Middle Schoolers Use Critical Thinking Skills

I do believe watching problem solving in action is one of the most exciting parts of being an educator.

Design Squad is a science and engineering curriculum created by PBS for middle schoolers. Some of the concepts are pretty complicated and I'm not sure that the kids grasp everything just yet, but I think challenging them to think through it and see what they can do is fun to watch.

(for the other educators out there who might be interested, go to the link. Design Squad has just redesigned their website. It has great complimentary online activities for the kids)

Iesha's thinking moment

Iesha is our thinker. Every time it takes her a minute to remember something, she puts her finger up to her temple. Somehow, I guess that finger has magical powers because she soon remembers. I love it! :)

You can see her thinking in progress in this video below:

More Funny Bug and Funny Faces.

My class also played "Funny Bug" for KidzMath this week.

Here's what a few of the teams came up with:

My class also decided that they wanted to see how many funny faces they could make.

Here are a few of the faces they came up with.

Something Beautiful Continued.

This week we finished our discussion on

"What can we do to make our community more beautiful?"

"We can clean up all the trash outside and then put trash cans around

so people can have somewhere to put their trash when they're outside".

-Iesha

"We can put benches at the park for the mommies to watch they're kids play at the park".

-Niesha

"We can build a new park!"

-LaMarcus

"I can help people plant gardens!"

-Ladaysha

Our next step will be working on a plan to implement the things the students

would like to do to make their community more beautiful.

Chess

It is so great seeing the kids learning how to play chess. They are very attentive and are really learning the game of chess. They have a great chess teacher. I am even learning how to play :) I can't wait to see the students in competition, I believe they will be ready, and it will be a great experience.

Ms. Sylvia and C.J.'s Conversation at home

Ms. Sylvia and C.J.'s conversation at home (Gabcast! ASA Summer Nutrition Program #20)