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Redemptive Wreckage

It is interesting the way life reminds us we aren't in as much control as we thought. We forge ahead with predictability and comfort, and hope of meeting self declared expectations. Then you get blindsided and everything you thought and hoped for gets totaled and has to be thrown out. Or, the mess can be recycled for a different look altogether, and in the end redeemed.

The American Museum of Natural History

Mr. Brandow had the privilege to take a couple of students to the American Museum of Natural History over the weekend. While we were there, we got to see a very special dinosaur exhibit that showed the fossils of a fully recovered  and rebuilt Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was an awesome sight. We also got to see fossil rebuilds of Triceratops and Stegosaurus.

Later in the day we got to watch an IMAX movie about the Galapagos Islands. It was really cool because in the movie they talked about animal and plant adaptation on those islands, and that is what we are talking about in class right now.

The best part of the day was the Butterfly Conservatory at the museum. There is a climate controlled room that has all kinds of tropical butterflies flying around inside of it. We were lucky enough to have some of the butterflies land on us. The picture is of one of the students in room 313 and a butterfly that decided to take a rest on her hand.

An "Unfortunate" Evening with Lemony Snicket

Mr. Brandow had the privilege to spend an "Unfortunate" evening at Shadow Studios with A Series of Unfortunate Events author Lemony Snicket as he unveiled his 12th book in the series, The Penultimate Peril. Mr. Snicket was absolutely "awful" as he spoke to our small audience in New York City. His appearance was broadcast to 15 cities across America, so thousands of fans, children and adults alike, were able to enjoy his "inexplicable" entertainment. Even though Mr. Snicket spoke to thousands of people...maybe millions if the broadcast was "illegally intercepted", he was still able to take a few short minutes to have an interview with Mr. Brandow. The interview went like this:

Welcome Gilham Elementary

Hello and welcome Mrs. Siporin's third graders. You've made it to Room 313. CONGRATULATIONS! Room 313 is a classroom of fourth graders in New York City. We have 30 students in our class who are very excited to meet you. Our hope is that we can start some conversations about some of the books we are reading, some of the things we are writing, and what our lives are like where we live...and that is just a starting point.

The Great Literature Circle

There are several students in room 313 this fall who are reading great books. We have talked in our class about inviting other students from around the world to share in an online literature circle. So this is your official invitation to join us: You're invited to share with us your thoughts about books and in return, we will share our thoughts about books with you.

We will post some of the titles we are reading later this week and you can tell us some of the things you are reading too.

Classroom Collaboration

Attention all educators!! Our class just received two iSight cameras as a gift from a great on-line donation program for inner city schools called Donor Choose. If your class would be interested in doing some web camera collaboration, let us know. We will be doing some work with another school this year and would love to consider working with your class. We have several Spanish speaking students in our class, so if you have Spanish speakers too, well...you get the idea.

Fourth Grade Fun

If you are just browsing, make sure to look at the fourth graders page. Until Students start posting their work, I have put some fun research activities for them to explore there. The frog video is my favorite. Have fun.

Warning: Men at Work

If you are looking at this blog for the first time because you are simply a curious surfer of the world wide web whose search brought you here, or you're a friend or family member who is gracefully humoring me, please excuse the disorganization. This is a work in progress, and it will be an evolving thing as this year and the following years roll by.

Scarce Supplies

When I arrived to my school in New York City I expected a relatively smooth transition from my school in Oregon. Things were going well. I needed some tape and a stapler to put up some bulletin boards and posters in my classroom. That was easy because I simply opened up the teacher desk in the room and found them, and lots more. It was a little treasure chest of supplies. Then, one day into school, someone came into our room, room 313, and took all of the supplies I had been using, leaving me nothing useful.

Why use a Blog in the Classroom?

Here is a teacher who put together a short video to highlight the power of blogging in his classroom. It takes a few minutes to load, so be patient. If this is what kids are doing in high school, we can do it in elementary school!

Think of the possibilities...collaboration with childrens authors, expert scientists, or even someone more familiar like Aunt Betty, all in different parts of the world.

How is that for a classroom?

Warning: Men at Work

An AudioBlog entry talking about and somewhat apologizing for the disorganization of the blog so far.