Hey all!
This past week we finished up a movie called Remember the Titans. It's a true story about a high school football team that was desegregated and had to persevere and battle through racism, injustice and hate in order to have a successful season.
We also spent a couple days on gratitude and what it means to be thankful. Students created great lists of different things, people, and places in their world that they are thankful/grateful for. They had a great understanding of the concept and it was refreshing to hear students sit back and reflect on the things in life that really matter.
Only a few more days until winter break, yay!
Thanks for reading!
Monday, December 17, 2018
Monday, December 10, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #16
Hello and welcome back!
This past week we finished up talking about our basic emotions and then we jumped into talking about fear.
We discussed why being afraid can be a good and a bad thing. Examples of good fear could be anything that keeps us out of a dangerous situation and an example of fear being a bad thing is when it holds us back from doing something we really want to do.
We ended the week by going to our school play. They were performing Macbeth and we had a lot of YESS students involved in the production.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
This past week we finished up talking about our basic emotions and then we jumped into talking about fear.
We discussed why being afraid can be a good and a bad thing. Examples of good fear could be anything that keeps us out of a dangerous situation and an example of fear being a bad thing is when it holds us back from doing something we really want to do.
We ended the week by going to our school play. They were performing Macbeth and we had a lot of YESS students involved in the production.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
Monday, December 3, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #15
Hello all,
This past week Mentors finished and presented their leader projects about a leader in history that they knew about and respected. Also, on Tutoring Tuesday we had a lot of students catching up in other classes so they can finish this first semester strong!
The rest of the week we talked about Emotions, what are the main ones, which category emotions fall into, what we think of when we see/hear that emotion and we also read an article talking about the purpose of emotions.
Students could relate to a lot of the emotions but it was good for them to vocalize how certain emotions cause them to act/react. It was a great intro into emotions for students and it set a great stage for the future lessons that revolve around emotions.
Have a great week!
This past week Mentors finished and presented their leader projects about a leader in history that they knew about and respected. Also, on Tutoring Tuesday we had a lot of students catching up in other classes so they can finish this first semester strong!
The rest of the week we talked about Emotions, what are the main ones, which category emotions fall into, what we think of when we see/hear that emotion and we also read an article talking about the purpose of emotions.
Students could relate to a lot of the emotions but it was good for them to vocalize how certain emotions cause them to act/react. It was a great intro into emotions for students and it set a great stage for the future lessons that revolve around emotions.
Have a great week!
Monday, November 19, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #14
Hello and welcome back!
Students and teachers are currently on Thanksgiving break. A great time to catch up and be with family and friends but also it can be a difficult time for some. We discussed what Thanksgiving looks like for each student and how we can use this holiday as a chance to be aware of other people's emotions and challenges that they may be going through and to show compassion.
Veteran's Day was last Sunday so on Monday we recognized those who served by watching a short documentary on why we celebrate Veteran's Day and then we wrote some letters/cards thanking Veteran's for everything they've done.
We ended the week by creating a turkey that was all about giving thanks. On the feathers we wrote all the things we're thankful for. It came out looking great!
Thanks for reading and see you in 2 weeks! Have a great Thanksgiving!
Students and teachers are currently on Thanksgiving break. A great time to catch up and be with family and friends but also it can be a difficult time for some. We discussed what Thanksgiving looks like for each student and how we can use this holiday as a chance to be aware of other people's emotions and challenges that they may be going through and to show compassion.
Veteran's Day was last Sunday so on Monday we recognized those who served by watching a short documentary on why we celebrate Veteran's Day and then we wrote some letters/cards thanking Veteran's for everything they've done.
We ended the week by creating a turkey that was all about giving thanks. On the feathers we wrote all the things we're thankful for. It came out looking great!
Monday, November 12, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #13
Hello!
This past week we learned a lot about the brain. Students started off by learning some vocabulary about different parts of the brain. Words such as amygdala, hippocampus, limbic system, prefrontal cortex were all discussed.
Students had some time to do individual research where they looked up what makes the teenage brain different than an adult brain and why teenagers react to things the way they do sometimes. They then had the option to further elaborate on what they learned and surprisingly most students chose the paragraph option.
It was a lot of information in a short period of time but the students persevered and have a little better understanding of how their brain works, why it responds the way it does sometimes and where different parts of the brain are located.
Have a great week!
This past week we learned a lot about the brain. Students started off by learning some vocabulary about different parts of the brain. Words such as amygdala, hippocampus, limbic system, prefrontal cortex were all discussed.
Students had some time to do individual research where they looked up what makes the teenage brain different than an adult brain and why teenagers react to things the way they do sometimes. They then had the option to further elaborate on what they learned and surprisingly most students chose the paragraph option.
It was a lot of information in a short period of time but the students persevered and have a little better understanding of how their brain works, why it responds the way it does sometimes and where different parts of the brain are located.
Have a great week!
Monday, November 5, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #12
Hello!
This past week was a shorter week for students because they did not have school on Friday, but teachers did.
On Mentor Monday we are wrapping up our projects on a leader in history.
Tutoring Tuesday we caught up on some missing work from other classes.
And on Wednesday and Thursday we finished up our Trust Bridges.
It was a relaxing week and hopefully we're all ready for this final 2 week stretch until Turkey day break!
This past week was a shorter week for students because they did not have school on Friday, but teachers did.
On Mentor Monday we are wrapping up our projects on a leader in history.
Tutoring Tuesday we caught up on some missing work from other classes.
And on Wednesday and Thursday we finished up our Trust Bridges.
It was a relaxing week and hopefully we're all ready for this final 2 week stretch until Turkey day break!
Monday, October 29, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #11
Hello and welcome back!
This past week during Mentor/Mentee Monday the Mentors began researching leaders in history to get an idea of their leadership styles, which ones they can relate to and movements they respect that their leaders started.
Tutoring Tuesday gave students a chance to catch up before parent teacher conferences which were Wednesday and Thursday night. It's always great talking with parents and telling them about the YESS program and how well their student is doing.
Wednesday we jumped into healthy relationships and created our own Spheres of Influence. Basically the people from different areas of our lives we can go to when we need help, support, or just someone to listen/hang out with.
Thursday and Friday we worked on Trust Bridges. The idea being that our relationships are like a bridge, there are two sides and if either or both sides are made out of weak material (no communication, argumentative, dishonest, etc.) then the bridge/relationship will crumble.
It was a busy but exciting week!
This past week during Mentor/Mentee Monday the Mentors began researching leaders in history to get an idea of their leadership styles, which ones they can relate to and movements they respect that their leaders started.
Tutoring Tuesday gave students a chance to catch up before parent teacher conferences which were Wednesday and Thursday night. It's always great talking with parents and telling them about the YESS program and how well their student is doing.
Wednesday we jumped into healthy relationships and created our own Spheres of Influence. Basically the people from different areas of our lives we can go to when we need help, support, or just someone to listen/hang out with.
Thursday and Friday we worked on Trust Bridges. The idea being that our relationships are like a bridge, there are two sides and if either or both sides are made out of weak material (no communication, argumentative, dishonest, etc.) then the bridge/relationship will crumble.
It was a busy but exciting week!
Monday, October 22, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #10
Hello!
This past week we finished up our Public Service Announcements on Race. The students were very creative with their posters and I think they had a better understanding of the different vocab by the end.
As middle schoolers, they've definitely been exposed to racial interactions, whether head on or they've seen it in their neighborhoods or the news so students had plenty of stories and experiences to share. It is a heavy and difficult topic to discuss but I'm proud of my students who want to take more of a stand against racial injustice.
See you next week!
This past week we finished up our Public Service Announcements on Race. The students were very creative with their posters and I think they had a better understanding of the different vocab by the end.
As middle schoolers, they've definitely been exposed to racial interactions, whether head on or they've seen it in their neighborhoods or the news so students had plenty of stories and experiences to share. It is a heavy and difficult topic to discuss but I'm proud of my students who want to take more of a stand against racial injustice.
See you next week!
Monday, October 15, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #9
Hi all!
Last week our lessons focused on race. It was very vocab heavy so we took a lot of time dissecting the words and coming up with lots of examples so students could better understand what that word meant and how it effects us.
Some of the words include: Implicit Bias, White Privilege, Stereotype, Ethnicity, marginalize, etc.
Students then had the chance to look through a couple different web sites that gave them a ton of information on race, how it began, why it started, and who started it. They had to choose 7 facts that they did not know about before and how this fact impacts them/informs them for the future.
We'll finish race this week and hopefully end the week with something fun to get us refreshed!
Thanks for reading.
Last week our lessons focused on race. It was very vocab heavy so we took a lot of time dissecting the words and coming up with lots of examples so students could better understand what that word meant and how it effects us.
Some of the words include: Implicit Bias, White Privilege, Stereotype, Ethnicity, marginalize, etc.
Students then had the chance to look through a couple different web sites that gave them a ton of information on race, how it began, why it started, and who started it. They had to choose 7 facts that they did not know about before and how this fact impacts them/informs them for the future.
We'll finish race this week and hopefully end the week with something fun to get us refreshed!
Thanks for reading.
Monday, October 8, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #8
Hello all!
This past week, Mentor Monday went great. We identified some areas that our mentees are struggling in and came up with individual game plans on how to get them back on track.
Tutoring Tuesday allowed students to catch up in classes before assignment reports come out this week.
Wednesday and Thursday we worked on our YESS t-shirt designs. There were definitely some great ones which made the voting this year pretty difficult but I believe all the students will love the final design!
On No Fun Friday we played one of my favorite class builders. It's called Name 4. You sit in a circle and one person starts with the ball. You then call out a category for the person with the ball by saying, "Name 4...vegetables or names that start with M or NBA teams. They then start passing the ball around the circle and have to name 4 things that fall into that category before the ball gets back to them. If it gets back to them, they go again with a different category. If they name 4, the ball stops and the person holding it now gets a chance to name 4 of a different category. You can make the categories funny/ridiculous and overall the students love it.
Thanks for reading!
This past week, Mentor Monday went great. We identified some areas that our mentees are struggling in and came up with individual game plans on how to get them back on track.
Tutoring Tuesday allowed students to catch up in classes before assignment reports come out this week.
Wednesday and Thursday we worked on our YESS t-shirt designs. There were definitely some great ones which made the voting this year pretty difficult but I believe all the students will love the final design!
On No Fun Friday we played one of my favorite class builders. It's called Name 4. You sit in a circle and one person starts with the ball. You then call out a category for the person with the ball by saying, "Name 4...vegetables or names that start with M or NBA teams. They then start passing the ball around the circle and have to name 4 things that fall into that category before the ball gets back to them. If it gets back to them, they go again with a different category. If they name 4, the ball stops and the person holding it now gets a chance to name 4 of a different category. You can make the categories funny/ridiculous and overall the students love it.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, October 1, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #7
Last week we worked on the lesson plan titled Today I Choose.
It's the philosophy that no matter what is said or done, we always have the choice in how to react. It's also all about the idea that we can use positive words and think about them in those moments or even before/after those moments and use those words to protect ourselves by believing that we are better than those negative words or comments.
So we created a list of positive words and phrases that we can reference throughout the year in order to motivate us to be above the hate and negativity around us.
Have a great week!
It's the philosophy that no matter what is said or done, we always have the choice in how to react. It's also all about the idea that we can use positive words and think about them in those moments or even before/after those moments and use those words to protect ourselves by believing that we are better than those negative words or comments.
So we created a list of positive words and phrases that we can reference throughout the year in order to motivate us to be above the hate and negativity around us.
Have a great week!
Monday, September 24, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #6
Hello!
This week we had our first mentor/mentee Monday. It was a great chance to talk with the mentors and see how their partnerships with the mentees are going.
Tutoring Tuesday allowed students to catch up on work in other classes. Most take advantage of this time and we're already seeing noticeable gains in their academics.
On Wednesday we learned about values, what they are, what they mean to us and how they effect our decisions and choices in life.
Thursday we created goal collages that involved having long term goals inside a box that we can look at later in the year and short term goals glued to the outside of the box to remind us of our goals.
Thanks for reading!
This week we had our first mentor/mentee Monday. It was a great chance to talk with the mentors and see how their partnerships with the mentees are going.
Tutoring Tuesday allowed students to catch up on work in other classes. Most take advantage of this time and we're already seeing noticeable gains in their academics.
On Wednesday we learned about values, what they are, what they mean to us and how they effect our decisions and choices in life.
Thursday we created goal collages that involved having long term goals inside a box that we can look at later in the year and short term goals glued to the outside of the box to remind us of our goals.
Monday, September 17, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #5
Hello and welcome back!
Last week we decided, wrote about and chose our mentor or mentee for the year!
On Wednesday and Thursday we worked on a Google slide presentation introducing our mentor/mentee.
They included each other's favorite things (music, sports, class, activities, etc), their future career and college goals, and 10 random fun facts.
It was a great time for mentors and mentees to ask each other a bunch of questions and get to know each other even better. We did presentations on Friday which we will finish up on Tuesday.
Have a great week!
Last week we decided, wrote about and chose our mentor or mentee for the year!
On Wednesday and Thursday we worked on a Google slide presentation introducing our mentor/mentee.
They included each other's favorite things (music, sports, class, activities, etc), their future career and college goals, and 10 random fun facts.
It was a great time for mentors and mentees to ask each other a bunch of questions and get to know each other even better. We did presentations on Friday which we will finish up on Tuesday.
Have a great week!
Monday, September 10, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #4
Hi all!
This was a shorter week with the Labor Day holiday on Monday but we still accomplished a lot.
We had our first tutoring Tuesday and I saw many students taking advantage and catching up on work or completing homework early.
On Wednesday and Thursday we created our time capsules. Inside are different artifacts like their heights, hand size, list of favorite things in their lives and a letter to their future self. We'll open these up in May!
Friday we did speed matching, a play on speed dating but this was a great way for mentees and mentors to get to know each other a little better and help decide who they want to be paired with for the rest of the year.
Have a great week!
This was a shorter week with the Labor Day holiday on Monday but we still accomplished a lot.
We had our first tutoring Tuesday and I saw many students taking advantage and catching up on work or completing homework early.
On Wednesday and Thursday we created our time capsules. Inside are different artifacts like their heights, hand size, list of favorite things in their lives and a letter to their future self. We'll open these up in May!
Friday we did speed matching, a play on speed dating but this was a great way for mentees and mentors to get to know each other a little better and help decide who they want to be paired with for the rest of the year.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #3
Hello!
Last week was jam packed with a bunch of different activities.
On Monday we talked about Creating Community. There were 5 posters around the room that asked questions ranging from why we need community, what does community look like, what are some communities we are already a part of and what are some of the challenges involved with community. Students had to walk around to each poster and add their answers.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we created personal shields that were meant for students to identify their strengths/weaknesses, future career goals and the material/non-material things in their lives that they cherish most.
On Thursday we worked on our communication skills, specifically our listening/following directions skills. We did a paper tear activity with our eyes closed and students would fold and tear their paper based on my directions. They were not allowed to ask questions so everyone's paper was very different by the end. We also did back to back drawing where one student is giving verbal directions to their partner about what they need to draw on their piece of paper. Being specific was the key to the game because most of the time their pictures had everything in the correct spot, but they were not drawn to scale.
For No Fun Friday we played taboo and charades. This got the students out of their comfort zones and was a fun team challenge that forced students to listen to their classmates and work together to guess the word.
Overall, another great week here at Ranum!
Last week was jam packed with a bunch of different activities.
On Monday we talked about Creating Community. There were 5 posters around the room that asked questions ranging from why we need community, what does community look like, what are some communities we are already a part of and what are some of the challenges involved with community. Students had to walk around to each poster and add their answers.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we created personal shields that were meant for students to identify their strengths/weaknesses, future career goals and the material/non-material things in their lives that they cherish most.
On Thursday we worked on our communication skills, specifically our listening/following directions skills. We did a paper tear activity with our eyes closed and students would fold and tear their paper based on my directions. They were not allowed to ask questions so everyone's paper was very different by the end. We also did back to back drawing where one student is giving verbal directions to their partner about what they need to draw on their piece of paper. Being specific was the key to the game because most of the time their pictures had everything in the correct spot, but they were not drawn to scale.
For No Fun Friday we played taboo and charades. This got the students out of their comfort zones and was a fun team challenge that forced students to listen to their classmates and work together to guess the word.
Overall, another great week here at Ranum!
Monday, August 27, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #2
Hello all!
The first full week of school is in the books. We continued to get to know one another through team builders, learned more about YESS, and played introduction bingo.
This week we will continue to get to know each other and start identifying potential mentor/mentee pairs for the year.
Hope everyone has a great week!
The first full week of school is in the books. We continued to get to know one another through team builders, learned more about YESS, and played introduction bingo.
This week we will continue to get to know each other and start identifying potential mentor/mentee pairs for the year.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Monday, August 20, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #1
Hello and welcome back to another year at Ranum Middle School!
The school year got off to a great start with a lot of familiar faces and many of my former students siblings.
We stuck to a basic introduction of YESS, some classroom policies and mostly team building exercises for the first 3 days of school. Students are still shaking off that summer rust but overall they were excited and more than willing to jump in, be themselves and participate.
Have a great week!
The school year got off to a great start with a lot of familiar faces and many of my former students siblings.
We stuck to a basic introduction of YESS, some classroom policies and mostly team building exercises for the first 3 days of school. Students are still shaking off that summer rust but overall they were excited and more than willing to jump in, be themselves and participate.
Have a great week!
Monday, May 21, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #31
Hello and welcome to the second to last edition of the Weekly Ranum.
This past week was a blur with all of the events going on. We had band/theater performances, field trips, make up testing and all of the end of year catch up you could cram into a week.
We finished College and Career projects, started to clean up the classroom and passed back projects. It was fun reminiscing about the past year and all the fun activities.
Students are pretty checked out at this point so we'll see how these last 3 days go!
Thanks for reading.
This past week was a blur with all of the events going on. We had band/theater performances, field trips, make up testing and all of the end of year catch up you could cram into a week.
We finished College and Career projects, started to clean up the classroom and passed back projects. It was fun reminiscing about the past year and all the fun activities.
Students are pretty checked out at this point so we'll see how these last 3 days go!
Thanks for reading.
Monday, May 14, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #30
Hello and welcome back to the Weekly Ranum!
This past week there was no Mentoring Monday but we did have the YESS Middle School year end event here at Ranum. Everything came together. There was food, fun and some amazing speeches by some incredible students. Huge shout out to Shaw Heights and Scott Carpenter for coming over, being super responsible and respectful and representing their schools!
The rest of the week we focused on College and Career. Students worked individually and chose any college that interested them. They first focused on some classes/majors they liked and then would look for schools that had great program for those specific majors.
After they chose their college, they would then research a career that interested them. How can you move up in this career, how much money can you earn, where in the country are the most openings and what are the different skills/certifications needed are just a few of the questions they had to look up.
Most students will finish those up this week and then we'll continue to wrap up the school year next week!
8 days left!
This past week there was no Mentoring Monday but we did have the YESS Middle School year end event here at Ranum. Everything came together. There was food, fun and some amazing speeches by some incredible students. Huge shout out to Shaw Heights and Scott Carpenter for coming over, being super responsible and respectful and representing their schools!
The rest of the week we focused on College and Career. Students worked individually and chose any college that interested them. They first focused on some classes/majors they liked and then would look for schools that had great program for those specific majors.
After they chose their college, they would then research a career that interested them. How can you move up in this career, how much money can you earn, where in the country are the most openings and what are the different skills/certifications needed are just a few of the questions they had to look up.
Most students will finish those up this week and then we'll continue to wrap up the school year next week!
8 days left!
Monday, April 30, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #29
Hello and welcome back to the Weekly Ranum!
We're getting towards the end of the school year here and determined to finish the year strong.
On Mentor Monday we started preparing for the end of year event by making some posters.
Tutoring Tuesday was a great day for students to see what learning targets they can make up before the end of the year.
Wednesday and Thursday was the Wheel of Burnout/Caring. This was a good concept for the student's to learn. They realized that sometimes friends, family members and other people will wear them down, stress them out and even let them down sometimes and that's OK. We talked about the best way to get through those situations is to understand where the person is coming from, let it go and continue to be the best you possible. If the relationship continues to be a strain, be honest and open with that person and let them know what your needs are as a friend. If they can't/won't change or even try to, you may need to cut them out of your life. Overall, a heavy lesson but I appreciated their resiliency and willingness to talk about difficult topics.
We're getting towards the end of the school year here and determined to finish the year strong.
On Mentor Monday we started preparing for the end of year event by making some posters.
Tutoring Tuesday was a great day for students to see what learning targets they can make up before the end of the year.
Wednesday and Thursday was the Wheel of Burnout/Caring. This was a good concept for the student's to learn. They realized that sometimes friends, family members and other people will wear them down, stress them out and even let them down sometimes and that's OK. We talked about the best way to get through those situations is to understand where the person is coming from, let it go and continue to be the best you possible. If the relationship continues to be a strain, be honest and open with that person and let them know what your needs are as a friend. If they can't/won't change or even try to, you may need to cut them out of your life. Overall, a heavy lesson but I appreciated their resiliency and willingness to talk about difficult topics.
Monday, April 23, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #28
Welcome back!
We had testing again this week so students were a little up and down but we managed to finish our documentary on nutrition. Students learned more about the effects of fast food on the body and how so many internal things can effect your health way more than what you see on the outside.
On No Fun Friday we played a team builder called "head's up". It's like the phone app if you have it. If you don't, basically one of your teammates stands in front of your group and they grab a random word (that they can't see) and hold it on their forehead. Their team then has to act out that word, charades style, so the person holding the word can guess it. You're trying to guess as many as you can in 1 minute. It's a fun game and the students really got into it.
We had testing again this week so students were a little up and down but we managed to finish our documentary on nutrition. Students learned more about the effects of fast food on the body and how so many internal things can effect your health way more than what you see on the outside.
On No Fun Friday we played a team builder called "head's up". It's like the phone app if you have it. If you don't, basically one of your teammates stands in front of your group and they grab a random word (that they can't see) and hold it on their forehead. Their team then has to act out that word, charades style, so the person holding the word can guess it. You're trying to guess as many as you can in 1 minute. It's a fun game and the students really got into it.
T-shirts are in!!!
Thanks for reading!
Monday, April 16, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #27
Hello and welcome back!
Mentor Monday was a great start to the week with talks about mentees, high school and testing.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was CMAS testing so I did not see any students in the mornings but did get to see a couple classes in the afternoon. We followed up from last week learning about nutrition by watching a documentary on unhealthy food and it's effect on the body. We will be finishing the documentary this week.
No Fun Friday was pretty laid back. We received our YESS program t-shirts so I handed those out. The students were pumped to finally have their t-shirts. I have pictures but unfortunately my phone is being a pain and not letting me send them to the computer. My apologies, hopefully next week I can upload them.
Thanks for reading!
Mentor Monday was a great start to the week with talks about mentees, high school and testing.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was CMAS testing so I did not see any students in the mornings but did get to see a couple classes in the afternoon. We followed up from last week learning about nutrition by watching a documentary on unhealthy food and it's effect on the body. We will be finishing the documentary this week.
No Fun Friday was pretty laid back. We received our YESS program t-shirts so I handed those out. The students were pumped to finally have their t-shirts. I have pictures but unfortunately my phone is being a pain and not letting me send them to the computer. My apologies, hopefully next week I can upload them.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, April 9, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #26
Hello!
This was a great week back from Spring Break!
We started off on Monday with creating individual motivation flowers. On the pedals, each student had to write a few things they did over break, an academic goal they have for themselves for the rest of the year and a social/personal goal they have for themselves for the end of the year. Students had fun with this and it added some much needed color to the classroom.
Tutoring Tuesday went well, as usual. Students caught up on missing assignments and this was also a great chance for students to "wake up" from Spring Break laziness.
On Wednesday and Thursday we talked about Nutrition. We learned how to read nutrition labels and what each category meant in terms of how it effects our body. Students know that most foods they are eating are bad for them, but this gave them a better idea of just how bad, and the possible long term implications of their decision to eat these foods now.
We had no students on Friday but overall it was a great four days and I'm excited to get this week started. Students will be taking their state standardized tests and I know they're all going to do awesome!
Thanks for reading!
This was a great week back from Spring Break!
We started off on Monday with creating individual motivation flowers. On the pedals, each student had to write a few things they did over break, an academic goal they have for themselves for the rest of the year and a social/personal goal they have for themselves for the end of the year. Students had fun with this and it added some much needed color to the classroom.
Tutoring Tuesday went well, as usual. Students caught up on missing assignments and this was also a great chance for students to "wake up" from Spring Break laziness.
On Wednesday and Thursday we talked about Nutrition. We learned how to read nutrition labels and what each category meant in terms of how it effects our body. Students know that most foods they are eating are bad for them, but this gave them a better idea of just how bad, and the possible long term implications of their decision to eat these foods now.
We had no students on Friday but overall it was a great four days and I'm excited to get this week started. Students will be taking their state standardized tests and I know they're all going to do awesome!
Thanks for reading!
Monday, March 19, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #25
Hello and welcome back to the Weekly Ranum!
Another fast week over here with Spring Break quickly approaching.
In Mentor Monday we started a project where mentor's chose a cause that they care about and they had to do some research and come up with a plan of action of some steps we can take in order to help their cause. Some choices were, Environment/Pollution, human rights, homelessness and organic food.
Tutoring Tuesday was good but had low numbers because of a choir field trip.
Wednesday and Thursday we worked on Conflict Resolution Steps. Students had plenty of examples of conflict in their life, but had not really tried any of the steps we went over as a class. I feel they came away with a better understanding of what to do when conflict arises in the future. Some of their bigger break through's were just understanding that both people involved will have strong emotions during the fight and sometimes it's better to just cool down and then re-address when both people have settled down.
No Fun Friday was a team builder involving spaghetti and marshmallows. Students were in groups of 4, had the same supplies and were asked to build the tallest tower. They had a lot of fun and it was nice to see students working well together and collaborating.
Overall another fun week....1 more full week until Spring Break!
Another fast week over here with Spring Break quickly approaching.
In Mentor Monday we started a project where mentor's chose a cause that they care about and they had to do some research and come up with a plan of action of some steps we can take in order to help their cause. Some choices were, Environment/Pollution, human rights, homelessness and organic food.
Tutoring Tuesday was good but had low numbers because of a choir field trip.
Wednesday and Thursday we worked on Conflict Resolution Steps. Students had plenty of examples of conflict in their life, but had not really tried any of the steps we went over as a class. I feel they came away with a better understanding of what to do when conflict arises in the future. Some of their bigger break through's were just understanding that both people involved will have strong emotions during the fight and sometimes it's better to just cool down and then re-address when both people have settled down.
No Fun Friday was a team builder involving spaghetti and marshmallows. Students were in groups of 4, had the same supplies and were asked to build the tallest tower. They had a lot of fun and it was nice to see students working well together and collaborating.
Overall another fun week....1 more full week until Spring Break!
Monday, March 12, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #24
Hello!
On Mentor Monday we focused on writing letters to our mentee's telling them how proud we are of them and all the growth we've seen. It's a nice little emotional boost before Spring Break begins.
Tutoring Tuesday was catch up and making sure that students were prepared to present their projects they had worked on the week prior.
Wednesday and Thursday was presentation day. Overall, the students presented well. Some need to work on eye contact and others needed to understand their topic a little more but I enjoyed the variety. Presentations ranged from self defense to origami to history of video games to a solo student led lesson plan on media and body image.
No Fun Friday was a throwback of a few team builders we've played in the past. Pictionary, Categories and Freeze were just a few of the games chosen.
Thanks for reading!
On Mentor Monday we focused on writing letters to our mentee's telling them how proud we are of them and all the growth we've seen. It's a nice little emotional boost before Spring Break begins.
Tutoring Tuesday was catch up and making sure that students were prepared to present their projects they had worked on the week prior.
Wednesday and Thursday was presentation day. Overall, the students presented well. Some need to work on eye contact and others needed to understand their topic a little more but I enjoyed the variety. Presentations ranged from self defense to origami to history of video games to a solo student led lesson plan on media and body image.
No Fun Friday was a throwback of a few team builders we've played in the past. Pictionary, Categories and Freeze were just a few of the games chosen.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, March 5, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #23
Hello!
On Mentor Monday we talked about some different topics that mentors were interested in learning about for the rest of the year.
On Tutoring Tuesday students finished their love cups and continued to catch up in other classes that they were falling behind in.
Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to students researching a topic they were interested in and preparing a presentation for the rest of the class. The idea is for students to teach the class about something new or something they don't always get the chance to learn more about in school. Students enjoy sharing out their interests and hobbies with others so this gives them a chance to do so, plus the skills of presenting. They will present this week!
On No Fun Friday we played Anagrams. There were 4 random words posted on the board and students had to re-arrange all the words to create new words that fit into a particular theme. It got pretty competitive but very fun!
Have a great week!
Oh and here's a couple pictures of some Love Cups...
On Mentor Monday we talked about some different topics that mentors were interested in learning about for the rest of the year.
On Tutoring Tuesday students finished their love cups and continued to catch up in other classes that they were falling behind in.
Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to students researching a topic they were interested in and preparing a presentation for the rest of the class. The idea is for students to teach the class about something new or something they don't always get the chance to learn more about in school. Students enjoy sharing out their interests and hobbies with others so this gives them a chance to do so, plus the skills of presenting. They will present this week!
On No Fun Friday we played Anagrams. There were 4 random words posted on the board and students had to re-arrange all the words to create new words that fit into a particular theme. It got pretty competitive but very fun!
Have a great week!
Oh and here's a couple pictures of some Love Cups...
Monday, February 26, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #22
Hello!
Welcome back to The Weekly Ranum.
Monday we were off for President's Day.
Tutoring Tuesday I printed off some President's Day based worksheets so students could learn more about past presidents. They also had the chance, as always, to catch up in their other classes.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we worked on Love Cups. The idea that we have a happiness or love tank within ourselves that is always fluctuating. There are things that bring us happiness that raise our love tank levels and there are things that can wear us down and bring our levels lower. Students had some great answers about how there are things that both bring happiness/joy but they can also become too much at times. For example, family or friends. They had a great time creating their own loves cups and as soon as I clear out the space on my phone and am able to take pictures again, I'll upload some.
Thank you for reading!
Welcome back to The Weekly Ranum.
Monday we were off for President's Day.
Tutoring Tuesday I printed off some President's Day based worksheets so students could learn more about past presidents. They also had the chance, as always, to catch up in their other classes.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we worked on Love Cups. The idea that we have a happiness or love tank within ourselves that is always fluctuating. There are things that bring us happiness that raise our love tank levels and there are things that can wear us down and bring our levels lower. Students had some great answers about how there are things that both bring happiness/joy but they can also become too much at times. For example, family or friends. They had a great time creating their own loves cups and as soon as I clear out the space on my phone and am able to take pictures again, I'll upload some.
Thank you for reading!
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #21
Hello!
Mentors finished up their self evaluations and goals for the second semester on Monday. Tutoring Tuesday went well. Students were on task and trying to accomplish/catch up on as much work as possible.
On Wednesday and Thursday we talked about Hot Buttons. Students would try to figure out the words/actions of others that really set them off and "push their buttons". We tried to see why these comments/actions bothered us and how we could avoid any issues in the future. After figuring out our Hot Buttons, we moved onto our Cool Buttons, or the things in life that relax us or help us get through those challenging times. Cool Buttons can range from watching T.V to taking a nap to listening to music to going on a run. Everyone is different and only you know what works best for you in a given situation.
For No Fun Friday we played a game where students sat in a circle and I would say to one student, name 5 things that... then I would say go and we would pass a ball around the circle and if the ball made it back before the person could name 5 things, they would have to go again. An example would be, name 5 things that start with the letter M or name 5 emotions or name 5 different countries.
They had a lot of fun with it and realized that being on the spot makes it 10 times more difficult, especially when you see the ball going around the circle faster and faster.
Overall, another great week!
Monday, February 12, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #20
Hello!
Short week this past week with a whole lot of catch up!
Mentor Monday was focused on reflection. I wanted the mentors to gauge where they are at with their mentee and also with their leadership level at this point. Most mentors were pretty honest and this week we'll try to come up with some action steps on how to improve.
Tutoring Tuesday was a great day for catching up in other classes. With students knowing that conferences were happening this week, it helped a lot with motivation.
On Wednesday we had to finish up the movie Inside Out because there were some DVD issues the previous week with the substitute teacher. We had a nice little chat about the different emotions and how important of a role each one of them plays.
Since there was going to be no students on Friday, we had No Thrills Thursday instead of No Fun Friday. We are nearing the end of talking about emotions so I had students complete an emotion word search. If they couldn't define an emotion, they had to look it up.
Student led parent teacher conferences were Wednesday and Thursday night. It was great to see a lot of parents and we're all excited to help the kids finish the year strong.
Thanks for reading!
Short week this past week with a whole lot of catch up!
Mentor Monday was focused on reflection. I wanted the mentors to gauge where they are at with their mentee and also with their leadership level at this point. Most mentors were pretty honest and this week we'll try to come up with some action steps on how to improve.
Tutoring Tuesday was a great day for catching up in other classes. With students knowing that conferences were happening this week, it helped a lot with motivation.
On Wednesday we had to finish up the movie Inside Out because there were some DVD issues the previous week with the substitute teacher. We had a nice little chat about the different emotions and how important of a role each one of them plays.
Since there was going to be no students on Friday, we had No Thrills Thursday instead of No Fun Friday. We are nearing the end of talking about emotions so I had students complete an emotion word search. If they couldn't define an emotion, they had to look it up.
Student led parent teacher conferences were Wednesday and Thursday night. It was great to see a lot of parents and we're all excited to help the kids finish the year strong.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, January 29, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #19
Hello and welcome back to the Weekly Ranum!
Mentoring Monday was a little slow this week because of the snow storm and the delay. We didn't have too many students show up so we basically just talked about what it means to be a leader at Ranum and in day to day life.
Tutoring Tuesday was a combination of catch up from the previous weeks projects and catch up in other classes.
On Wednesday and Thursday we focused on Emotions. More specifically, we learned about Emo Trolls.
Emo Trolls are the result of emotions we do not handle in a healthy way. When someone or something wrongs us, we may tend to gossip, seek revenge, explode with anger, or any of the other negative choices we have at our disposal.
Our collective hope is to not rely on these unhealthy, negative trolls when dealing with our emotions.
Thanks for reading!
Mentoring Monday was a little slow this week because of the snow storm and the delay. We didn't have too many students show up so we basically just talked about what it means to be a leader at Ranum and in day to day life.
Tutoring Tuesday was a combination of catch up from the previous weeks projects and catch up in other classes.
On Wednesday and Thursday we focused on Emotions. More specifically, we learned about Emo Trolls.
Emo Trolls are the result of emotions we do not handle in a healthy way. When someone or something wrongs us, we may tend to gossip, seek revenge, explode with anger, or any of the other negative choices we have at our disposal.
Our collective hope is to not rely on these unhealthy, negative trolls when dealing with our emotions.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, January 22, 2018
The Weekly Ranum: Edition #18
Hello all!
Last week was a shorter one with the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday on Monday. Tutoring Tuesday opened the week with students finishing their projects on miscommunication and also continuing to catch up on classes they may be behind in.
On Wednesday and Thursday we talked about belief systems and how so many factors go into what you think or believe about someone or something. Student's learned that their families have a huge impact on how they see the world. Ranging from how you believe kids should be raised to how you should behave and interact with people in pubic and social settings. Groups were assigned an article about how beliefs are formed, how they can be changed, or even how they can be managed. It was then their job to create a poster to teach the class about their specific article.
On No Fun Friday we played a game that had students in groups of four and each student had a couple cards in front of them that would say, the best... or the highest...or the fastest...or the longest...etc. I would call out that beginning word, they would stand, and then I would give the challenge. For example, I could say, "the quickest" and the person from each team with that card would stand up and I could then say, "to recite the ABC's". I would time them and the fastest person would get a point for their team. This would keep going with all those different opening prompts.
The kids loved it and it was another great week here at Ranum!
Thanks for reading!
Last week was a shorter one with the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday on Monday. Tutoring Tuesday opened the week with students finishing their projects on miscommunication and also continuing to catch up on classes they may be behind in.
On Wednesday and Thursday we talked about belief systems and how so many factors go into what you think or believe about someone or something. Student's learned that their families have a huge impact on how they see the world. Ranging from how you believe kids should be raised to how you should behave and interact with people in pubic and social settings. Groups were assigned an article about how beliefs are formed, how they can be changed, or even how they can be managed. It was then their job to create a poster to teach the class about their specific article.
On No Fun Friday we played a game that had students in groups of four and each student had a couple cards in front of them that would say, the best... or the highest...or the fastest...or the longest...etc. I would call out that beginning word, they would stand, and then I would give the challenge. For example, I could say, "the quickest" and the person from each team with that card would stand up and I could then say, "to recite the ABC's". I would time them and the fastest person would get a point for their team. This would keep going with all those different opening prompts.
The kids loved it and it was another great week here at Ranum!
Thanks for reading!
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