.) At the boys request I have added a few Sponge Bob Songs. We have an intro by the "Not Quite Ready For Prime Time 9-2 ers." Following that is the television version of the theme song and then the rock version of "I'm a Goofy Goober." We end with the Irish and Spanish versions of the Sponge Bob theme song. It's sort of an eclectic mix, but the boys love it!!

FREEZIE POPS!!!!

We reached 80 degrees in the classroom at 10:20 this morning. We celebrated with Freezie Pops to cool us down a bit. The line leader is holding the thermometer. I wonder how hot it will get today?

Estimating Game Winners

Here are the latest in the estimating game winners. This activity has been a lot of fun but now that everyone in my math class and homeroom has won I'm going to close it down. Congratulations to all of those who guessed this year.

School Spirit

As you can see we had a whole lot of school spirt on Friday!!!

Finding Our Way in Class

We recently read a chapter in A Child's History of the World that dealt with the invention/discovery of the compass. To illustrate the principles involved, we made our own compasses in class with a bowl of water, a needle, a leaf, and a magnet. After passing the needle over the magnet a few times the needle becomes magnetized and takes on pole orientations. By floating the needle in water the poles are able to orient themselves giving us a working compass.

Music to My Ears

Here is a song the boys have been working on in French class. It is called "A la claire fontaine" which means "At the Clear Fountain."

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A New Endeavor

I recently attended a technology conference at Friends School and was introduced to a new feature that I knew I wanted to integrate into my teaching. I used it to send math video demonstrations home to students who missed class, but at the suggestion of Mollie Williams we turned the idea into a new math blog that we are maintatining together. The blog is designed for our math classes, but my homeroom students and parents should feel free to use it as a resource as well. You can access the blog (called Math Rocks!!) by clicking the link under the math links on the right side of the blog. My hope is that this proves to be a valuable resource for one and all. If you have feedback or suggestions please let me know.

WE SURVIVED!!!

The bubble tests are now a thing of the past. At the end of the final test we celebrated with Freezie Pops. The boys are very happy that these tests are finished for the year.

Ninth Age Outreach Project

Over the course of the past few days the boys made 16 treasure boxes that will be given to the children at Paul's Place's After School Care. The boys decorated blank boxes with markers, stickers, and jewels. They were very proud of their efforts.

Egyptian Dancers

Today we had the first utterance of the word "Egyptian" in our book, The Egypt Game. When we encounter the word "Egypt" we say it together, but the word "Egyptian" elicits a far different response. The irony is that the word came up twice in the same paragraph. In the video you can see the end of one celebration and the entire second one.

Mystery Seeds

Since the calendar says spring is here, we are growing some mystery seeds in 9-2. When they grow they will have a very unusual property. We will guess what may happen as they grow and hopefully get to see for real in a few weeks. Here are pictures of the seeds before and after planting. I did not resize the images so that you could see the seeds better if you click on an image.

Those Wacky Chimpanzees

We started the planners for our land animal composition, and I was mentioning to the boys the need to include lots of detail into the final product. Instead of saying something like "the chimpanzee eats apples, grapes, and bananas," they should say something like "the chimpanzee carefully peels a banana and splits it into three pieces before eating it." The boys seemed intrigued at this fact, and when I saw bananas at snack I decided to let them see what I was talking about. I let the two boys doing animals associated with eating bananas try the experiment. My directions lacked some clarity with the first boy, but the second boy had the benefit of seeing the attempts of the first one, and his worked well. As you will see, my directions are a tad ambiguous in this clip when I instruct the student to hold the banana up higher. Watch and you'll see what I mean.

A Trebuchet Composition

I've been busier than usual for the past few weeks and have not been posting compositions. Here is one from last week about trebuchets.

One of the most fearded weapons in the medieval times was the trebuchet. The word trebuchet comes from the French word trebucher which means to throw over. It was used to throw large objects a long distance. It evolved from a sling. The first trebuchet was a traction trebuchet, and it was made in China. It was used by 15 - 45 people pulling ropes. They could throw a 250 pound ball 100 - 200 feet. The problem was that it was inconsistent because the people got tired.
Another kind of trebuchet was the counterweight trebuchet. A counterweight trebuchet is made by putting a heavy counterweight on the throwing arm. Some of the most famous trebuchets are God's Stone Thrower and Bad Neighbor. The counterweight trebuchet worked better because it always went the same distance. The counterweight trebuchet was made in 1187 A.D. around the Mediterranean Sea. The invention of gunpowder spelled doom for the trebuchet. The last trebuchet was used in 1521, and on the first shot it destroyed itself. When I built my trebuchet I sanded the wood. Then I glued it to the other pieces. Next I sanded another piece of wood and glued it. Then I put a bolt through it, and Mr. Howe attached the throwing arm. I enjoyed going to the gymnasium and firing at styrofoam cups. I'm glad I don't have a Bad Neighbor living next to me.

Money Money Money!!!

We recently wrote a composition about the history of money. One of the compositions is below.

The history of money goes back thousands of years. Before money was invented people used the barter system. The barter system is exchanging goods. The only problem with the barter system is that some the trades were unfair. In 1200 B.C. China used cowrie shells. Cowrie shells are a type of mollusk. They are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They are the longest form of currency used and are still in use today. On the Island of Yap they use stone disks as money. The idea of using stone disks comes from the Island of Palau which is 250 miles away. The bigger the stone disk the more valuable it is.
Eventually metal coins were used. In 1000 B.C. China used base metals like iron and heated it. Then they put it in a mold and let it cool. The coins had square holes in the middle. In 806 A.D. China made paper currency, but then they stopped for a few hundred years. In 1800 A.D. Europe made its own paper money. In 1960 a man went out to a restaurant and forgot his wallet. He started a club called the Diner's Club. Then the Diner's Club turned into a credit card. Now it is possible to buy something without paper money. I hope I have lots of money when I grow up.

A Document From the Middle Ages

One of the 9-2 moms was kind enough to loan the class a document from the 12th century which is the time period we are currently studying in history. The document is a piece of vellum that is a page from a Bible. The boys loved seeing a page that was nearly one thousand years old. A few pictures can be seen below.

Estimating Game

The estimating game is winding down and here are the winners from the last two weeks.

What are ERB's?

This is a fairly frequent April question from parents, so I will answer it here. I looked around a bit and found a school website that had a very clear explanation. To see it click here. This information is from Trinity School, but their answer is drawn directly from the ERB website so it applies very well to Calvert. The ERB website is a bit more cumbersome, but a link to the pertinent section of their site can be seen by clicking here. (We take the CTP 4) If you would like to discuss your son's specific test scores or if you have other questions you can email Paul Wareheim and he will be happy to set up a time to sit down with you and answer any questions.

The Last Battle or What Goes Up Must Come Down

Today we had our final trebuchet battle and the trebuchets are on their way home. I shot some videos of the boys as they exalted in their quests to knock down the towers.

Give Me an O!

There was a whole lot of orange and black at Calvert today as we celebrated the new season of Orioles' baseball which kicks off later today. We even had popcorn at lunch to get everyone in the festive spirit. GO ORIOLES!!!

Destroy the Castle

We went to the gym this morning for our first of two or three sessions of attacking the coffee cups. This year's trebuchets continue to work very well, and they throw the tin foil ball much farther than in years past. I am posting two videos taken today because in them the range of the trebuchet can be seen and in one of the videos the castle falls down at the end. We are a bit subdued in the second video because just outside the gym the 8th Agers were having a play practice and we didn't want to disturb them.

A Calvert First

Due to an early morning "assault of the castle with trebuchets" party, the line leader did not get to wear the chain mail during the usual 8:00 - 8:30 time period. Later in the day, in what I can safely assume is a first for Calvert, a student took his weekly Spelling Test wearing chain mail.

Their Aim is Getting Better

Yesterday the boys had a lot of fun but not a lot of success in getting tin foil balls to fly in my general direction. Today was a much different story with balls whizzing all around me. The picture below contains more projectiles in flight than I have ever previously captured. I think I can count six. Tomorrow we will take aim at the coffee cups. Based on what I have seen the coffee cups don't stand a chance.

Ready, Aim, FIRE!!!!

The trebuchets are finished, and we had a blast firing them today. This was the best first day of firing I have had in the six years I have been doing this project. Right now the trebuchets are firing a bit high, but the boys love seeing their tin foil balls flying through the air. Since we had an indoor lunch recess because of the rain, I let the boys take aim at me as I took pictures. The three pictures below were taken in rapid succesion. I love that it is possible to see the tin foil ball on its way in the second frame and the expression of the boy on the far left who fired it. You can tell by his expression in the third frame that the ball hit its designated target. In future days we will fire at coffee cup castles that we set up in the gym.