The title can mean a variety of things. Spring Break? Not there yet, but I wish we were. The red circles around my eyes are evidence of how tired I am. Finished with explorers? Nope. Wish we were, but the project we are working on has been pushed into next week. Hopefully it will end by Tuesday. Are we to novel study unit number 2? Nope. See reasons for explorer project above!
The upside is that I think we are doing some really great work. Our work on "Who is the Best Explorer?" has gone well (but a little long). Kids are analyzing information about explorers, and asking really great evaluative questions. They're wondering which explorer had the best/worst impact on native people? Who accomplished the goal they set out for? Whose accomplishments were more important or notable? While some of the questioning is subjective (well, most of it is subjective), it has forced them to analyze the information they see in a critical way. The only real downside, as I stated previously, is that it has taken longer than I'd like (we've got other things to work on!). I speak to one of our discussions this week in a post tomorrow or Monday.
A positive outcome from our explorer project has been familiarity with netbooks. We're piloting them in our grade level, and the kids have done a great job with them. They are incredibly respectful of them, and have treated them really well. I had few issues with kids going off to sites they shouldn't, or using them during instruction. The initial work with being patient as they load, being patient when waiting to get your netbook, and holding them appropriately has paid dividends. When kids are able to bring their netbook to someone's desk to show them work on the netbook, and kids don't knock stuff over, I consider it a small victory. Good stuff happening... even if it is a little bit slower than I'd like!
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