Ceramics: Glazed and Fired!

Just look at those faces.
Can you tell they're excited?
The pots were glazed a couple weeks back and Jessica has been firing them at her house in her kiln (that unfortunately has recently bit the dust). They came out so well and the kids all had multiple finished pieces to take home.
One of the glazes in particular ran a little too much, so Jessica showed how to use another discarded pot to scrape away at the excess glaze to clean it.
Elijah examining his beautiful plate.
Great work, kids! Thanks again to Jess for all her hard work and time spent making sure everyone had success.

Geography

The kids have been doing mapping skills, working on political boundaries and being able to find continents, oceans, etc. Now they're getting ready to test their skills on U. S. states. Our kindergartener was quizzed on regions, but she also happens to be able to identify all of the states in the northeast, which is pretty impressive for a six year old. The older students got to review past knowledge and are able to fill in their maps pretty easily. They won't be able to use their state list on the test, so we'll see how they do trying to spell Illinois and Arkansas! Next up: major mountain ranges.

Ice Fishing

Having lived most of my life in Maine, and Downeast Maine at that, you'd think this would be nothing new for me. But, like pond hockey, my ice fishing experiences are slim to none. In fact, I had been twice. Ever. Over the mid-winter break, you can consider that number doubled.
Here's Myron, letting Mr. Finn in on the finer points of tip-ups. He's one you should listen to.
Yup...small mouth bass. He also pulled out an even larger one just minutes later.

Here's Mr. Finn's big catch of the day. Can you see it? So much for the fish stories. I know who I'm calling if I need some fresh fish. (hint: it's not my husband)

Valentine's Day

Ahh, Valentine's Day, the day for heartfelt wishes of love and friendship. What better way to celebrate than with a veritable boatload of candy?

Thanks to Lorna, Harold, Evelyn, Lloyd and Kenny for all the loot!

We didn't like it....
Nope....

Not ONE bit!

We Heart Hockey

These guys have gotten so much better since last year, due in part to the spiffy new gear that was donated to our school. During P. E. we just wear our boots, because, as many of you adults know...trying to get 13 kids into skates takes a lifetime. I'm convinced that gym class would be over by the time we got everyone duded up in their pads, helmets and skates. As it is, it takes us about 15 minutes to get onto the ice, but at least we haven't had any casualities this year (not counting Nate...sorry big guy!) We're practicing a lot of passing and the urge for all 13 kids to dive for the puck at once seems to be fading slightly. Though our hockey day with Islesford fell through, we've been having some great ice time for the past couple months. Where was pond hockey when I was a kid?? This could have been me, gleefully chasing the puck, and then, as an adult, I wouldn't skate like a toddler. Kind of embarrassing when the 6 year olds are better than you are, but hey, that's what you call being a 'lifelong learner' right?