7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

Fridays are my busiest day. As such, they go by really fast. We start the day with morning prayer and mass, and then we have a half hour before the first bell rings, at 7:30am. I have no prep period on Fridays, and I teach p.e. to my students. Today, it was kickball. Fridays are also when I send out my weekly newsletter and when lesson plans need to be emailed to our principal. I must confess I haven't had time to do mine yet, but it goes faster now that I have the hang of it. Also, I over plan, so some of it is already written from last week.

--- 2 ---

I teach 3rd/4th grade, so my students are still at the age where they make me things. For a while it was pictures of angels, then drawings of hibiscus flowers, and now it is origami roses. It's really cute. They are so funny, too. They are getting to the age where they want to be treated like adults but I enjoy that they still act like the kids that they are.

 

--- 3 ---

 

My stepmom, Ginny, dried some fall leaves and shipped them to me. I was amazed that she didn't have to use wax paper and iron them. They weren't crumbly or anything! On Halloween, my 3/4 graders went to the kindergarten room to do a science lesson and a leaf-rubbing art project with them. It was so much fun to watch the children ooh and ah over the leaves! A couple interesting observations several of them made were, "Ew, they smell bad," and "they smell like something that's decaying." I immediately grabbed a leaf and inhaled a wonderfully nostalgic scent. I told them, "This is what fall/autumn smells like if you go to the northern states in the mainland!" :)



--- 4 ---

I was very amused when I learned that this was the Halloween Fun Day activity I would be in charge of with one of the eighth graders. We somehow managed to keep it from turning into a water fight.

--- 5 ---

 

Sr. Janet, Mrs. Thompson, and I took the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on a field trip to the Na ‘Āina Kai Botanical Gardens, all the way up in Kilauea. It was a long bus ride, but the kids enjoyed being able to talk story with each other. The field trip ended up being perfect for their age group! They were engaged the whole day. There was a big maze for small groups to walk through together, lots of nature to explore and learn about from our tour guides, a museum-like display of the earliest Hawaiians, a Navajo village (to compare the two indigenous groups), lots of bronze sculptures that they were allowed to touch, and a really awesome playground. We enjoyed watching the fifth graders because we got to see them acting like children (in a good way). They didn't have the older grades to impress.

--- 6 ---

Veterans Day was more meaningful this year. Our school is near the PMRF Naval Base, so some of our students are in military families. I have witnessed the bravery, pride, and courage of these families who have given so much of themselves for our country. We had a big Veteran's Day celebration at the school, and the kids got to learn about some of the science behind rockets....followed by watching rockets go off! They also got to go inside a navy boat and a mobile crime lab. We had a special flag raising ceremony, and Taps was played.

Anticipating the rocket launch!

 

--- 7 ---

I am so grateful that the we, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, have this mission in Kekaha. The people here are so inspiring with their devotedness to our faith. I love to serve them and to learn from them!

 

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