BUGS

We are about to read a Time for Kids article that tries to persuade us to eat bugs.

"Entomon" is the Greek word for insect. -ology means "study of".

Entomology is the study of insects.

"Phagein" means "to eat".

Entomophagy is the eating of insects.

They're full of protein; they don't require a lot of space to raise them; 

and they are plentiful!

Compare the nutritional information.

Have you ever eaten a bug? Do you think it would be something you could eat instead of meat? Are you an Entomophagist?

These are the chapulines that Ms. Davis ate in Oaxaca, Mexico.

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GUEST BLOGGERS

Famous Person

My famous person was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, CA. She died on August 5, 1962 in Brentwood, CA. She was sometimes called The Blonde Bombshell or MM. Her mother became a widow and mentally ill which eventually caused her to be sent to several foster homes. At the age of sixteen, she worked in an aircraft plant and married a man she called Daddy; he went into the military, she modeled, they divorced in 1948. She owned 200 books, listened to Beethoven records, studied acting at Actors’ lab in Hollywood, and took literature courses at UCLA downtown. Some songs she sang were: “Every Baby Needs a Da Da Daddy”, “Anyone Can Tell I Love You” and “The Ladies of the Chorus.” She sang these songs with Adele Jergens. She had been rejected by everyone close to her and even had some threatening phone calls. One day she was locked in her room and her maid, unable to do anything, called the police and her French physician Ralph Greenson. He tried to break down the door and when he did he found her dead in her bed. The police stated that she had died from acute barbiturate poisoning and it was a ‘probable suicide’.

Kailey N.

Question of the Week

I asked Mrs.Coffman if she likes her work, and she said that she loved her job. She has been doing it for a long time, and she always tries to say something nice to students everyday. She also notices if a student is wearing something new or has a new haircut. Every morning she does cafeteria duty and also does 7th grade girls locker room duty. She helps in 8th grade history and science, and she really likes history. She also likes science because the students always get to do a lot of interesting experiments. Mrs. Coffman also helps in Mrs. Garcia’s 7th grade L.A class. Her least favorite thing is 6th grade homework lab because most of the students don’t take it seriously. She works with 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Indian Ed, for teaching them about the culture and making crafts. 

- Cristian

2 Truths and a Lie

1. When I was seven and my sister was born I tried to send my sister away to Japan, but when I asked my parents for the really big box to fit my sister in my parents got suspicious. When they gave me the box (it was their plan) they said “First you have to tell me what you need it for” and that's when I told them and they said “You are crazy and why would you do that!” Then I said because, just because.

2. When I was six I broke my foot by doing gymnastics. I was trying to do a back handspring but instead I ended up twisting my foot and it cracked then that’s when it broke. When I went to the doctors they moved my foot and it really hurt. I had to wear a cast for at least a month. When I felt better I ended up quitting because we moved.

3. On my ninth birthday my parents took me to the water park. At first they said we were going to the river, but I fell asleep in the car. So had no idea where we were going. When I woke up I realized that the river is only a few minutes away. A few hours away we were at the waterpark. I was so excited. A few minutes later when we got in I went on a bunch of water slides. Then there was this one I wanted to go on because it looked really fun. When I got on the ride I was screaming because it was just a big drop.

Victoria

What Motivates Students?

I listen to various podcasts when I am driving to and from work. I like "An Extra Pack of Peanuts" which is about world travel; I like "This American Life" which focuses on interesting stories about real people, following a particular theme; and I listen to "The Cult of Pedagogy" where Jennifer Gonzalez talks about all kinds of useful things for teachers.

Today I was listening to Jennifer Gonzalez talk about motivating unmotivated students. You could read the text or listen to the podcast yourself. These are the 5 things she recommends for motivating in the classroom, followed by my comments on each.

1.  Students are more motivated academically when they have a positive relationship with their teacher.

• I try to develop relationships with my students. It's so hard with a limited amount of time and so much to teach. I think I treat the kids with respect, and I really care about their educations. I share with them about my life in an attempt to let them see that I am a real person outside of school. I hope they know that each of them is really important to me. I could do a better job of building relationships with all my students.

2.  Choice is a powerful motivator in most educational contexts

• I believe in offering choices to my students. I let them choose where they want to sit; they choose their partners; they choose what kind of seating suits them. Often when they finish a required assignment, I let them choose what they will do while the others finish. I offer many choices for preferred reading time. 

3.  For complex tasks that require creativity and persistence, extrinsic rewards and consequences actually hamper motivation

• Today I offered students a "Challenge" activity to work on after a test. Many students took advantage of this opportunity to learn more without the promise of extra credit or a grade. 
  

4.  To stay motivated to persist at any task, students must believe they can improve in that task.

• I have so much to learn about "growth mindset". I have been in the habit of saying, "You're good at this," and "You're so smart." Good thing I have growth mindset and I know I can improve if I keep trying.
  

5.  Students are motivated to learn things that have relevance to their lives.

• I recently advocated for the students to stop doing work out of the workbooks that are boring and dry. I got permission to teach reading, analyzing, discussing and writing through the use of Time for Kids magazine. These articles are current and relevant. The kids are much more interested in them than in that stale ol' workbook. 

I have been teaching a long time, and I hope to continue for a lot longer. I want to be the best teacher I can be! I keep reading books and talking to other teachers. I love listening to podcasts and reading other teacher's blogs. This keeps me on my toes and helps me stay connected with my students. I'm always open to feedback and new ideas. Post them in the comments.

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GUEST BLOGGERS

Famous Person

My famous person is a Youtuber that was born on August 7th 1992 he is mostly famous for lego games. To help you here is a quote from his LEGO games ‘destroy first, think later’. He is non violent but makes crummy jokes. He has 1,206,704 subscribers and nearly 3,000 likes on every video. My favorite series that he did is The amazing spider-man 1 and 2 and skylanders super chargers. He plays over 17 different LEGO games he has a celebration series called Yolocraft. He play minecraft multiplayer and pixelmon multiplayer. He has 3 kid friendly channels but now he is 23 years old. Can you guess who my person is?

-Connor

Question of the Week

I asked Ms. Davis “What inspired you to make this blog?”

She told me that she went to a technology conference last summer and they were talking about blogs. She did not know anything about one. So she decided to start a blog, not just to learn about it but actually keeping in touch with her students and student’s parents. She wanted to use it to express her feelings and what she knows about teaching. This is a good idea because some parents don’t have time to come in or have a phone call so this is perfect for busy parents who want to stay in touch with their child’s teacher.
-Olivia S

2 Truths and a Lie

1. During August I played soccer for the Oroville Youth Soccer Club. I was on a team called the “Rush.” We went to a tournament and won our first game against the “Cosmos.” It was a tie so we had to do a kick off, we won the kick off. The score was 3 to 6. But then lost our second game against the “Puma’s.” The score was 1 to 0. During the season I played a forward and mid-fielder and got to make goals.

2. When I was younger I did ballet and tap dance. For ballet and tap dance my teachers name was Peggy. We had a bunch of recitals, during one of the recitals my ballet shoe came undone and fell off. I wore a bunch of different costumes. I don’t remember much about ballet and tap dance, but I still have some of the costumes.

3. Last summer I was on a swim team for the Oroville Orcas. This was my first year on a swim team. We had a bunch of meets but I only went to one. I got fourth place. We learned a bunch of different swims like freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly and a lot more. The coach also taught us how to dive. We also dived off the block, which was a slanted, short diving board.

-Anela

New Testing Program

Generally, I am not a big fan of "mandatory" testing. I think teachers are required to do too much of it; kids suffer through hours of it; and it takes away from valuable instruction time. I know that is a controversial topic. I won't spend too much time on it right now.

What I do want to talk about is this: students at our school are taking a new test at the end of this trimester that offers some interesting data about their progress. There are some bugs that we are working out, so the data this time might not be entirely accurate. Also, I was out for a few days, so our testing time was interrupted. But it is compelling information nonetheless. 

With report cards next week, we will include a printout showing how the student did compared to a 6th-grade norm. Below is an example.

There will be a Language section, a Reading section, and a Math section. The blue bar demonstrates the individual student's current progress. The yellow bar shows a 6th grade norm.

The writing below the graph will break the data down even further into subcategories. It will also tell whether the student is Low, Low Average, Average, High Average or High.

There is also a Lexile (Reading) score. This diagram will help you determine the value of the score.

Sometimes the report card grades don't match up precisely with the results of these tests. In class, grades also include collaboration with others, preparation for class discussions, speaking and listening, and submitting finished work. 

I hope all this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have questions about the results.

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GUEST BLOGGERS

Famous Person

My famous person was born on 1996, January 15, in Seattle Washington. At the age of eight she began acting at a community theater at Bainbridge performing arts. When she was fourteen her and her family moved to L.A., California where she sang in Burbank High School National Championship Show Choir. Her middle name is Olivia. She is now twenty years old. She has a boyfriend named Ryan Mccartan which plays in the same show as her called Liv and Maddie. She sang songs in this show. She also played in a few movies called Cloud 9, Descendants, and Monsterville. A few of her songs are What a Girl is, Better in Stereo, Froyo Yolo, True Love, If Only, On Top of the World, The girl and a Dreamcatcher,and her newest song Glowing in the Dark. My famous person is french and can speak fluent french. So, do you know who my famous person is?

-Jasmine

Question of the Week

I asked Natisha how it felt like to be on the girls basketball team and she said “It was fun to be on the basketball team because i got to hang out with my friends more often.” She also said it was very excited to be on the team. When she first started practice she said she was very nervous because she thought she wasn’t good enough. But once she started playing she realized that she was very good at guarding her person. Then they got their jerseys. She chose number 45 because her best friend was number 44 and she wanted to be next to her. She said when she was starting games she didn’t play as much as she would have liked to. Then when she got further in the season she started playing a lot more. Then tournaments came she played very hard and tried her best. She got second place but she said it was the best thing that had happened to her because she made the team and tried her best that’s all you can do is try to win!

-Marcy

Two Truths and a Lie

1. When I went to Six Flags I road Medusa and it was so fun that I thought I was going to die. After that we went to the 40niners game it was awesome. I had lots of fun. The 40niners vs Raiders, my dad is a Raiders fan. That’s my second favorite team.

2. When I went to the San Francisco Giants we were 3 seats away from the dug-out. I got a ball signed by Mucho, Sanchez, and I believe the other guy was called Jeremy Affelt. These 3 ladies or cheerleaders got up on the dug-out and threw shirts and I got one It said ORANGE VS BLACK ATTACK, it was awesome pawsome. The San Francisco Giants and the 40niners are my favorite teams. They are the best teams ever.

3. When I went to Six Flags, the killer whale was still there. Her name was Shupa. I thought the whale had left.

-Silas

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