Be Healthy

Get Plenty of Activity!

Eat Well: Lots of Fruits and Vegetables

Since my daughter has been sick this week, it has me thinking about ways that we can all stay healthy. Here are some good strategies:

Wash Your Hands Often!

Drink More Water!

If you stay healthy, it makes it easier for everyone around you to stay healthy.

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GUEST BLOGGERS

Famous Person

This female gymnast started gymnastics at 4 years old. She moved on to win many competitions in gymnastics. Her and her teammates Gabrielle Douglas, Kyla Ross, Ally Raisman, Mckayla Maroney won the first gold medal for American Women’s Gymnastics since 1996! She was born on July 12th, 1995 in DeWatt, Michigan. She is known as the first Olympic gymnast to hail from Michigan. She was chosen to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics. And she will be coming to my gym soon! She is coming because she will be giving us some tips. And some of us will be given the chance to have lunch with her. And a lot of us are really excited!

-Bella

Question of the Week

I asked Miss White,”What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” Miss White replied, “The craziest thing I’ve ever done is shave my head. Quite a few years ago my friend told me about St. Baldrick’s Foundation. They raise money for kids cancer research and one of the ways they do this is by having people shave their heads at a big event. In March 2009 my friend and I decided to raise money and shave our heads. Between the two of us we raised almost 2,000 dollars and attended an event in Roseville, CA where we had our heads shaved on a stage in the middle of the mall. There were 350 people that shaved their heads that day, but my roommate and I were 2 out of 5 women who shaved their head that day. I was really really excited to do the event because I’ve always wanted to shave my head and see what it feels like to not have hair. Once my head was shaved it felt really cool and I bought a big bow headband to wear. On the drive back to Chico after the event my friend kept rubbing my head and was laughing at how funny it felt. Then after my head was shaved I left my hair short for about 6 months.  A lot of my friends thought this was the craziest thing I had ever done, but I had fun getting to support a good cause while doing something I had wanted to do for a while.”

-Natisha

Two Truths and a Lie

1. A few days ago I decided I would kill a bluejay and give it to my cat. And before someone thinks that I’m just doing it to be mean I want you to know that she really loves birds and it doesn’t look like she has figured out how to hunt. So I got out a Nerf gun (since I don’t have my own gun). The first place I looked was in the rafters in our porch. There was one there! So I shot and missed by about of 5 inches! And I have been trying for three days, but I think the birds have figured out what I’m trying to do.

2. One time I was playing Minecraft and it started raining so I went outside just so I could see what time of day it was. It was night of course. Then of course there was a Creeper there. So I slice it to death with my diamond sword. It was way easier than trying to kill a Creeper with a dirt block like the last time I ran into a Creeper. after that I realized that if that Creeper got on my roof on it’s own and didn’t spawn on the roof it could have found a secret way in. So I ran into my safe room and stayed there for 2 days.

3. One time I kicked a soccer ball and my cat went after it. After a while it sort of looked like she was playing basketball.One time she was siting under a bench so I kicked it and she kicked it back to me! This went on for a while until she decided she was done. later on we gave this toy football I found. She loved that thing. If I threw it she would jump after it.  

-Michael

World Traveler

I am a world traveler. I have been to many of the United States, Mexico, Greece, and now Taiwan. Next year I plan to spend my honeymoon in Thailand. I learn so much from traveling and meeting other people. I believe experiencing other cultures and religions makes me a better person, and I love sharing my experiences with my students. Maybe I can inspire you all to travel and grow as well! Visit my teacher Facebook page to see the recent updates from Taiwan.

The exerpt below from a travel website explains why I like to travel to other countries. I have added some of my own thoughts.

17 Reasons Why Around the World Travel is Good for You

(From a Travel Website called AirTreks)

Why travel around the world? Here’s why: We’ve compiled a list of the best reasons why everyone should enrich their life with around-the-world travel.

1. It’s easier than you think – We believe that traveling around the world is not hard. It is something everyone should do at least once in their lives. You can choose to spend a year, a few months, or even a week traveling this beautiful planet and seeing what is out there. It’s up to you to make the dream come true and take the first step.
2. It opens your eyes – If you are open to it, travel will simply make you a more well-rounded human being. Which is really the goal, isn’t it? 
3. Learn who you are – Traveling is challenging. It presents opportunities and lets you discover who you are in a way that only traveling can.
4. It will create meaningful relationships – People you meet while on the road usually become some of the most valued ones in your contacts, giving you points on the map to visit later on. These folks give you a glimpse outside your hometown circle of friends, forcing you into new and refreshing perspectives on things.
5. It will develop skills you didn’t know you had – The satisfaction you get when reaching the top of the mountain, or crossing a gorge, or helping a villager clean up after a storm, or simply getting what you wanted at a restaurant in rural China, these things all allow access to skill sets you didn’t know you had.
6. Learn new languages – There’s something satisfying about being able to throw around a few words of Greek, knowing how to say hello and thanks in Thai, pulling out that long dormant Spanish to book a room in Santiago, or simply hearing a language you didn’t know existed just a few weeks before.
7. Gives you adventure – No one looks back fondly on a trip to the dry-cleaner. But after ziplining over the jungle canopy in Peru, successfully navigating the alleys of Marrakech, the speedboat ride in New Zealand, or Jeeping out with the grazing animals in Tanzania you get a feel for what being an active human being is like. The need for adventure is hardwired; travel lets you tap into it.
8. Gives you perspective – Meeting folks from exotic cultures will teach you that the way you look at the world (perhaps through the lens of mass media) is not the way everybody does it. You could in fact be dead wrong about it. Seeing it for yourself brings a healthy dose of reality to your so-called higher thinking.
9. As a transition – If you happen to be between jobs, schools, kids, or relationships, around-the-world travel can be a perfect way to separate these life stages, give you insight into your next phase, and provide closure on the last one. Plus there’ll be a nice time stamp on that moment in your life.
10. For education – Seeing the world provides a source of education absolutely impossible to get in school, teaching you things like economy, politics, history, geography and sociology.
11. The challenge – Getting your daily Starbucks not nearly interesting enough for you? How about finding an address in downtown Tokyo. Travel is full of moments of joy and challenges. Overcoming the challenges will give you some of the greatest joys of all.
12. To do something new – It stinks to be stuck in a rut. Everyone knows what that’s like. Travel can be the perfect solution. And what’s not new about being in Bolivia? 
13. Dreams come true – If you want to do it now you’ve probably always wanted to. You imagined it, daydreamed about it, envisioned it. Guess what? Now’s the time to do it. 
14. The cool stories – Don’t fancy yourself a storyteller? If anyone says “why travel” at a party, you’ll be able to outline why with any one of the many travel stories you’ll come home with. Even if they seemed trivial when they happened, nostalgia will create a epic spin around getting your laundry done in Zanzibar.
15. You will eat food like you never have – Yes, you will be constantly surprised at the flavors the world has to offer.
16. To prove to yourself you can – If you’re the kind of person to dream big, and simply by reading this website you’ve proven that you are, you’re probably also the kind to reach for new challenges. Finishing a trip gives you the satisfaction that you were able to accomplish what you set out to do. And to give you energy to set up the next challenge too.
17. Because you can! – Why travel? Because you can. Why not?

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GUEST BLOGGERS

Famous Person

My famous person has a lab partner named Trayaurus and a dog named Grim who doesn't like water. He likes diamonds and makes mod adventure. He lives in a lab. He does experiments with mods in the lab. He is linked with a game that started with an M. He is linked with something that started with a Y. He plays mini games on servers. He has T-shirts for sale in stores. He also has action figures in stores. He saved Trayou from jail a few times. They went to an island because they found a chest that needed a key and the key was somewhere on the island.

-Tyler M

Question of the Week

For my question of the week I asked patrick what his favorite sport is and I asked him why and he said, “I like football because it’s where I get all my anger out”. Then I asked him what position do you play in football and he said, “I play corner and I play a little line.” I also asked him what is your favorite thing about football and he explained, “My favorite thing about football is that I get to hit people.”I also asked him how long have you been playing football. He replied “I have been playing for three years.”
-Aaron

2 Truths and a Lie

1. When I was little I went to Fort Bragg. I went on a boat and it was scary then I saw dolphins which made it more fun. Then I saw a shark and then it got scary again. 
2. When I was 7, my dad, Sister, and I went to six flags and I got lost. But instead of trying to find them I just went on more rides. Then they ended up finding me.
3. When I was little everyone thought me and my sister were twins because I had blond hair like she does now and we were like best friends, but now we never get along and we look nothing alike.

-Sonnie

Chromebooks in the Classroom

We have been using some awesome technology this year to help students prepare to interact with the world.


Mrs. Pendell, 8th grade teacher at our school, has been leading the way with innovative technology education. She agreed to share on our blog a little bit about Google Apps for Education. Enjoy the read!

GAFE is Changing the Way Our Students Learn

Teachers at our school have taken a new and exciting step toward preparing our students for the future and engaging students in a fun new way of learning and collaboration: Google Apps for Education.

Google Apps for Education (GAFE) is an online cloud-based productivity suite built especially for schools. Students are given their own school account to access the many apps Google offers and to access an online classroom. Our school has it’s very own secure domain where students can word process, create, collaborate, and share with their teachers and peers.

Education is changing. California Common Core standards expect students to use technology regularly in their classes. Not only do our standards and curriculum require technology use, but the world our students are entering outside of school also requires them to be tech-savvy and digital citizens. GAFE is a tool to help us lead our school into the 21st century of education.

Students love using GAFE in their classrooms. They love learning via varying modules such as video, song, game, slide show or blog. No longer are students limited to a textbook or worksheet. GAFE gives students the freedom to create and show their learning, instead of being limited to one type of assessment. In GAFE, everything is online; no longer are students carrying work back and forth from class to home or worried of losing their work. Students’ work is accessible anywhere with a device and Internet connection. Students love to access their work from home on their smart phones!

Teachers love using GAFE in their classrooms, too. The collaborative feature of GAFE allows teachers to view student work in real-time as the students are working. This results in nearly instant feedback. GAFE provides tools for efficiency in the classroom, allowing teachers to spend more time with students and less time on paperwork.

This is an exciting time for our school. The sixth grade has new Chrome books and is using GAFE in nearly all of their classes. GAFE is also being used in two seventh-grade classes and two eighth-grade classes. Next year, we should be seeing GAFE in all classes at our school. Students are creating, innovating, and engaged in their education because of our devoted teachers and GAFE. It’s a great time to be a Bulldog!

By Emily Pendell

Mrs. Pendell teaches eighth grade and is site technology coordinator. She is a Google Certified Educator and has been using GAFE in her classes for three years. She can be reached at ependell@palermok8.org.

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Mrs. Casner, classroom instructional aide, gets the opportunity to see 6th grade students use technology in all of their classes. Her observations make me excited to be a teacher right now.

As an instructional aide in the 6th grade classrooms, I've had the opportunity to observe students using Chrome books. Students enjoy the ability to use their own computer. They seem genuinely excited to do projects and research subjects. Overall, they seem to be more focused on the assignment when the Chrome books are in use.

The potential for lesson expansion is an additional bonus. Students love to watch videos and take mini quizzes. It allows students to work at their own pace. Those that don't finish have the ability to work on the assignments at home or in tutoring. Students that struggle to keep up are not getting overwhelmed or feeling rushed.

It is amazing the growth I've seen since the beginning of the year in regards to computer skills. As students are learning the programs, projects are being produced that are complete, spell-checked, organized. They are also learning to type. The development of these skills will serve them well in high school and college.

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GUEST BLOGGERS

Famous Person

This person is 32 years old. She is a famous country singer, and she just had a son who is 6-months old. This is my favorite singer. One of her songs is “Something in the Water,” another is “Before he Cheats.” She was one of the singers at the stadium in New York. She sings “Something bad” with Miranda Lambert. Her husband is Mike Fisher and she is 35. She sang right after Blake Shelton for New Year's Eve. She plays Sara Hill in the movie “Soul Surfer.” She was born on March 10,1983. Her husband was born on June 5,1980. She is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. She has set and broken several records throughout her career. Who is my person??

By: Rebecca


Question of the Week

I asked Charles what he did over the weekend and he said that his little brother burned his hands on a fire place and they had to take him to the hospital. He had 3rd degree burns and his whole hand had blisters. Today they have to take him to UC Davis. He is only nine months old. The rest of the weekend he played GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption and watched Family Guy. He also had to watch his little brothers. He is sure his little brother won’t go by the fire place ever again in his life.

-Richard


Two Truths and a Lie

1. When I was little I used to think I was the Hulk and Hulk out. When I was the hulk I wrestled my dad and use to beat him up.
2. I broke my whole arm when I was 5 and I had to go to the doctors for 2 months. It was horrible the doctors were mean and stuck me with
3. I love to participate in sports. I used to dance and play football and baseball. I just started playing basketball last year and we won the championships. This year we are undefeated right now but we might lose against a good team we haven’t played yet.

-Hayden