Frenchboro School

Storyboarding and iMovie

2012-01-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

The kids have been storyboarding and making movies using iMovie. They all drew out their stories, wrote their scripts and then did the filming. It's difficult doing a one-man or one-woman show. It takes some creativity and focus on acting rather than set design or various actors.
The kids came up with some great movie ideas, and the diversity is astounding. Seth here is working on his movie about Good Seth and Evil Seth. Apparently there is a planet called Evil Seth Planet and an Evil Seth comes to Earth to take over Good Seth's life. Paintball fight ensues.
Tyler had a great show about a hungry family depending on Dad to go out and shoot a deer. It being Frenchboro, there was a boat involved in this process. We're going to have the first annual Frenchboro Film Festival coming up soon. Stay tuned!

Wigwam Building

2012-01-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

We've been studying early Native Americans in Social Studies class. Time to make another wigwam! First up, get some grasses.

Then, make some grass mats...teamwork helps.

After making the frame, we covered it in grass mats. (Pay no mind to the duct tape...they had duct tape back then, right? We're all about authentic over here.) Fini! A great place to do our reading. They open the smoke hole for more light. Super cute.

Circuits

2012-01-25T07:25:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love this series of pictures. I had my camera on the table and was clicking without them knowing. They were so scared to flip the switch of their circuit. Maybe they thought it was going to shock them, or blow up. So cute. I love the interest and wonder that scientific exploration creates. And the laughter. We always like a good laugh.

Buggy

2012-01-25T07:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so this is Buggy. We come up with some very literal names for our animals here in Frenchboro School. Buggy came out of Saylor's engine during small engine club after school. A live bug was not what we expected to find when prying apart an engine. It sort of disappeared and we assumed it had died, but what do you know, it popped up on the windowsill days later during reading class. I think it's some kind of stink bug, which of course made Brody want to squish it to see how it smelled.

The Happiest Sight

2012-01-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

One of the happiest sights for me as a teacher is to see my students totally engaged in reading a book. Reading for me is one of the great joys in life. It opens up worlds and minds. It's so wonderful to listen to them read to each other, or, when they're reading silently, have them exclaim about a picture, an interesting fact, or a suspenseful plot. Watching Kindergarteners go from not being able to identify any letters to reading entire paragraphs is a vicarious adventure I'll never forget. Studies have shown that good reading skills are one of the greatest indicators of academic success, but a true joy of reading will create the motivation to become a lifelong learner. I want that for all my students. So, curl up in your favorite chair on the next rainy day, turn off your computer and enjoy a good book instead!

More Magnets

2012-01-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

After our first magnet exploration, it was time to talk about the magnetic field. What better way to illustrate it than using iron filings? It's one thing to draw the field and talk about it, another to actually see it in action.
We had some fantastic examples.
We did learn the hard way: thicker is not better.
Giving it a little shake helped spread out the filings and show more of the field.

Then we wondered what would happen with a round magnet. Where are the poles? What would happen when we doubled or tripled up the magnets for added strength?
A pincushion!
We did a lot of experimenting with two bar magnets. Knowing that same poles would repel, we had to tape them close to each other. And what about two bar magnets wanting to attract? We had to tape those down as well so we could see what happened in the gap. Do you know which one is illustrated above?

Snow

2012-01-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

This is about it for snow this year, guys. Enjoy.

The Long Goodbye

2012-01-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Doug and I met in Alaska. We'd both went up there separately to teach. We weren't looking for a spouse, but we ended up connecting very quickly. We're both adventurous people, love to travel, and experience new things. After four years teaching on a remote island 160 miles off the coast of Alaska, 35 miles from mainland Russia, we were okay to move to Maine, where we own a house in Cherryfield. I grew up in this area and love coastal Maine. It has always been home to me. I missed seeing my family and having a place to call my own, so we happily began searching for jobs in this area.

Maybe it's something about us, but we laughed to find ourselves teaching on another island, this time off the coast of Maine. We came to the one room schoolhouse excited that we'd be together. I mean, really together. As in 24/7 together. Four years later, we're closer than ever. Four years later, we find ourselves ready to embark on a new journey. We're leaving Frenchboro. Moving to our house in Cherryfield, that has been mostly vacant for the nearly 6 years we have owned it, will be a big change for us. The biggest change of all will undoubtedly be that we will spend much more time apart than we ever have in our 7 years together.

Teaching together with your spouse gets a lot of raised eyebrows, mostly from people who think that would be their worst nightmare. Unlike many couples, though, we actually get along. We rarely quarrel and see eye to eye on most matters. In teaching, this is important, especially when it comes to classroom management and curriculum. Being out here, as the only staff members in our school, we talk constantly about what is happening and will happen and why. We try to keep things transparent for the kids. They deserve to know what is going on and how it will affect them.

So, it was difficult to not tell our students first, that this would be our last year. They are, after all, the reason we are here. Every decision is thought of in regard to how it might affect the kids. But, as professionals, we knew we needed to tell our principal and school board first, then the students. We weren't sure how they would handle it. We know how we feel about them, and we know how hard it is to leave them, but what will it be like for them? Many of them have never had any other teachers but us. Imagine that.

This kind of change is big for these shy kids. When we first got here, several of them would not even speak to us. Now, we know them better than our own nieces and nephews. They are, simply, like family to us. When we told them, they said nothing. You could have heard a pin drop. They sat in stunned silence. We told them if they needed to ask any questions or talk, they were welcome to but they weren't ready for that.

Several days later, the questions and comments started. Things like, "But you'll still be here in the summer...right?" No. "So you're selling your house?!" No. We don't own this house out here. The new teachers will be living there. "Oh." And, "What table will I be sitting at next year, Ms. Finn?" I don't know, buddy. You might not have the tables. You might have desks instead. "Oh." Then it was the Encouraging Words that we do every Friday. Usually they are to each other, but they started trickling in to us. "You are the best teachers in the whole entire world." "Please don't leave us." "I'll miss you so much when you're gone."

I can't rightly express how I feel about this group of kids. I know I blog often about how great they are. But that's not lip service. These kids have been an absolute delight, and continue to be. Just this morning, when asked about doing the dance, apparently called The Dougie, Seth, our first grader, started mimicking writing on the board. He said, "See, I'm doing The Dougie. I'm Mr. Finn, writin' on the board in Math class." Yes, my husband was called, to his great chagrin, "Dougie" when he was a child. Seth knows this.

Which brings me to knowing someone. Most teachers don't get to know their students like we know these guys. Spending so much time together (4,320 hours of classroom time plus the countless hours before and after school as well as on the weekends) creates such a bond of knowing. I've decided to do some blogging about the kids as individuals. I'm going to take time to share photos of them over the years, tell stories and what I know about them. They've really touched us forever, these guys, and I'm tearing up already, just thinking of the long goodbye ahead of us. We wanted to come forward early, as soon as we knew, so that we could give our school board lots of time to find a replacement, but also because we wanted the kids to have time to process and get used to the changes that are afoot for them. Just like all our decisions having to do with the school, we thought of them first.

Update on the Engines

2012-01-13T16:21:00.000-08:00

So, we went from 7 sign ups to...all 11. I think most schools have trouble with kids dropping out of extra curricular activities. We do not have that problem. We're happy to say that 100% of our school is involved in an after school club! There was a whole lotta clunking and rattling going on, and they emerged from downstairs covered in grime and toting parts with glee.

A Little Ehow Never Hurt Anybody

2012-01-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

We've got this bathroom downstairs in our basement. It is, ahem, so disgusting. We tried, we really did. The kids put down linoleum tile that you buy in squares and did all the math themselves. Then, the tiles began to, um, curl. And liquids began to get trapped around the bowl, under the tiles, and stuck into the weird glue the tiles required that didn't quite wipe off the way it was supposed to. Besides that, the walls are totally scuffed up. How that happens, I've no idea. It looks like someone was trying breakdance all along the white paint. So, we hatched the idea last year to do a mural and paint over the nasty parts. The kids will do the artwork, so we needed to learn how to draw all the sea life that we want to include as it will be a mostly underwater mural.
We checked out the website ehow as it has some great tutorial videos on how to draw, like, everything. We stared with a lobster. Duh. What's great is that every kid could work at their own pace and pause the video as much as they wanted as they worked on their picture.
They were all SO great, working away, taking their time to include all the details. We'll make a splash with our mural in no time.
As for the tile, well, those nasty old ones came up (with a lot of help from surgical gloves) and Mr. Finn ground down all the glue and prepped the floor. The kids have already started laying the permanent ceramic tile and let me tell you, it is a beautiful sight! Cannot wait until the finished product.

New Year with Ursula

2012-01-13T15:14:00.000-08:00

Ursula came out on Jan. 4th, the day after school started and took the New Year as a chance to work on short and long term goal setting. The 5-6 students came up with some great ideas after working out the difference between "wishes" and "goals". Among our wishes: flying (just one of the many super powers on our list), having unlimited wealth, you know...the usual. When I came up to check on the K-4 group, I found them like this. Apparently there was some yoga charades going on. It was great to kick off 2012 with some quality Ursula time. Yay for the Wednesday ferry!

Small Engines Club

2012-01-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

Right now I am upstairs in the school. Downstairs I can hear, well, a lot of thumping going on, and... oh dear, is that a grinder?
I'm not panicking though. This is intentional. Sometimes it is not. Then, I panic. Mr. Finn is downstairs with a group of 7 intrepid kids who signed up for Small Engines Club. I know. I know. Seriously? Small Engines Club?! What the heck is happening over there at Frenchboro School, you might ask. Well, Mr. Finn spends most of his winters here in Frenchboro freezing his tookus off in the shed out behind our house. Fixing things. Whatever kind of junk you have in the front yard, he's game to grab it. He sees potential in it. This is why we have motorcycle parts all over our garage in Cherryfield, and, gee whiz, is that an ancient chipper?
So, this summer, as we're relaxing at our farmhouse home, (well, I was relaxing, he was more gyrating with his knee going a million miles an hour) and apropos of nothing, he chimes in with, "I think I'm gonna do a small engine repair class with the kids after school this year." I eyed him warily. "When are you going to fit this in, between cross-country running and Lego Robotics practice?" He laughed. "No. In the winter. You know I'm always in that little shed...might as well do it at the school in the warmth." Yeah, in the warmth...with 11 little kids. I did not say that part aloud.

So, true to form, Mr. Finn sent out some emails to the town and folks he thought could help out and asked for broken down motors. I laugh. This is not exactly at a premium out here. That means there's no scarcity. Shopping malls we lack. Broken down crap we certainly have in spades. Soooo, on the way back to the island after our vacation, at 7:00 in the morning, we stopped by Maine Coast Heritage Trust where our fantastic steward, Terry Towne, had amassed a scary collection of decrepit 2 and 4 stroke engines. Weed whackers, lawn mowers, tillers, chain saws. We started piling that junk on top of all our groceries and Christmas things. It was like the Clampett reunion I'm telling you...stuff sticking out akimbo like you've never seen before. Thank god it was early as I was downright mortified. Mr. Finn, as you can imagine, was in hog heaven.
So, first day of school back after two weeks off. Kids are all clambering for Small Engine Club. Clambering, I tell you! Just back, you'd think they'd want to ease into it. Nope. 7 of them run downstairs like it's Christmas all over again. I could hear the hammering and had to go downstairs to make sure nothing untoward was going on. Not a lot of talking going on. Mr. Finn is a man of action. These kids are, too, though usually nothing silences Brody who loves to gab away as he works. Nope. Everyone working like crazy. For fun, this is!

Big smiles on their faces, every one, can't wait to show me what parts they'd removed already. There was especially a lot of, "Ms. Finn, look how dirty my motor is!" They were downright proud.
This thing is practically as big as he is, little 5 year old man!
And the girls? Right in their with gusto. You go, girls!
Again, with the smiles, like this is just the greatest fun they can imagine.
And where's Mr. Finn? Right in there with them, of course. He's often told me that if he had known this sort of thing was taught in schools, he surely would have ended up a mechanic, not a teacher. Mr. Finn can fix just about anything. Now, he can pass it on to kids who will really benefit from the skills. Melts my heart, really, to see all these little grease monkeys.
So now it's day 2 and they're all down there working away. Grinder stopped and I went down for a peek. They are positively covered with grease and could not wait to show me. (We thankfully bought not one, but two bars of Lava soap.) Everything is in pieces. They're showing me all the parts, Saylor found a live bug in her engine. I'm not even kidding. But their bright, eager faces tell me that, yet again, school is not a place they hate to come, not a place that they grimace about, not a place that they dread or drag their feet getting to. Our school is a place that, even when they don't have to be here they come anyway, with a smile. And we, of course, smile back.

Looooong Hike

2012-01-05T12:46:00.001-08:00

What to do in the winter months when it is too cold to play ball, but the ice isn't ready for us to play hockey? We decided to hone in on the 'endurance' aspect of their standards, namely, a big hike. Our island is covered with trails, but it's not like a paved pathway. There are a lot of...obstacles. Downed trees, big rocks, chasms to jump over.
We got tired. Almost lost a few along the way. But we kept right on marching along. Tyler was leading us, after all, and he doesn't stop for anything.
Just look at this glorious view of the spit that connects the main part of the island to Rich's Head. The light was just perfect.
Then we were up and over Burnt Hill, with a rope to help us up the steep parts. We were shedding layers like gangbusters.

Here we all are at the stone wall, right in the middle of the woods. Hard to imagine all the land being devoid of trees a hundred years ago to make way for livestock. Today, it's just a nice place to sit and take a little rest. I know I slept well after this big expedition!

Magnets!

2012-01-04T09:56:00.001-08:00

We're kicking off our Physics unit with magnets. Who doesn't love magnets? Since we prepped last year about what our science units would look like this year, we had time to order all the supplies that we'll be needing. After a little conversation about what we already know about magnets, we jumped in with some hands on playing...I mean experimenting.
The whole controlling-the-magnet-from-under-the-table trick came up right away. That blew everyone's mind.
Then there was the whole magnets-as-jewelry thing.
We really liked that one.
Mr. Finn didn't enjoy the magnets at all. Nope, not one bit. Saylor created this masterpiece after we talked about the polarities. So cool!
Seth, though controlling it from below, still seemed shocked at what was happening. It's magic, Ms. Finn!
Next up: What has magnetic properties? They all had to guess first, putting together two piles of what they thought would be magnetic and what they thought would not be magnetic.
Then they took their magnets and began testing their hypotheses.
Yup, magnetic! No one guessed that one of the rocks would be magnetic. They were blown away when their magnet stuck to the iron ore. And what about that nail that everyone thought would be magnetic? Nope? Aluminum! What a fun class.

Recap

2012-01-04T04:26:00.001-08:00

Our holiday parties are a pretty mellow affair, that is until Seth and Tyler start break dancing. This year the kids were really into the gift bags that we got for them, as well as the word searches and coloring pages. There is also a lot of chocolate involved. Always a good thing.We listened to music, ate some goodies and played with our new treats. Then we had a final dress rehearsal for the holiday play.
Getting ready to go onstage...lighting the elf Olympic torch.
Seriously? Do I have to wear this 70's dance outfit?
They were a little nervous, and Twinkle here was super sick, but managed to make it through the entire performance...what a trooper!Bob was one of the commentators on the Elf Network's Wide World of Sports.
Nutmeg was a North Pole elf, whose team ultimately won in the final round of cookie eating. It was a very close Olympics.

Sugarplum competed in the reindeer riding contest...he rocked it out and managed to stay on crazy Blitzen the longest. Great job remembering all the lines and songs, kids!

Fuzzy Ornaments

2011-12-22T07:06:00.001-08:00

It's our last day of school before break. Since we're done with all our last minute testing, we decided to dedicate the morning to a big art project. My mom and I used to do this when I was a kid and I always really enjoyed it (minus the cutting of tissue paper).
All you need is colored tissue paper, cut into 2 x 2 in squares, glue, and a pencil. You put your eraser end into the center of your tissue square, fold it up onto the pencil, then dip the end into glue, stick the pencil onto the paper and release...do this about 20 million times and you'll have a really cool puffy texture. The closer you can put each tissue wrap, the better.
We kept the designs simple and rather large, so that the clusters of color would look more impressive. It's like a latch hook rug with tissue paper.
For the first time in our four years out here, the kids opted to STAY IN for recess to keep working. Are you kidding me? I could not believe it.
Saylor has the right idea, working down from the edge...much easier to get the tissue close together. I'm interested to see how these turn out. It's time intensive, but impressive when it's done.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like.....

2011-12-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

Even though we haven't gotten a lot of the white stuff out here on our little isle of misfit toys, we wanted to get into the holiday spirit and so we had to decide upon a route to our Christmas tree. We picked the loooooong route. Of course. It took us over to the beaver pond which has been new and improved with all the beaver action happening over there. Brody and Myron were searching just below the dam for a perfectly formed tree. And this is what I've resorted to trying to get a pic of Brody. He's in that horrible phase again where he turns his head and covers his face whenever I get the camera out. So now I'm reduced to stalking him from afar. With the zoom. I'm really like a mile away here. Well, we heard some calling from up the hill. "We've got a tree over here! We all voted on it!" Tyler was * very* excited to be a part of this tree gathering. He was overseeing everything. Closely. Since the older kids were going to be doing a lot of the carrying back to the school, Mr. Finn figured it would be nice for the younger kids to saw the tree down. Tyler was first in line, as you can imagine.

Tyler is a self-proclaimed expert at everything that has to do at all with manual labor. Painting? He was an "expert painter" because he "painted his dad's buoys one time". You might remember that he closely resembled a Smurf after painting the jungle gym blue. His mum said it took days to get all the paint out of his hair. I was wondering how much sap he would spread on himself since we was an "expert tree cutter".
While the kids were taking turns sawing, there was much overseeing going on. In Alaska, I never could have done an outing like this. Firstly, we didn't have any trees on our tundra island. Secondly, as soon as we would venture out of the classroom, all my students would begin to throw rocks at every living thing, including each other. These kids? Not so much.

They were perfectly content to just, you know, sit in the trees.
Seth had his hand in it.
As the kids continued to cut, Tyler continued to CLOSELY supervise. The tree was finally coming down when Bradley got a round at it. He was like Mr. Lumberjack with that saw.
Then it was time to drag the tree all the way back to the school. Well, not drag, per se, since that would break all the branches off.
There was some fording of streams...
And some quick dropping of tree to run over to see the beaver swimming around the pond. Seth is yelling out, "Ms. Finn, there's a beaver!"

Then, back to carrying. The older kids were griping at how heavy it was, so of course the younger kids had to take over and show them how it's done. Happily, it turned out.
Almost there!
Finally, back at the school, it was time for the island classic....grab a bait bucket and fill it with rocks. We have our share of bait buckets out here. The kids centered the tree and began to wedge the rocks all around the trunk.
Taaa-Daaaa! And a word about "Christmas". When we use that term in our public school, we are not setting up manger scenes over here with little Baby Jesus and the Wise Men. We're talkin' Santa and the elves and presents and candy. Maybe Frosty. Maybe Jingle Bells. NOT O' Holy Night. We are all about holiday celebrations like Valentine's Day and Halloween. We don't get into the historical, religious aspects of said holidays. And of course if there were any other remotely non-Christian sects of belief out here on our island, we would be sensitive to the Christmas ramifications and work with the wishes of our community. In Alaska it used to drive me absolutely bonkers that our principal used to use our holiday program as a time to hand out bibles to the kids in our public school. That's like, exactly the sort of thing the Constitution was written to prevent, so... know that we're not trying to pull anything over by having a tree in our school. We like to decorate for the holiday program that will be happening...TONIGHT! Bring on the Elf Olympics!

Overheard Around the Schoolhouse

2011-12-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

Cadin: Tyler snores.

Tyler: I do not snore!

Cadin: Then how come when I wake up in the night, I hear you?

Tyler: It's Dad.

Cadin: Nuh uh. It's you. (Pause) Maybe that's why they call you Little Nate.

Lego Robotics Tournament

2011-12-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

There were 62 teams competing at this year's Lego Robotics tournament in Augusta. The theme was Food Factors. Every year the teams are tasked with coming up with an innovative solution for a problem within the sphere of the theme. The focus this year was on food contamination through things such as handling, transport or preservation. This year was the biggest group we've seen...it just seems like Lego Robotics gets more and more popular. In fact there were quite a few rookie teams this year, enough that there was a whole category devoted to them. Here are this year's trophies. Tom Bickford is the genius behind our state of Maine tourney...without him we'd not have this kind of great opportunity. As if he didn't dedicate enough time and energy towards coordinating this massive event, he even made the trophies this year! Yes, they are made from Legos. So cool!
For our food focus, we chose....da da da dahhhh!....lobsters. Specifically how to prevent contamination of the listeria bacteria that can live on lobster shells from making humans sick. Saylor was our lobster. She really did SIGN UP FOR THIS. I told her this picture may come back to haunt her when she gets into high school. Speaking of high school, there's Cody in the background!
The kids were scheduled to do their presentation first in the morning, then do the robot competition in the afternoon. They made a little skit about how the lobster goes from the trap to the table. I guarantee our kids were the smelliest ones to compete as their oil gear was absolutely mangy with old bait juice! At first, I didn't realize what was happening as they were getting ready. I was like, "Man, what reeks?" Ummm. yeah. That would be US.
Their innovative solution to combating the listeria bacteria? The Bacteria Buster! A tank with a chute that the lobsters go through before being submerged in water. The chute is lined with UV lights that kill off the harmful bacteria. Less bacteria, less illness. Great idea!Saylor, alas, perished at the end of the skit. Bradley was the chef. He couldn't wait to cook her up. Then it was time for questioning. Our kids are pretty reticent and this was no different. It's not like "Don't all talk at once, kids!" It's more like, "Will someone please talk? You. No, you."

In the afternoon, we were up with the robot. We had three chances to run our missions. Each trial is only 2 minutes 30 seconds, so it's really exciting and hectic. The kids were solidly in third place after their first two runs, and then moved to the last run. Well, they had a great run and made it into the final round in 3rd place. I have to admit, I was a complete basketcase. They, on the other hand, were totally collected. In the semi-finals, they had the best run yet. They made it to the final four! I cried like a baby. I'm tearing up right now, just thinking about it. Mr. Finn and I were so excited for these terrific kids.Though they didn't make it to the final 2, they finished 3rd out of 62 teams and received a trophy from Tom. They were some seriously happy campers. They made us, their parents, and our entire island community very very proud.

Yay Sea Monsters!!

Happy Thanksgiving...a little late, I know!

2011-12-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Soooo, this was what our house in Cherryfield looked like after the big Thanksgiving storm. It was so beautiful and unexpected to get a foot of snow. We traipsed around the property enjoying it. Our old pal Puddin', the strangely tame Ruffed Grouse that has been visiting us for a couple years, came and joined us on our walk. We did not eat him.

Bball at Swan's

2011-12-12T18:18:00.000-08:00

The lovely Miss Leah again invited us over to Swan's Island to play basketball in their fantastic gym. We had a little more difficulty than usual getting there as it was super low tide and the Sunbeam bottomed out before we could get close enough to the dock to disembark. Sooooo, a helpful lobsterman came over with his boat and we hopped aboard for the extra short trip to the dock, where the school bus was waiting. Yay schoolbus! Once at the gym, The kids had some time to themselves to practice some drills and techniques and then some Swan's students joined in later for some fun scrimmaging.
Can we all successfully dribble simultaneously? Nope. Not by a long shot, but we're working on it!

Here's some brotherly love on the court~competition! Bradley's putting some heat on his older brother. Another great event with great people. Thanks as always to the Sunbeam, Leah, Swan's Island School, and Rob Benson for their help.

Morning Conversations

2011-12-07T05:33:00.000-08:00

Seth (while doing yoga this morning): I move around a lot in my sleep.

Mr. Finn: I believe that.

Tyler: I believe in Santa!

Tyler's in Rare Form

2011-11-30T09:35:00.001-08:00

Tyler's been sick for the past two days. He's come back and he's cooking with gas. Here's an update.

While walking back from getting the colored pencils, he called out, "Hey, Ms. Finn. Did you know Irish people used to walk like this?" Then he demonstrated by high stepping around the classroom, doing an occasional high kick for emphasis.

Me: Really? They walked like that?

Ty: Yeah. I know about it cause I'm part Irish.

Later on he was telling me about his dreams.
Ty: I can fly and have super strength. I lift up body weights.

Me: Body weights?

Ty: Yeah. I lift up body weights to get stronger in my dreams.

While drawing a picture to illustrate the steps of playing ball (with me, apparently) I asked him why he had colored himself in wearing all black.
Ty: I usually wear black pants and a black shirt cause I like to match.
Cadin (his brother) chimes in from the library. "No, Tyler. It's cause Mumma wants you to match. She's teaching him about matching."
Ty: Yeah. That's right. I don't care about matching. I'd just wear anything.

Me: Hey buddy, I really like this drawing you've made here.
Tyler: I got an idea, Ms. Finn! You could collect it!

Quote of the Day

2011-11-30T05:09:00.000-08:00

While drawing what they're thankful for last week, I go over and look at Tyler's drawing.

Me: What's that, Ty? A turkey?
Ty: No. It's a duck.
Me: You're thankful for ducks?
Ty: Yeah. Cause I love 'em.

Water Bear Update

2011-11-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

Well, after gathering samples of moss and lichen, soaking them overnight, and then creating wet mounts, Austin did find ONE water bear out of all our samples. We're going to keep looking as we're sure we have lots of the little tardigrades living in our mossy, lichen wonderland that is the Frenchboro trail system. No pics as I was too busy running from microscope to microscope saying, "No, that is not a water bear." Mr. Finn threw his back out (lifting a piano, for real...isn't that absurd?) so he was off island being "manhandled" (that really was the term the chiropractor used) so I wasn't my usual tourist self.

Turkey Symmetry

2011-11-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to do some symmetry art and so I whipped this up as a model for our turkey art on Friday. I wanted to keep it relatively simple as we've got some young kids who have a hard time cutting intricate patterns. I did mine in black and white, but I knew the kids would choose vibrant colors instead.
They chose which color would be the base and which would be cut. Then they cut the paper and drew the turkey half butting up against the cut edge.
I went around offering assistance as needed, and, of course, taking snaps. Brody is always ducking and turning when I lift the camera. For some reason, my begging worked and he laughed as I took this. I was so pleased that I'm wearing him down!
Myron thought this was hilarious. This is his hilarity face. For real. When he finds things really funny he gives a grin and chuckle.

Tyler finished first. I kept him occupied with posing with his turkey as everyone else finished up. As Seth exclaimed, "Tyler! You've got a Christmas turkey!"
Here they are with their finished products. I am continually amazed to see what they come up with after I've modeled a simple template. They are always so unique and creative. I was sad to send these home with them as they would look great on our walls!

Bennett and Bench

2011-11-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

Last week, Raney Bench came out with Ursula to work on stereotypes. She is the educational director at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor. She told stories and did some Native crafts with the kids, as well as talked about how different ethnic groups are often subjected to stereotyping.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Mike Bennett was back to do more drumming with the other group. He was very impressed with how much they remembered from last time and how much better at following rhythms they were this time around.
After lunch the two groups switched and K-3 came upstairs for drumming. Once we had the right size, we were ready for business.
Raney did more story telling and Native crafts with 4-6. It was great to listen to the her tell Wabanaki legends from memory.
Mike took a break to show some incredibly diverse and clever percussion instruments. Cadin is trying out a drum that you squeeze under your arm while hammering on the drumhead to make different sounds. Johnny has this bizarre instrument made out of rubber tubes that, when shook, makes a sound like birds squawking. He was convinced it was a dying squirrel.
Love this photo. This is Tyler's look of wonder. He has this on much of the time, which makes him a joy to teach.

Bump, Set, Spike!

2011-11-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

Since it has been unseasonably warm, we've been able to play volleyball well into November. In fact, look what they're wearing! I mean, really, it's almost Thanksgiving! The sun's been shining most days and it's been in the high 60s even.
We start out every gym with some practice circles so everyone gets a chance to work on their serving and returning.
Then we jump into a game. No, our net is not regulation height, but we've got some little guys and gals, so we have to adjust a bit. It doesn't stop us from feeling challenged, either, as we're just really getting used to placing ourselves in front of a hurtling, hard ball that is the size of our head.

We are getting much better at not ducking for cover, or actually running away from the ball.
Not to mention our serves are improving exponentially from last year.
Once in a while, we even get a decent volley going back and forth over the net.
Some of our kids are real sharks at serving. This lady is one of them.
Most importantly, we're improving and having a great time doing it!

Blast from the Past

2011-11-17T05:51:00.000-08:00

This is what greeted us four years ago. Look how little they are! So cute!

Hunger Games

2011-11-17T05:07:00.000-08:00

We are all abuzz over here at Frenchboro School about the newly released trailer to the Hunger Games. Our 5th and 8th graders read it last year and we were slightly obsessed with the series. Myself more than included in the "we" part. What's not to love about a strong female lead character whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow?!! LOVE it.

Anyhoooo....maybe a field trip in March will be in order.

Cole Transportation Museum

2011-11-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

I didn't post pictures earlier about our trip to the Cole Transportation Museum in Bangor. We went their on our last day during the Bangor/Orono trip. We were taken on a tour by volunteer, who also happened to be a WWII veteran. The Cole Museum does a lot of work on the Veteran's Project which transcribes veteran's stories for posterity. They work a lot with local schoolchildren. In fact, children are admitted free of charge. That's how dedicated the museum is when it comes to providing educational outreach. Quite special, isn't it?
But all that aside...they have some killer antique autos. The chrome, the wooden steering wheels...it was all too much for us.
Here's my favorite. My maiden name is McCann, so I took a lot of pictures of this 1927 McCann fire truck. Even the gauges said McCann. My dad would just love it.
We had some thoughts that our previous Frenchboro fire engine would have fit in great next to this pumper. Nate is shown here demonstrating how not to touch the equipment, kids.

To heck with a school bus. We should get this baby out on Frenchboro!
It would TOTALLY fit all our school kids in the back! What? No heat you say? They're tough!
We got to hear about the train got to the museum (and the museum was really built around it once it was in place!) and we even got to go inside.
The beds were reeeeally teeny. But that didn't stop the kids from trying them out.
Here's one for all you Cars fans. Fly, Stanley! Be free!
I told Seth that Johnny was going really fast. He acted accordingly.

This one is in honor of Pop Finn. A GM man his entire life.

Mr. Finn and Tyler, out for an evening drive.
Thanks so much to everyone at the Cole Museum, and to the parents for shlepping the kids hither and yon.

Finding Out What Gelatin is Made From

2011-11-08T12:13:00.001-08:00

So, we did some experiments using gummy bears. Never, in the four years that we've been teaching these kids, have we ever gotten quite the reaction as we did today when we talked about where gelatin comes from. I wish I had the sound track. As I read the Wikipedia entry, there was a chorus of screams and groans.

Teressa almost passed out when she heard that marshmallow comes from the same place.

Saylor is pretty deadpan. I rarely get photos of her freaking out. Until today. She was seriously....
Freaking.
Out.
Best class. I think they were more scared by this than the haunted school.

Bigelow Labs Visit #2

2011-11-08T05:59:00.000-08:00

I'll apologize up front for the massive amount of pictures. It's like I suffer from some disease or something. I'm currently moving over my photos to my new computer and I've got over 10,000 of them. Frightening. But I just can't pass up photos like these, of our favorite crazy haired German phytoplankton expert! Jochen was back out for a visit, and he brought a friend.Here's David. He's a zooplankton specialist. He came out to tell us about all those amazing microorganisms that we saw last time zipping around beneath our microscopes. And, like all scientists, he has a bunch of really neat gadgets. The device he has in his hand is a spectrometer that uses the data gathered from the bending of light through water to show the salinity content of different samples.
This here is a niskin, an open-ended tube that can be dropped to whatever depth of ocean water you wish to sample. When you're at the right depth, you yank on the cord, and the two plunger gaskets close, sealing the water inside for you to bring to the surface for data gathering.
We may be into science out here in Frenchboro School, but if you really want to win us over, you just need to chase us with a ball. And throw it at us. We love that SO much!

After lunch it was bigtime data gathering. Here's David, Teressa, and Brody about to lower the niskin to gather some sea water samples.
On the other side of the bridge was Jochen, lowering the secchidisc to check out the depth of visibility which helps to gauge how much phytoplankton and zooplankton are present in the water.

Once we got our sample, we checked out the salinity, using the spectrometer.

I was not the only one who was freezing! You know it's bad when these boys (who wear t-shirts in a snow storm) are huddled up for warmth! The wind was whipping so fast, we could barely write our data down.
Mr. Finn, trying out the school's spectrometer on another water sample.

Tyler making sure that Jochen was gathering the zooplankton correctly. We used a finer mesh last time since the phytoplankton are smaller than zooplankton. As we looked at water from the bottom of the cod end, though, we could see right away all the tiny organisms that were present.Jochen tested the secchidisc over on the other side of the ferry pier, but we kept running into problems because the tide was so low, so the disc would hit bottom before we could lose sight of it, so our data wasn't accurate.
We also stopped at the inner harbor to take salinity readings to compare to the ferry pier. You never know what strange thing you'll find down on the flats. Cadin came up to me with this very small fork. A child's fork. I saw right away that it looked to be silver, or silver plated, and there were words on it. We pocketed it and I looked it up to find it was a Puss in Boots silver plated child's fork. How bizarre.

David told us about the different kinds of zooplankton that are present in different parts of the world, and ones that we'd be likely to see in our ocean.Aren't these the most magical animals? If we discover life on other planets, I would expect it to look like these little guys.
Then it was time to check out our samples.
I agreed with Teressa when she said, "I could look at this all day."
Before school was out, Jochen did a demonstration on PH levels, as we've been talking about the acidity in the water and the increase in certain areas that is causing damage to zooplankton. The kids took samples of different liquids to identify if it was an acid or a base. Don't drink too much Coke, kids.
Lastly, it was time for us to show them our Lego Robotics table. The robot did most of its missions successfully and David was very impressed. What an amazingly full and informative day. Thanks again to David and Jochen for waking up at the crack of dawn to catch the ferry and spend the day with us. We so appreciated it!

New Fire Truck

2011-11-08T05:46:00.001-08:00

Don't you love that our fire chief wears all pink? Here's Miss Becky bringing the donated fire truck down to the school to show the kids. Wayne Patten and his wonderful Tremont Fire Department gifted their engine #3 to Frenchboro! We love this new truck! It is so amazing.
We could not wait to climb on it and check it out! It comes with all the bells and whistles, too (not to mention a kickin' siren...you can bet we tried THAT out...several times).

I mean, really, who doesn't love a fire truck?! It's the epitome of coolness whether you're five or fifty. We explored every part of the truck and even got to see how to check the engine. I'll give you a hint...it involves tilting the entire truck front on its ear. Awesome!
"Ms. Finn, when I grow up I'm gonna be a fireman!" I've no doubt, Tyler. No doubt at all. That, and an X Games racer.

Halloween Antics

2011-11-08T05:14:00.000-08:00

Everyone was dressed in their best duds for Halloween. Mr. Finn was a whoopie cushion. The silliness didn't stop us from continuing our experiments with the eggs. After soaking in vinegar for two days, the shell had completely dissolved. This was just what we needed to talk about cell membranes. And of course, we had to touch it.
Bumblebee was all about it.
Supergirl was not so sure she wanted to touch it at all.
The storm trooper...I think this face would be 'aghast'.
We did not pop the egg on anyone. I was pleasantly surprised by this.
Group photo. We were totally decked out, with everyone wearing a great costume. I love Halloween. The only thing that gets to me is how hard it is to find an adult female costume that doesn't make me look like a street walker. The clown was the only one I could find in a huge Halloween box store...and even that involved bloomers and a minidress.
In the afternoon it was time to party. This whisp of smoke is Tyler dancing. There was some crazy dancing going on to Monster Mash. I mean, break out the worm from the 80's. It was hilarious. Mr. Finn tried to catch the action. Due to the immense sugar rush, it was difficult.
Really difficult. As you can see, the feet have left the floor. Some karate manifestation, no doubt, by Seth. There was lots of jumping and high kicking.
Then there was the no holds barred knee slide. Future member of Kiss, we've got here.

Surprisingly Good

2011-11-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

"I almost had a heart attack in my tree stand." Pause. "It's pretty high up." -Myron

"Awww, man! It smells! (turning to Jayde) You're gonna hate it." -Seth

"Dad's so old, he didn't even see those deer!" -Brody

"Ms. Finn, this is gonna be surprisingly good!" -Tyler

"Mr. Finn, I'm on a killin' frenzy over here!" -Brody (on his assault on the fruit fly infestation)

Ms. Finn: What's that?
Seth: That's a skateboard.
Ms. Finn: A skateboard?
Seth: Yeah. Ahhhh....it's got a lotta rocket boosters.

Cock-a-doodle-doo

2011-11-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Cadin: I'm glad I don't have chickens because when I'm tryin' to sleep in they might....

Seth: ...Cock-a-doodle-do?

Cadin: Yeah.

Outer Islands Field Trip

2011-11-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

We recently went on a three-day field trip to Orono and Bangor with the other outer islands. We started out at the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor. They have a great 'simulated mission' for older students.I followed one of the groups which included Saylor and Myron. We blasted off to space and then worked in the space station, following orders from our mission control counterparts in another area of the building. Saylor's job was to monitor the plants and insects.
Myron's job was navigator. He was looking for a comet. His counterpart would give him directions and he would look at different star charts to try to find the comet.
After their chance out in space, Myron and Saylor switched off with the other group to take over mission control. This was a lot smoother as they had some experience under their belts.

They still had the same jobs, but it was more of a research job to give information to the astronauts.
The next day we went to the planetarium. No pictures there, but we also got a chance on the climbing wall at the university. Here's our future kindergartner, Breanna, all harnessed up and ready to go in her pink tutu!
Cadin jumped right in with both arms and legs.

Some of us were just Born to Climb!

We were like monkeys on that wall. It was so much fun and everyone really pushed their boundaries.
Here's Jayde getting a little beta from Nate.
Then it was on to the ropes course. Seth busting a move, as usual.
Austin and Myron, not so much.

It was brrrrrrrrr out! Here's Jayde getting some help with her helmet from Mom.
Check out Austin on the high wire! Amazing!
Cadin heading up to the log.
Tyler, dressed for success.
I get this face a lot. It's the "Ms. Fiii-iiin...would you stop with the pictures already?" face.
No. I will not. Never. Because I might miss moments like this one. That's Tyler up there on that log. I do not think I would have been doing THIS at five years old!
Awesome job, buddy!
Not to be outdone, and to Marissa's terror, Johnny headed up to the high wire.
Sorry about the belly shot, kid, but I just wanted to illustrate to Mom just how crooked your helmet was as you teetered 20 feet up.
While the high ropes courses were going on, Brody was stuck in the ropes. Now you know what a lobster feels like going into your trap!

Animal Cells

2011-11-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

We've been studying microbiology and the next installment in our studies is animal and plant cells. We did some plant studies when we looked at the phytoplankton with Jochen and Ben. Now was the time to check out some animal cells. Ours. Here's Mr. Finn taking a cheek swab.Some kids were excited to take a look at themselves on the micro level.
Others were a little grossed out by what they saw.
It's great now that all the kids know how to create a slide and use the microscope properly. We also have the camera that projects what's happening in the microscope up onto the big screen.
It's a little hard to see, but there's Mr. Finn! We did try dying our samples using iodine which really makes the nucleus stand out. We love our new microscopes so much. Thank goodness for the Rural Education grant!

Frenchboro Invitational

2011-11-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Let's harken back to October 21st, shall we?

We were lucky enough to get some decent weather for our cross-country invitational. Swan's Island and Islesford came over on the Sunbeam to spend a couple hours racing and visiting. And one of our favorite Swan's Island folks was over with her mom, Emmie...Peyton Charlotte! She's grown so much and it won't be long 'til she's running with the big kids.After a little visiting, it was time to limber up. Dylan was out for the weekend, so he came and helped out. Great to see him...too bad he wasn't running for our team!
This might be titled Find the Highest Spot Around and Stand on It.

Then the fun began. My most favorite race of all was first. Kindergarten and first grade. I mean, seriously, does it get any cuter than these little guys and gals? (Hope it's okay to use this photo as it has non-Frenchboro kids in it...let me know if there's any objections!) I was downhill taking some photos and as soon as Mr. Finn yelled "On you mark, get set, go!" they were sprinting down the hill. Heeeere they come!And theeeeere they go!

Next up was the 2nd/3rd race. Cadin was working hard!
Then it was time for the 4/5 race. Here's Bradley, almost at the finish line.

For the last race, the 6-8th graders were running all the way out to Gooseberry Point, so we needed some folks to help them navigate the course. What is this, the circus? Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the girls or Austin as I had to help out Mr. Finn keep track of kids finishing...not to mention my camera kept freezing. So. Frustrating.Time for awards! I got to do the honors and pass out the medals and trophies. Here's Tyler getting his first place medal...great job on his very first race!
We came in third place overall, with Swan's taking the first place trophy and Islesford second place. It was such an awesome way to spend a Saturday! Thanks so much to everyone for showing up to cheer the kids on and a special thanks to the Sunbeam for transportation and Becky and Mike for cleaning up!

Wacky Wednesday

2011-11-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Since we have a new round trip Wednesday ferry twice a month, we decided to take advantage of it and introduce a little music instruction to our curriculum. This is Mike Bennett. He has spent many years studying West African drumming and percussion in Gambia. How weird, since that is where Mr. Finn spent two years in the Peace Corps. So, yes, they were both speaking the obscure West African dialect, Mandinka, to each other. Bizzaroworld.
Mike came out with one of his assistants and they brought a TON of goodies with them.
In the background is another visitor, the copy guy. We were very happy to see the copy guy because we've been waiting for over a month for him to install our brand new copier. As a teacher, I have to say that happiness can be equated to the state of your copier. We're really happy now. Mike is playing the ballaphone. The echo chambers underneath are gourds.
Mike also brought drums and lots of 'em. Djembes are the traditional West African drum, though he brought several other kinds. He taught everyone the basic techniques and we got to work making some big sounds. I mean BIG sounds. We had all the kids, our principal and her assistant as well as the copier guy's mom. No kidding. He brought his mom, Loretta. She was getting down on the djembe.

Why, you may ask, are the kids soaking wet? And why, pray tell, is it so dark in the school? Well, it just so happened that our big plans were nearly foiled by the dreaded "Island-wide Power Outage". Everyone and their mother was showing up on Wed. We'd had it planned for over a month and THEN got the memo that we would be without power all day. Determined to persevere, we borrowed a generator. How else was the copy guy going to fix the copier?! (Big thanks to Jay, Jackie, Charlie and Paul for their generosity and help.)
So, yes, it was a little dark, but that didn't stop us from pounding on our drums.
Oh, did I mention that Ursula, our guidance counselor, was also out? Like I said, it was a BIG day. And, even darker downstairs. Ursula was a good sport and took the downstairs to work with the kids.
Then for the finale...everyone got a chance to drum together and we made some great rhythms.
There's Loretta in the background banging away on her drum. Such fun!

Beach Cleanup

2011-11-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Every year we do beach cleanup. It's our way of thanking Mother Nature for giving us such beautiful surroundings.
I think Mother Nature noticed...
We actually have a lot of fun, though it's messy work. We're into messy, out here on our island.
And lugging. We're really into lugging things.
Really into it.

You Know It's Gonna Be Interesting...

2011-10-31T05:29:00.000-07:00

You know it's gonna be an interesting day when the first two quotes are:

"Mr. Finn. You know what you should do? Spill candy on us! That would be fun." -Tyler

"I'm gonna sing a funny song about when you put someone's face in a bowl of barbeque chips!-Seth

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

Bigelow Labs Visit

2011-10-24T07:57:00.001-07:00

Perhaps I don't express often enough how lucky we are here at Frenchboro School. To think that we're on a remote island often conjures images of deprivation but this post is a perfect example of exclusive, amazing opportunities we get just because we're an outer island. Mr. Finn and I are such science junkies that whenever a scientist contacts us to work with the kids, we jump in with gusto. Last year at the STORMS conference in Orono, we were approached by Jochen Nuester, a scientist whose focus is on phytoplankton (more specifically the iron levels in phytoplankton...I know...who'd have thunk that was a specialty). He and his colleagues got a grant to take a research boat from South America to Australia. As part of the grant, they are encouraged to include an educational component. That's where our school comes in. The scientists will be working with us, teaching us about microbiology, and also communicating with us from their research vessel via Skype. So. Cool! Here's Jochen, giving us his background. I love that he's German and has the accent and the great hair. We don't get a lot of that out here in Frenchboro.

Here's Ben Twining. He also studies phytoplankton and will be the one skyping us from the vessel as Jochen can't go because he has a little baby on the way. Ben described the process of gathering the plankton and where the boat will be located, as well as all the other researchers and their jobs.
Then he showed us the phytoplankton net we'd be using and how it works. I had to laugh when I saw their net. Next to it, the one we got is like a little baby net.
Then it was time to get down to business! Of course the tide was low so it was a loooong drop off the ferry pier. Ben's first question...Anybody know how to tie a good knot? You're kidding, right? You do know you have a group of lobstering kids surrounding you?
Brody was quick to help.
Then down went the net.

It was hard to get it into the water the second time as the wind kept turning it into a wind sock. There's definitely a technique to it because you're trying to get as much phytoplankton consolidated into the bottom as possible so you need to drag the net back and forth. It was like the circus came to town.

After many drags back and forth, they raised it up and Ben carefully removed the bottle at the bottom and sealed it up.
Then it was back to the school to see what we got! I love this photo. I mean, really, how often do you get to take a stroll with a phytoplankton scientist? Probably asking him if he has any pets.

I bet you thought it was only the scientists that arrived. Nope. Since we have the new Wednesday ferry, they drove out and brought all their equipment with them. Such awesomeness makes me all aflutter. Just look at those gadgets. My inner geek is doing cartwheels.

There they are! Those are the barrel-shaped phytoplankton. One is a face-on view, and one is a side view, that's why they look like different shapes. It's like they were posing for us.
Then it was time to use OUR goodies and project the slide up on the big screen.
This is, apparently, a 'baby' crab. I'm cringing at all the seawater I've injested in my life as there was some weeeeird looking stuff in there.
This is a hugely magnified barrel phytoplankton. You can actually see internal structure. Uh-mazing.
The kids got a chance to use the microscope that Jochen and Ben had brought with them. The double eyepiece took some getting used to.
Just look at the clarity. There were tons of zooplankton zooming in and out of the screen. Another scientist will come out to teach us about these little critters.

I believe this is a mollusk of some sort...
Just look at how they chain together! They have a certain beauty to them.

This is a great magnification of a barrel phytoplankton from the side.
Beware. The eye of Sauron is watching you.

Wow. Holy tentacles, Batman.We got to map out where phytoplankton are mostly concentrated around the world. Then we were given some different aged solutions of phytoplankton to illustrate how the actual water changes color as the plankton multiply.

Lastly we got to see how light affects the amount of phytoplankton using a special device that attaches to the computer and instantly charts the data.
Thanks so much to our new friends from Bigelow Labs for taking the time to teach us. We can't wait for the next visit!

Sculpture Building

2011-10-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

We had to get some found objects to add to our sculptures so it was off to Big Beach, Middle Beach, and Little Beach. We are nothing but literal here on Frenchboro. A trip to the beach almost always means our pockets are full of something, but this time we had been tasked with finding a "base" for our sculpture. Driftwood is in abundance. Entire wharves seem to wash up on our beaches. It wasn't a matter of finding something, then, it was more a matter of "Can I heft this puppy back to the school?" or "How to choose just one?! I can carry these fifteen piece of wood, I'm sure of it!"
No matter what the weather, they're always room and time for a little appreciation of nature.
Mr. Finn toted the saw just in case we were forced with shortening any timbers of unusual size. (TOUS's for you Princess Bride fans.)
Back to the school and it was time to break out the hammers. I personally don't remember EVER in my entire life hammering in school. The things I missed out on could fill a book, as I don't remember using wood glue either.
How to include all our favorite objects into one piece? Myron had a good eye and I loved how he used the piece of an old wooden lobster trap that he found. So cool.
Teressa's was so far outside the box that I'm thinking major modern artist in the making. Everyone else's was on a flat base, but hers was all about height. I offered to buy it. No dice.
Thanks again to Robin and Edie for coming out and sharing this new art form with us!

IRW: Toni Buzzeo

2011-10-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

I am loving the new high speed internet we got installed at the school. It sure makes uploading these photos a snap. But as usual, I'm way behind on my blogging. I think the whole 'knitting a sweater' undertaking is cutting into my blog time. Island Readers and Writers came out a couple weeks ago with author Toni Buzzeo. It's Toni's second visit out to work with Frenchboro School. In fact, when we piloted the program years ago, it was Toni who was the first author guest. Toni has written many children's books and has a new one coming out very soon. We were lucky enough to get an advanced copy of it! A Lighthouse Christmas is the wonderful story of two children living with their father on a remote lighthouse station. The kids worry that Santa won't be able to find them because they're so far out in the ocean, but the Flying Santa Service has plans for them.
Toni gave us her background and read to us. We love being read to, that's for sure!
We also shared our LIGHTHOUSE acrostic poems that we made in honor of Toni's visit.
Then came our favorite part: getting our signed copies! This was Tyler's first IRW visit. I don't know if he knew exactly why this strange woman was giving him books, but he'll catch on.
Seth was all smiles for his signed copy.
Are you spelling my name correctly? That's "Johnny" with two N's.
Toni also read us another of her wonderful books before it was time for her to catch the boat. Thanks to IRW for another great visit!

Robin and Edie visit

2011-10-20T06:44:00.001-07:00

It's funny how you meet people. Sometimes the stories are mundane and other times they stand out and become part of the story of your friendship. I met Robin at the Detroit airport just after flying back from India. It was Sept. 2001 and the towers had just fallen. I had to cancel my extended stay to return to the U. S. early. Robin was returning from Thailand. Some clerk was giving him a hard time and I was watching the 'discussion' between them. When Robin turned, he saw me watching and just broke into this large grin and began to chuckle. It was a relief to see someone smiling. He sat down next to me, laughing, and thus began a ten year friendship that has spanned all the ups and downs of movement, marriage, children, etc. that have happened to us. He's been meaning to come out to Frenchboro School since Mr. Finn and I arrived, and finally had the chance to bring his daughter, Edie, out as well. As per usual guest ordinance, we asked if he'd be willing to teach something. He decided upon a found object sculpture class as he does a lot of wonderful pieces like the one above, named "Teacher".
He started us off with a myriad of objects that he brought along with him, asking everyone to choose just one object to start. Edie is the one in the red sweater.
It was hard to choose just one as there were some great pieces of wood and tiny toys. After their first go, they could choose two objects...so they eagerly went back to pick the ones they had had to pass up on the first chance.
Seth was full of ideas about how his sculpture would look.
Robin explained the process, and told them that we'd be going out to look for a "base" for our sculpture...some sort of driftwood piece washed up on the beach. We knew this would not be a problem as you could build an entire house with all the driftwood logs on Big Beach alone.

Dylan's Soccer Game

2011-10-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Yup, we are those annoying kinds of teachers that show up at former students' games and cheer obnoxiously. Dylan just happened to be playing a soccer game after our inservice on the mainland, so we couldn't pass up the chance to watch him.
He was very obliging of us and even waved and came to visit after the game was over.
It's always so rewarding to see your students turn into great adults...he's well on his way!

Heard Around the Schoolhouse

2011-10-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

Tyler: Ms. Finn. Wanna know what my favorite part of school is?
Me: Gym?
Tyler: No. Recess. Wanna know what my other favorite part is...inside school?
Me: Hmmmm.
Tyler: I'll give you a hint. It starts with the "buh" sound.
Me: Uhhhhh.
Tyler: Ms Finn. "Bunny" starts with a "buh" sound.
Me: Is it bunny?
Tyler: Yeah.

"I'm tickling the buoy!" -Seth

"When my gerbil had its babies, we walked in and looked in the cage and we thought it was a pile of peanuts." -Saylor

"I always like to put my cold feet on my mom....then she freaks." -Johnny

"Aren't I supposed to be wearing a mask?!" -Seth (when asked to be catcher)

Mr. Finn: We've got practice tomorrow, too.
Bradley: YEAH! I love it! (on Lego Robotics practice

(rubbing his belly) "When I'm older, this is gonna fit me juuuuuust right." Bradley

"It doesn't smell as bad as my dad's cowhide." -Brody

"When I got hit in the stomach with the soccer ball, it almost made me puke. Dang." -Seth

"Whoever people's names the storms are....when they get mad, the storm gets stronger! That really happens." -Tyler (on hurricane names)

"Look at the penguins. They're so cute. They don't know we're watching them. Because they have little brains." -Seth (when watching the penguin cam at California Academy of Sciences)

Inter-Island Event: Matinicus!

2011-10-07T05:27:00.001-07:00

Inter-Island Event this year was held on Matinicus. You may have heard about the recent plane crashes, two in three months time, so our hearts and minds are with that small, special community. As I write this, the community members are grieving the loss of their pilot. We had such a wonderful time out on their island that we want to thank everyone for their hospitality and wonderful events, but also keep in mind their loss.

We were picked up on the Sunbeam last Wed. morning and taken all the way to Matinicus. This was extremely helpful and exciting for us to be able to travel on their comfortable boat. As you can see, Myron wasn't having any fun at all...

Neither was Austin.
When we arrived, it was time to set up tent village.
Here's the terrific post office sign. Love it.
Then it was on to some cool classes like drumming (using bait buckets! We have a FEW of those on our island, too.)
Seth and his dad were really getting down. I was amazed at the sounds coming out of these guys.

There was also mural painting. For real...the kids got to paint on the walls! Austin, true to Frenchboro boy fashion, drew...you guessed it: a boat. Looks a little stormy!
We had a ton of fun playing Capture the Flag, a bit IIE staple. The talent show was full of hysterical, and sometimes moving, performances. And all too soon, it was time to head out. Seth is relaxing in the final circle.
Mike and Becky taking photos and listening to the kids share.

Getting comfy for the long trip home. Thanks, Matinicus! What a great trip!

Hoppers

2011-10-05T05:18:00.000-07:00

Introducing our newest addition: Hoppers! I got her at the Common Ground Fair. She's an angora rabbit, which is why I got her as I am a spinner. The kids came up with a million names: Fluffy, Ms. Cutie, Dinorex, Spike, Shredder, Mia, Bun Bun... They voted and Hoppers was the overwhelming winner with 5 out of 11 kids choosing it.

She is the sweetest, softest, most adorable bunny ever. We love her!

Autumn Art

2011-10-04T05:23:00.001-07:00

We did a little review over warm and cool colors before starting our autumn art project. The kids had to choose several objects to draw, then trace with sharpie markers.

Then we got our our favorite pastels and went to work.
Don't you love Jayde's eggplant?
We didn't finish up, so we'll have to do the rest this week, but they're looking great so far!

Ursula and Edie

2011-09-27T05:15:00.001-07:00

Ursula came out last week on the new Wednesday ferry, and she brought along her friend, Edie, who works at the high school. It was so good to see Ursula's smiling face again...we've missed her! She did a fun Q & A about what we did over the summer. If our answer was "yes", we had to stand up. The biggest responses were about lobster, go figure.
Edie is into yoga like we are, so she offered to do some moves with us. There were some oldies but goodies, like the cat pose, but then she taught us something new:
This balance pose is all about getting your body just perfect before kicking off slightly with your feet. There were a lot of face plants, needless to say.

It was so nice for us to catch up on all that happened over the summer. The kids talked about community as that's our opening unit in our Social Studies books this year. For the older students, they're learning about some ancient cultures and communities, but the younger kids are defining what community means. Ursula always tries to cater her lessons to whatever we are learning, which is another reason we love working with her! The Wednesday ferry will allow her to visit us all year instead of over the Polycom in the wintertime, so we're super excited for that!

Watercolor Harvest

2011-09-26T12:34:00.001-07:00

We had a nice new painting project, brought to us by ArtProjectsforKids I just love all of the posts on that blog and get a lot of inspiration from Kathy's work.
This was a crayon resist watercolor of root vegetables. Since it's harvest time, it's a great way to appreciate the season and get some colorful art up on our bare walls.
We laminated the pieces with our brand new laminator and I just love how it really brightens the colors. What great place mats!

Microscope Share

2011-09-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

All the work with microscopes reminded Saylor of a share that she could bring in. This mini microscope was given to her by her neighbor, Paul, who was weeding through some of his things. Saylor showed us how it worked, explaining that it doesn't have its own light source, but works pretty well with a flashlight.
She even shared the prepared slides that Paul had included with the gift. Pretty neat, share, huh?

Goodbyes

2011-09-18T16:50:00.001-07:00

This pic makes me cry! Jessica left today on the ferry. She will be so so missed at Frenchboro School. We loved all the time she shared, and we learned so much from her. You're the best, Jess.

Geneology with Lloyd

2011-09-18T16:32:00.001-07:00

I know I've mentioned that we have some seriously talented folks out here on the island and here's another one. Lloyd Coffey has degrees in physics and math. Yes. That's right. Two degrees in areas that make most people go, "Huh?"
Lloyd wasn't coming to work with graphing calculators...yet. He came in to work with us on geneology to complement our communities unit in Social Studies.
He showed us his own family tree on Ancestry.com and showed the kids how the site works.
I got ourselves an account so we could each do our own trees. If you've never used this site, it is totally awesome. I traced some of my mom's family back to 1500! Amazing.
The kids worked in family groups and also filled out as much as they could on paper. They had homework to do: go home and fill in the rest of their chart with some help from their parents. I'm happy to report that they will be working with Lloyd again on Tuesday. Excellent.

Island Classroom

2011-09-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

We were out and about the other day. It was a great opportunity to review all we learned last year about producers, consumers and decomposers. It has been a veritable mushroom bonanza this year here on Frenchboro. Mr. Finn found some that were curling up, releasing their spores.

We hung out at our favorite rock, the one with all the pixie cup lichen and beautiful mosses. The kids cannot resist clambering all over it.
Deep cove with some impressive wave action left over from Katia.
They, of course, sat right down to enjoy the big swells. And I, of course, took lots of pictures.
Then we were on to the beaver dam. They did not know this but we just told them to follow the stream. I started singing "We're on a road to nowhere" by the Talking Heads in my mind. Well, maybe a little bit out loud.
A pause to show our muscles.
Muck boots are essential to classroom instruction.
You just hope the boots are high enough.
We must have crossed that little stream fifty times. They could not stay on one side for the life of them.
After a LOT of walking, everyone was getting very tired. Everyone, except Tyler.
And Seth.
Admittedly, it was quite a hot day for September, but they were over the top with their predictions. "I'm DYING, Ms. Finn! I need WATER!" So we headed into the shade and took a little rest.
And some more pictures.
Foolishness.
Finally, we reached our destination. At first, they were confused because there used to be beaver out here, hence the beaver pond, but it had drained out and there was no current beaver sign. But a couple weeks ago a beaver showed up here and....
Voila! That little beaver has sure been busy! I, for one, am a little thrilled by the skating potential alone.

Pet Parade

2011-09-16T05:17:00.001-07:00

Last Friday was share day and we had a few visitors. Saylor got a gerbil last year. The pet store assured Saylor's mom, Tammy, that it was a boy gerbil.

Guess what?

It wasn't.

And it was already pregnant.

Sooooo, Saylor had a whole batch of babies to share. When she told the story about finding the babies, she said she came downstairs in the morning and looked in the cage and saw a "pile of peanuts" in the corner.

The peanuts have grown considerably since that day and have their own cage, separate from their mom. They are as cute as can be but hopefully they are all boys.

Where Art Thou, Water Bear?

2011-09-09T05:13:00.001-07:00

Rod came in again yesterday afternoon to work with the hay infusion we had created during our first microscope lesson. Right away the kids made their wet mounts and got to work looking for microscopic creatures.

And guess what we found? Water bears! In fact, the very first time Rod used the camera scope he found a water bear immediately. Unfortunately, it was such a big bear that it had been smooshed with the cover slip.
But then...we found one on the move!
Here it is on a higher power. It was an active little bugger, wriggling all over the place. We could see the teensy little claws and the strange back legs that look like an inchworm. We saw paramecium, bacteria clusters, nematodes, amoeba and all other manner of organisms. It was totally awesome! I am in love with our new microscopes, and am developing a soft spot for the little tardigrades, too. Watch out, kingfisher, we might have another mascot in the running!

First Lego Practice

2011-09-09T05:01:00.000-07:00

Yippeeee! Our Lego Robotics materials arrived in the mail. We couldn't wait to get our hands into all the goodies. This year it's Food Factors. All of the tasks have something to do with food.
Everyone zipped a copy of the plans onto their computers and set to work putting the table tasks together. They were only supposed to stay until 4, but they asked to stay another whole hour. That's dedication!

Microscopes with Rod

2011-09-08T05:01:00.001-07:00

We are lucky enough to have a lot of very talented people out here on our little isle. Whenever possible we try to take advantage of... ahem, showcase them and their talents. This year we hit the ground running and on the second day of school, we were excited to have Rod Bost come in as a guest teacher. Rod is retired from teaching now, but has spent his career working with gifted high schoolers, teachers and college students in North Carolina. He is a scientist, specializing in recombinant DNA, and when he wasn't teaching, he was working in the lab. How awesome is that!? I know, I know, my scientific lingo bedazzles you.
Well, it just so happens that we purchased FOUR new microscopes to prepare for our work with phytoplankton and water bears (tardigrades). Rod talked with us about the work that we'd be doing and suggested an in-depth lesson on microscopes. Fantastic! We jumped at the chance.
Rod went over all the parts of the microscope and the terminology sunk in quickly with the kids. He's published an article about how people learn vocabulary and this sort of immersion is the best way to learn new things. My poor Word Wall might have to go the way of the dodo. The kids were able to point out the different parts right away, and tell their use. Then it was time to get our hands dirty!
Here's Cadin preparing a wet mount. Every student got a chance to make their own slides and we looked at the lower case letter 'e' under the microscope.
Cutting the tiny 'e' out of the newspaper was the hardest part!
After preparing our slides, Rod took us through the process of placing the slides on the stage, or flat part of the microscope, and securing it with the stage clips. We had learned to set up the microscopes by putting it on the lowest power objective, then bringing the stage all the way up, with the course and fine focus nobs turned all the way back towards ourselves. This way, you are always in the process of lowering the stage, so you never get the problem of cracked slides or scratched lenses when you switch to a higher power. Brilliant.

We also have a nifty bit of technology that attaches a camera onto the microscope and projects it up to a screen. This way, we can model what is being seen for the kids as a group. I can see using this little beauty a LOT this year.
It was all microscope exploration for an hour. I would have killed for this as a kid! So great!
We had a little fun.
And learned a ton.
Thanks for the great lesson Rod! Can't wait for the next one!

Morning Meeting Captains

2011-09-08T04:43:00.001-07:00

Click and Clack are Morning Meeting Captains for the first week of school. There are a lot duties associated with this: put up the flag, get the rain gauge and enter the data into CoCoRaHs, print up the NOAA marine forecast for Frenchboro, pick a joke, figure out what yoga moves to do, and then get ready for school like everyone else.
Here they are picking a joke from our new silly joke book.
Then it was time for the Morning Show. Here's Johnny reading off the data from the weather station, then the NOAA forecast, and finally Seth told the joke of the day. They went to the front of the classroom after that to lead Morning Meeting: Pledge, Schedule, News, Weather...
...and Wednesday is seated yoga, so there they are up front leading the group in the spinal twist. Thank goodness they didn't start off with the camel pose.

2011-09-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

School starts tomorrow! You ready, kids?

Field Day Recap

2011-08-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Last day of school is always a lot of fun because we have Field Day.
I told them I wanted to take some photos, so I asked them to walk together. They were beyond silly, as usual.
It was all about the rabbit ears.
Little did they know that it was a setup...Jessica and Joey were waiting with lots of water balloons. The kids took off like rockets as the balloons pelted all around. Great way to start the Field Day antics.
On to the stiff competition: eraser races.
It was a very serious event.
Who needs the three legged race? This one is equally as hard and...not as dangerous.
Well, I take that back.
Cody was breaking out the yoga moves.
Does it count when you drag your brother across the line?
I didn't know Joey took ballet?
No eggs. That's okay since the balls were a lot less messy.
The whole "choking up on the spoon" was highly popular and effective.

Cody was hamming it up with the heart shaped glasses. This will come back to haunt him now that he's in high school. He. He. He.
We have trouble walking without blindfolds. So you can imagine how this went.

Trap races. For some reason we got the two heaviest traps in all of Frenchboro.
Usually it's a relay with two kids. No way was that happening. Thank goodness for Mikey and Jessica. As it was, we lost Seth in the process...he ended up chasing after the group yelling at them to wait for him. Hilarious.

Yes, yes, the spectators were a rowdy bunch.
Then, our all-time favorite came. The balloon toss.
There were some radical throws going on...and some radical soakers.

I love action shots.
Nice punt, Bradley!

"Hey. Ms. Finn's taking our photo."
"I know."
"Don't look over there."
"I'm not."

There's a new sheriff in town. He goes by Tyler. Kindergarten, here we come!

Vanderbilt Visit

2011-07-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

As a final event for our Island Readers & Writers work with Vanderbilt University, we were lucky enough to have two prominent scientists, a husband and wife couple, Julie and Billy Hudson, come for a visit and present on their work with the university medical center. Billy is doing cutting edge Diabetes research and is beginning to work with strange creatures called water bears. They are microscopic organisms that are nearly indestructible and they will hopefully help him with his work with the effects of Diabetes on the kidneys. We might be partnering up to help him by growing water bears in petri dishes for his lab next year. Amazing stuff.
July and Billy awarded the kids certificates for their participation in the IRW/Vanderbilt lessons.

Thanks to Billy and Julie for coming all the way out to our little island. Tune in for more updates about water bears!

After Party

2011-07-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

After the Fun Fair, we have developed this tradition of a balloon popping contest. It's a reward after the massive clean up that the kids do (never once complaining!) following each Fun Fair. We save all the balloons to the side and then the popping commences, with lots of hilarity, of course.
Sometimes there are some misses, or belly flops, but always lots of cheering and...photographers?
Peter from the Island Institute was visiting our island fellow and getting some pics of her at work. Since she's done work with the kids at the school, they came down to see if they could get some shots of her with the kids. Well. This is what was happening. So, yes, true to Jessica fashion, she joined the kids in the balloon popping contest. I guarantee no other island fellow will have pictures of themselves sitting on balloons.
As Bradley came in he clapped his hands in glee saying, "This is my favorite part of the Fun Fair!" Definitely a tradition to continue.

3rd Fun Fair

2011-07-06T09:45:00.001-07:00

During the last week of school we had our Fun Fair, the annual fund raising event that the students concocted two years ago. This time we added a new element, based upon the science Polycom on animal adaptations we had with Vanderbilt University recently. I called it the "Chopstick Challenge" and it was a big hit. While a time keeper kept track of the one-minute constraint, several challengers tried to collect as many beans as possible into their cups. It was a heated event.
Our old standbys: bean bag toss
Bake Sale
Pin the Tail on the Lobster
Lobster Fishing
Balloon Darts
Cody and Dylan were in charge of selling tickets at the door. They had the week off, since they had graduated the previous Friday, but we had them come back to work the Fun Fair as it was the source of their 8th grade trip funds. I think they were pretty happy to get a last go at some of the games.
Then, true to Fun Fair tradition, we had the Pie in the Face. Every student had their jars out with a picture of them making some face on it. The jar with the most tickets at the end of the fair would earn the pie. The first fair it was Cadin, then Jayde (with a stand-in by sister, Saylor) and this year...ta-ta-ta-tum! Mr. Finn. Yup. And who got to do the honors?? Myron.
Maybe I'm looking a little too gleeful as I encourage Myron to really load that whipped cream on there? Look at the crowd of kids egging him on. This is a rare treat in one's life...not every day you get to pie your teacher.
And with a deep breath, Myron plunged forward and really ground that sucker in there!!
The kids of course thought this was the most hilarious thing in the world. Even Myron, who had a poker face to beat the best of them, couldn't stop laughing.
Mr. Finn was a good sport and posed for pics before washing his considerable beard.
I think he'll remember this one.

Tea Party

2011-07-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Things were pretty, ah, hectic, at the end of school and I didn't get around to finishing up the blogging for the year. Seeing as we don't have internet connection at our house in Cherryfield, I've been unable to upload all the fantastic end-of-year activities. We're out here on Frenchboro for the day, taking advantage of the new double ferry on Wednesday, to do a little schoolwork and prep for next year. Shall I start with finishing up for LAST year?!

One of the great things the kids did at the end of the year was host a tea party. This was the brain child of Jessica, our ceramics instructor. She's finishing up her island fellowship this year (sniff, sniff...sigh) and wanted to have a culminating event that showcased all the kids had been working on for the past two years. She set her heart on a formal tea party, fancy dress and all.
It just so happened that it was an all-boy tea party, due to some absences, so Mr. Finn broke out the big guns and filtered through his tie collection for the kids. There was some serious tucking of tie tails into pants, but these boys were rockin' the sophisticated look.
The parents and community members also dressed up and were good sports about affecting a certain 'air' as they sipped their tea from handmade cups. There were lots of teas and special treats like cucumber sandwiches and spanakopita that Jessica had concocted for everyone to enjoy.
On one side of the school people could gather to sample the teas and goodies, and on the other side was a showcase of student ceramic work they had completed over the past two years.

Myron all spiffed up with a tie that had little green turtles on it that just so happened to match his shirt. Lovely.
Check this guy out. Love the specs and chili pepper tie.
Jessica posing with the boys. I told them, "Pinkies up!" for this shot. They are such good sports!
And here with our two graduates! We'll be missing these three next year.
Over at the art show, there were some discussions happening about the year...
...and the students could answer questions about their pieces.
It was a fantastic event, thanks to all the work of the students, Jessica, and of course everyone who showed up to enjoy the day.
Ready for their opening in New York City, I think.
Well, maybe not quite yet.
This is my favorite. When told to act like models and strike a pose. Love, love, love it!

Vanderbilt Polycom

2011-06-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

We have been lucky enough to work with Island Readers & Writers again this spring as they offered us a pilot program with a focus on science-based literature. Scientists at Vanderbilt University met with us via polycom for three sessions. The last session was on invertebrates and the kids got to examine different invertebrates, some with exoskeletons...some without.
Here was my personal favorite: tarantula! The Polycom was so clear that you could actually see the hairs on its body. We hope to work with these terrific scientists again next year!

Cody and Dylan's Promotion

2011-06-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Mr. Liebow, our superintendent, and Joanne Harriman, our principal (and assistant superintendent) came out to preside over our small, but meaningful, 8th grade promotion. Rob Liebow was the keynote speaker and he talked about the lore of the mermaid egg. He then gave each boy a 'possible' egg that he had gathered for them, to bring them luck, hope, and prosperity in their lives.

He also had a special rock, that had a twin lucky stripe around it to signify the special bond that these twin boys will always share, something that will always connect them to each other.
Joanne Harriman handed out the diplomas and with that, our class of two, moved on to high school.
Each boy got up and spoke, quite eloquently I thought, about their time in Frenchboro School and the changes they had seen.
It was a chance for them to thank the people that had helped them along the way, and they did just that.
We could not be more proud of these boys. We have had the chance to watch them turn from boys to young men full of wisdom, integrity, humor, and kindness. They will be sorely missed.

Thanks to Becky Lenfestey for sharing these photos!!

Lighthouses

2011-06-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

Our last art class happened when Cody and Dylan were away with Mr. Finn and their dad on the 8th grade trip. All of us who didn't get to go on the zipline painted watercolor lighthouses! I know, I know, even with the exclamation point, it just doesn't have the zing of ZIPline.
They came out beautifully, though, and it seemed a fitting art project for our little island school!

Brody Brings a Friend

2011-06-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Brody brought Shredder in for shares on Friday. We were highly distracted by her antics and cuteness. Seth was giving a play-by-play of her every movement. "Ms. Finn. She's out! Look at how cute she is! She's nibbling! Awww...she's chewing on the paper! She's washing her face." To which I finally replied. "Ahhh. Brody? Can you put her in the cubby area?"

Storm

2011-06-13T08:01:00.001-07:00

We had a rather impressive storm recently, which apparently brought a tornado to other parts of Maine! Of course, we all trooped out onto the porch to watch the clouds swirl above us, bringing heavy rains, with a bit of hail!
Jessica took this gorgeous one of the clouds above the ball field. Amazing! The thunder and lightning really brought a lot of oooo's and ahhhh's from the kids. Who doesn't love a good storm?

Fitness Test

2011-06-13T07:43:00.001-07:00

We've been working all year on our calisthenics and it was time for our fitness test. The kids did it twice, to see if they could improve from one week to the next. They did sit ups, push ups and pull ups. The really impressive scores were Cody's 12 pull ups, Bradley's 131 situps, Cadin's 220 situps and Austin's 330 situps!! We're talking real situps, too, not crunches. They were hobbling around like old men for the next two days.

Mr. Finn Catches a Turtle...Again

2011-06-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our first year, while walking with the students on an amphibian finding mission, we happened upon a turtle, which Mr. Finn promptly caught to show the kids. Bradley didn't get a chance to really get up close and personal with it, and we always regretted not letting them touch it and inspect it. So, the other day while we were walking the dog, Mr. Finn caught another turtle.
We brought it into the school for a couple hours. Bradley got to hold this one. She was a good sport and only hissed at us twice. I love painted turtles. They are so brilliantly colored and their tiny, webbed feet are surprisingly soft on the bottom. I also love their perfect pin-hole nostrils. I named her Calpurnia because we've been reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate for science class.

Apple Blossoms

2011-06-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for a photo op. And our favorite apple tree was in full bloom when we went to transplant our seedlings. I could not resist. "Hey, kids! Stop what you're doing and climb this tree!"
I did not have to ask twice. Isn't this the greatest class picture ever? Love it.

This is reminiscent of the Myron/Brody photo from the garden last year. Love the dirty noses.
And dirty knees.

A beautiful day in the garden with the best kids on earth.

Transplanting

2011-06-13T06:36:00.000-07:00

Ever since we got the garden grant, we've been starting our seedlings in our Aerogarden. Well, this year it was so inclement that we just couldn't transplant, so the tomatoes got gargantuan and we had to move them from the hydroponic unit to larger containers, where they continued to grow....massively.
Finally we got a stretch of warmer-than-50-degree-weather so we headed down to the garden to put in our babies. Well, teenagers.

It was a Plant Parade!

I think these plants were as happy to be in the soil as we were to get them out of the school! I hope they bring lots of sweet, succulent tomatoes to enjoy all summer long.

Epic

2011-06-13T05:05:00.000-07:00

This has been two years in the making. We started three years ago, actually, with a discussion about service learning and about how we could make the community and school better. We made lists of things that we could do to beautify the area, like beach cleanups, and other things that would be useful or helpful to our school, but that might require funding. The kids then power voted on each list for their top pick. Number one in the fundraising was a bike rack. They came up with the idea to do a Fun Fair and it was so successful that not only did they purchase a bike rack, they began the process of accomplishing the second most popular item on the list: adding on to the playground. Well, two years and three Fun Fairs later, we finally had enough money to begin the addition. The kids had designed a plan for how they would like the addition to look, in keeping with the original design. The only thing left to do was purchase the materials and break ground. Thanks SO SO SO much to Paul Charpentier for running several important errands for us when we couldn't get off-island.
This was the result of two weeks of labor. A couple parents helped a bit, but truly, it was the kids who were involved in every aspect, from pouring the cement for the footings, to measuring, cutting and nailing/screwing in all the wood. A great effort.
Then it was time for staining. They had wanted blue and Cody just happened to be in Lowe's with me when I was buying the stain, so he got the final say on the blue.
Two afternoons were dedicated to staining...thank goodness it had FINALLY stopped raining.
Everyone helped.
We were Covered with paint.

Some of us more than others. (Sorry, Katie!!)
Jessica even came down to help out. She sure had the right idea with the chair!
The Three Stooges were on weed patrol while the rest of the kids mulched.
Taaaaa Daaaaaa! Now, is this not the most beautiful creation ever? Try to tell me otherwise, just try.
Climbing wall on the back side. What a gorgeous blue!
I swear, every time I look out back I just smile, smile, smile! And the best part? The kids haven't gotten off that things since we finished. They are constantly playing on it. What a GREAT job and a GREAT effort, kids! I'm so proud of you.

Meeting with Vanderbilt

2011-06-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

Island Readers and Writers always offers us a chance to do wonderful programs with authors and illustrators. They've taken it one step farther, now, by teaming up with Vanderbilt University's Aspirnaut Program to offer literature links to science instruction. We've been reading two wonderful books: We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes and The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Both of these children's books deal with natural selection and Darwin's Evolution of the Species. The second part of the program is to meet with actual scientists from Vanderbilt over our Polycom.
Here is our new friend, a scientist at the University, Stephanie Zeiger. She took us through a lesson on how birds' beaks evolve over time to better adapt to their food sources. We had several kinds of beans and several kinds of implements that would serve as our beaks. The kids were then timed to see how many beans they could gather in two minutes.
Chaos ensued. There were beans flipping all over the place. They LOVED it.
Of course, some implements were easier than others. I hope that I don't ever get stuck as a bird with a beak like chopsticks.
All in all, the data we gathered showed that lima beans were easiest to gather, and that the spoon was the most successful implement. The second round, everyone switched their implements, but we saw a marked increase in all the implements success due to the learning process everyone went through. This brought up a great discussion about adaptations and evolution of species from generation to generation. A great thanks to Jan Coates from IRW and to Dr. Zeiger from Vanderbilt!

Week of Music

2011-05-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is why I've been able to catch up with three weeks of blogging. Bo and Graham are here! Yay for the Week of Music! If you're new to the happenings of our school, every Spring we have two guest musicians who come and stay for a week (a week and a half this year) and do intensive music instruction that culminates in a performance for the community.
In between writing songs and playing instruments, the kids do some dancing.
And laughing.
And, uhhh. Drinking.
The person in the middle calls the dance, and chooses the next victim.
This picture kills me. Johnny was a dancin' fool. Look at that hip action! He couldn't stop jitterbugging.
Graham played the fiddle as the kids did the line dancing and Bo called the dance.
Nobody was having any fun at all. Definitely not.
Again. Johnny doing some crazy moves.
So much giggling, so little time. Can't wait for the performance!

Iditarod on Frenchboro

2011-05-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this? Ken Anderson, musher of 11, count them, Iditarod races, could go to many different schools in Maine, but he chose Frenchboro to visit and do his demonstration. Why on earth was an Alaskan musher coming to Maine in the first place? Well, he just so happens to know and work with Meg Burden, a musher herself, who lives on M. D. I. Meg has been trying for a while to coordinate a visit out here to our little school, and she finally made it and brought along some friends! One 45 minute boat ride later, they arrived with gear and dogs. DOGS! Wooohoo!
They were. a. big. hit.
And they certainly knew how to bring on the lovin'. In fact, I think this dog is saying, "Why did you stop petting me? I want all three of you kids petting me."
Awwwwww. Doesn't that just melt your heart?
Soooo sweet!
Check out the mushing gear. The feedback: It was really hot. Ken gave a presentation on mushing and shared pictures and stories and answered questions. Gee! Haw!
And of course the sled. Though not typically what you would find on a sled, the kids sure didn't mind. What do you think...future Frenchboro school bus??

Huge thanks go to Meg, Ken and their cohorts for coming out to visit us. What a great day. Come back any time!

STORMS Finale

2011-05-23T11:04:00.001-07:00

Posters: finished. Information: memorized. iMovie: ready to go. Time for Orono!
It was so great to see all the other schools during our trip to the University of Maine for our STORMS presentation. I think of all the things that could have convinced the kids to go to college, the all-you-can-eat dessert bar was probably number 1.

First Aid and CPR with Sonja Philbrook

2011-05-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Ta da! Heeeeere's Sonja! We were so excited to spend the day with Sonja Philbrook on May 6th. She came for the entire day to teach first aid and CPR. A few parents came in for the training as well, so we had a full house.
We started with First Aid. There was a lot of watching and talking happening.
Then we learned the proper way to take off soiled gloves.

Next up: how to deal with a victim. Check to make sure the area is safe, first!

"Dada, are you okay?"
While we were busy with First Aid, Becky was busy baby sitting for one of our visitors. Cute little Gage is welcome any time!

Choking!

2011-05-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Do you know what to do if someone is choking? Sonja finished up the morning by teaching how to remove an obstruction from someone who is choking. Dylan could not stop laughing.
They paired up after the demonstration and began to practice.
If you have ever been someone who yourself is choking, it must be a frightening thing. Thank goodness we all know now what to do to help save someone.
Some pairings were working better than others.
I rest my case.
Then it was time to practice with the epi-pen. Though it was a fake one, Cadin was certain that his leg felt "weird" afterward.

CPR

2011-05-23T10:18:00.001-07:00

After lunch it was time for some hard core work out, CPR style! The kids took turns with the annies, keeping the correct rhythm for compressions and breaths. They did such an awesome job!
From the youngest all the way up to Cody and Dylan, and even us adults, everyone got a shot on the annies.
They were all business.
First step, tap the victim to see if they respond, then check for breathing. Seth knew the drill perfectly.

After the CPR training, everyone learned how to combine the CPR with AED administration. We took particular glee with Seth's admonition of "Back off!" instead of "stand back!" when the shock was about to be delivered.
Since we have an AED here in Frenchboro, it was heartening to know that so many of us could now properly step in and help in the event of an emergency.

Baby CPR

2011-05-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

The last order of the day was CPR on a baby...one year and younger. A lot of fun to be had with these little dolls. We tried to stay on task.
Again, everyone could follow along with the video to make sure their pace was correct.

We also practiced the dislodging of a choking hazard on a baby. Flipping the baby from arm to arm proved more difficult than you might think. Cody was a pro. Helps to have three younger siblings.
Soooo, there was a little banging of baby heads on desks. They may be concussed, but they aren't choking any more!

Thanks so much to Sonja for coming out and spending a whole day with us at Frenhboro School! What a great opportunity and such important information for everyone. We're ready to save lives over here!!!

Feelin' Groovy

2011-05-23T09:49:00.001-07:00

After the whole rough mantled doris, ahem... 'gathering' that we had in our tank not too long ago, we were a little gun shy about adding new creatures. But a sea cucumber...no harm there, right? We've had plenty of sea cucumbers in our tank and nothing untoward had happened before.
But as luck would have it, there's something about our tank that just makes the creatures, well, amorous. At first Mr. Finn, who sits directly in front of the tank was like, "Whoa. Look at this sea cucumber! What is it doing? That's so weird!" The kids, of course, rush over to inspect the goings on. Then we saw this:
Ahhhhh! Nothing to see here! Back to your seats! The kids were all: What is THAT. What? That white stuff! White stuff? I don't see any white stuff.
I am, for humor's sake, embellishing. Well. Not that much.

Here. Learn for yourself. Weird reproduction. Take especial note of the 'tiny pore' section.

I am happy to report that soon after this episode, all creatures were released to the wild, and we disassembled the tank for the year. Phew.