Students learn by doing. A good teacher would already know that. If you want your student to learn fast and grasp the material better you need demonstrate. It is very hard to model cubes because the students at the back row would barely see. So I decided to get the overhead projector and place the cubes on it.  So let’s say I put 4 tens and 2 ones how many more tens and ones do you need to place to get a 100? That’s what the student is demonstrating in the photo. 42 and 58 is 100.

Up Close and Personal.

Children learn and truly understand math and mathematical concepts best when engaged in hands-on activities and games. By manipulating everyday objects, playing games and finding out ways to solve everyday problems, children gain a true understanding of math and mathematical concepts. Only with this understanding does the meaning of abstract numbers become apparent.

We’re back to school after a long Christmas Vacation and I wanted to make sure that my students are still choosing to stay healthy. The first lunchbox I chose was Ralph’s lunchbox. I liked the variety of food. Way to Go Ralph!

The second lunchbox goes to Carina and Leona, the twin sisters! I liked the choice of Kiwi and dark chocolate. They definitely know the real taste of chocolate, way to go girls

Dear Readers,

     First of all I want to wish you all a Happy new year. I hope 2012 will be a year full of positivity,  happiness, success, and good health to all of you. I am writing to you from Dubai at the moment. I am spending the Christmas holiday with my best friends. It’s been great! I guess we all need the time to relax and pamper ourselves so that when we are back to school or work we’ll be full of power. I still have a week off and I can’t wait to see my students again I miss them so much. I thought of posting the top 5 posts that have been visited the most  on my blog. Click on the link to read the post enjoy! and Happy new year again!

1- Mom’s Words on my Sandwich

2- Does a Bamboo plant really give positive energy?

3- Miss Farah on MTV Lebanon discussing New techniques to avoid stress!

4- Laughter Yoga: A funny prescription

5- How to Host a Chocolate Party

Snow or no snow, your family can whip up a band of these merry marshmallow snowmen to satisfy all their winter wonderland fantasies.

Ingredients

• Cooled cupcake (baked from your favorite recipe)
• White icing
• Large marshmallows
• Waxed paper
• Pretzel sticks

• Decorators’ gel
• Orange slice candy
• Junior Mints
• Thin Mints
• Fruit leather

Instructions

1. Frost a cooled cupcake (baked from your favorite recipe) with white icing.

2. Flatten a large marshmallow on waxed paper with the palm of your hand. Cut a second marshmallow in half horizontally, then stack the halves on the first marshmallow to form a torso and head.

3. Push a thin pretzel stick down through the snowman (this will help him stand up), then set him on the cupcake.

4. Use decorators’ gel to create a mouth, eyes, and buttons, then add pretzel stick arms and a wedge cut from an orange slice candy for a nose.

5. Accessorize with a candy hat (a Junior Mint secured to a Thin Mint with icing) and a fruit leather scarf.

6. Watch video of how to make the recipe below to make things easier for you. Merry Christmas

http://familyfun.go.com/how-to-videos/familyfun-frosty-the-cupcake-762325-v/

Lenora! I chose Lenora’s lunchbox because she told me that her mom made her home made cake. This shows that she is aware that she is not eating just ANY kind of cake.I liked the Bake Stix and the granola bar as well. Great choice Lenora!

My second choice was Priscilla’s Lunchbox. It had a variety of food. Banana, brown bread toast, mini biscuits by McVitiies, and juice, Way to go Priscilla!

     I asked my students to write a letter to Santa. After they wrote the letter I posted them on the bulletin board near our classroom. I didn’t get the chance to read them until today. All of the letters were so cute. It’s funny how the kids are now requesting an I-pad 3 from Santa. I guess Santa has to be very up to date now with all the new technology! I will show you some of the letters.

Here Leona is asking about Mrs. Clause!! Isn’t that adorable ??

Dear readers,

    My post today to you is quite different. I am the type of person who admires and encourages people who are full of inspiration. I happened to find out that my student’s mother, Mrs. Joyce Drobot,  makes hand-crafted jewelry and handbags and thought I would share it with you.

Mrs. Drobot says,

    DDunya is a celebration of color and texture that is uniquely presented to you, from me, in fine hand-crafted jewelry and handbags. The collection is irresistibly inspired by cultures and colors from all over the world. From casual wear to sophisticated evening wear, DDunya offers something very unique and reflects today’s quintessential need for glamour.

The day and evening collection of handbags feature opulent leather with delicate, unexpected finishes. Small clutches are dressed up in luxurious and shiny materials. “The must have bags”.

The jewelry collection is made of semi-precious stones, pearls, crystals and also include fine materials such as sterling silver, gold, leather, and silk chosen from destinations around the world specifically chosen by me.

I hope you enjoy this one of a kind collection of inspiration and passion.

Joyce Drobot

Please feel free to visit the website and check out more evening and casual accessories and handbags by clicking on this link: www.ddunya.com

Mrs. Drobot is inviting you all to her house for the opening of her new collection on Saturday, December 10th starting 11 am in Mansourieh, Lebanon.
Contact number: 71-608957

  I can’t be the only teacher that finds parent-teacher conference time stressful, right? Last Friday, we had our first parent-teacher conference. It was a successful one. I wanted to create the right mood for the parents. I wanted them to feel relaxed and not be too stressed out. Many parents come in with a negative mood expecting the worst. So that’s where my role as a teacher comes to help ease the stress for the parents and myself.

  1- Punctuality: The first thing you got to do as a teacher is arrive early and get ready mentally and physically.

  2- Cleanliness and Set up: Get prepared and make sure your classroom is clean. I set up the table where we will both sit in a way where we are all relaxed and facing each other.

3- Bamboo Plant: Since the bamboo plant is very important in our classroom I put it on the table for positive energy.

4- Scent: A scented candle of course! This year I got a vanilla one. It was very refreshing. open the windows for some fresh air

5- Music: Silence of peace music that I use all the time in the background. It helps set the tone and gives a nice impression to incoming family members. It also helps me from talking too quickly, as I usually feel rushed during conferences.  

6- Take notes: With so many conferences, it is hard to remember what has been discussed for each meeting. I also make sure to ask parents if their is anything I can do to help their child be more successful.  Whatever is mentioned, I write it down and try to create a method to support them further.

7- The Balance of Feedback/Talk: If I spend my time complimenting each child on their strengths without addressing an area to improve, we are losing an opportunity to grow.  Mentally, I try to use the two stars, one wish method (two compliments, one area of concern) for my parent conferences. I sometimes write this down before the conference to really take care in my observations of each child and their perceived needs. I also try to balance out the amount of talking going on.  Am I doing most of the talking? If so, I try to stop and listen to what parents have to say about their child. It is just as important for me to hear what parents are observing as it is for me to share what I am observing with parents.

8- Candy: After the meeting is finished it is nice to have some candy on the table. I always choose Cadbury Candy ( caramel flavor) something everyone likes.

It’s that time of year again. That joyous time of year Last week my students and I got some decoration for the class. I told my students to get some ornaments and lights. I volunteered in getting snow spray to spray on all the windows. We want to bring in the Christmas spirit into our classroom, and we did! I just love decorating the classroom after all we are spending a lot of time in it and we need to make it feel just right! I’m sure you all started putting up your trees, make sure your children volunteer too! They will love it Take care now!

2 days ago my students and I went on an educational field trip, to Science Village in Dbayeh, Lebanon. The kids had a blast! It was very entertaining and educational at the same time. I told them that we are going to pretend we are little scientist and start our exploring adventure.

Our first stop was at the Health room, where the students saw the food guide pyramid and saw how much fat each kind of food contains. It was a lot of fun!

At out next stop, we did some really cool experiments. The first one was about putting some food coloring over full fat milk. Then we put a small teaspoon of liquid soap. As you can see the food coloring starts spreading everywhere!

After, we visited the plant section where we explored different kind of plants and we also saw some Lebanese Plants only found in Lebanon.

Here we went to see the volcano explode and how to make a water tornado. Very simple! Just attach two big bottles and make sure that the lids are open then flip and shake!

We also visited the human body section where we learned more about the skeleton and other body parts. We also connected circuits to make light using wind.

Now that was a fun one! We actually made a water tornado! The secret is just join to big plastic bottles together really well with tape fill one of them with water. Then you flip the water and shake it a bit the water will start going down in a swirling motion just like a real water tornado. In the other photo we witnessed smoke coming out from the volcano.

After we came back to class and told them to write on their journal about their trip to Science Village. They had to write and draw. It was a great day indeed