Last Full Week of School

It dawned on me that this past week was the LAST full week of school this year. It has been an adventure packed on at that! I went on 2 field trips, my last teacher observation of the year, and bowled in the H.O.P.E Safehouse Match Play tournament. Plus I drove down to Chicago for one of the field trips (just to make sure I made it back for the last day of finals of the bowling tournament).

Urban Ecology Center 
On Wednesday I traveled with one 6th grade group to the Urban Ecology Center. It is an amazing place that helps students learn about the environment while not leaving the city. This is the 5th time that I have been on a field trip there and the programs they offer never cease to amaze me. Getting my students out into nature is an amazing experience to watch since most have never been outside of the city. The program we did this time was about weather. UEC (Urban Ecology Center) first reviewed what makes weather, and then the students went outside to take their own weather report of the area. But before we went outside we have some fun with this machine, and learned how lightening was created. 

 The kids were a hoot! They couldn't get enough with it, and if they had it their way they would probably have been content playing with "lightening" all day.

After we took a walk outside to this amazing view of Milwaukee to get a record our weather data. We had an awesome time outside despite it being really windy and kind of chilly for May.

Museum of Science and Industry 

Lightening exhibit

On Thursday we meandered on down to Windy City to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. I had never been there myself before, and both the kids and myself were amazed at how big the place was. They couldn't get enough of it. I had to keep reminding them not to forget to finish their photo scavenger hunt for science. They really loved the baby chicks and the airplane. (The field trip made me realize that none of my students have ever been on an airplane before)

Also for one of my new comers from Mexico, JM, had never been on an escalator before Thursday. He was so scared of them, and he didn't tell me until we were already on it. So huge culture shock for him.

The only down side I saw to the field trip was there were A LOT of other schools there and it was REALLY crowded. Oh, and also my students, despite loving the museum, got tired/bored with it about an hour before we left (we had already been there for like 4.5 hours which is a lot of moving around for some students). This made me realize that I don't think my students fully understand how museums work... Ok, that sounds weird, but let me explain. I don't feel that my students understood how to gain information from the museum. There were a TON of manipulatives there and my students had no problem using them, they just didn't understand why the items did what they did. To actually understand why the manipulatives do what they do you have to read the directions/information at the exhibit. My student's didn't understand/know how to do that.. IS that clear?

Overall it was a fun, but exhausting day. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go.

H.O.P.E Safehosue
H.O.P.E Safehouse is a shelter for animals. They take in unwanted, injured, or neglected animals and help recuperate them and find a new home. The match play tournament I was in the past week donated money from the entries to the Safehouse since they are a non-profit organization and run on donations and fundraising money. It's an amazing organization.

So, the bowling tournament has a 6 game qualifier for women. The top twelve make it to match play, and shoot 12 games over 2 days. During qualifying I shot my highest game ever a 299! I was so nervous, but just reminded myself on the last ball of the game that I already beat my previous high game (279) and I am proud of that already. I was also glad my parents were there since they did not get to see my previous high game. My picture was in the paper too!

I qualified in 5th place. Then the finals came... I started off awesome, but just couldn't catch a break the second half of the first day. I also hesitated and delayed making a ball choice that would have helped me out earlier. The Second day I started out again awesome, but when the lanes started to transition I lost it... I didn't shoot horrible, but when I found my line again I was long gone from catching up to the pack... I also couldn't carry anything (I kept leaving 10 or 7 pin on the deck)...

I ended up in 10th out of 12th. It sounds bad, but I made it past qualifying in my first tournament, and I did my best. It was a huge learning experience. Besides there will always be another tournament.

I also want to thank everyone who came out to watch and support me while I bowled! You helped me not be so nervous while I was bowling against some amazing women. It was also nice to share my sport with you! Thanks again! :)

In Conclusion 
And that has been my past week... I just got M's degree back with the State Seal apstille on it. I'm looking into how I should sent it to the consulate... I'll blog about that later. Have a splendid weekend!

Chao,
Leslie