Back in Team Bond for a 5th Year

I am so excited to be back!  When the kids first noticed me, a bit into the school day, they crowded around me and looked so excited!  It is so much fun bringing excitement to little ones!  Team Bond looks pretty much the same, except for the addition of crayfish.  There are some really big ones too!  Yesterday they found that one of them chopped the claw of another one.  Poor guy!

I have had a great view out into the classroom, as I have been sitting perched at the top of the book spindle.  I was touched by a student on my first day, so I lost a bit of the magic to move, but it was OK because I loved the view I had.  Sometimes the kids got a bit noisy, but they seem to be excited learners!

One of the things I really enjoyed seeing is this thing called Hour of Code.  The kids learned about Bits Box on Monday, and then I have been able to watch them type code, modify code, and even create their own apps.  One girl had a big Justin Bieber face on her app, and a lot of them enjoyed having stamps that if you tapped on them, they would explode.  Mrs. Bond said they are going to create their own app to send with their holiday card. I am excited to see those come to life. 

They are also making the wonderful bag wreaths that I love seeing each year.  They look so comfy...I just may have to hang out there in the next few days. 

One thing new that I noticed that I haven't seen in years before is The Positivity Project. The kids are learning about kindness this week and having such great conversations and sharing how they show kindness.  I also noticed there are other traits they have learned like curiosity, open-mindedness, perspective, creativity, teamwork/citizenship, bravery, gratitude, and modesty/humility. They had a conversations about book characters having these traits, and I was really impressed with their thoughts!

Today I hung out in a comfy cardboard house. I even had one of the boys write a note for me. I really enjoyed seeing kids after school work on being creative.  I think they were in a program called Destination Imagination. I got to watch some of the kids saw wood, sing, and research pollution and space.

I hope to see a lot more interesting things happening in Team Bond over the next few weeks! 

Sincerely,

Elfran Etavonni 

Tis the Season for Gifts

The other day Mrs. Bond told the kids they were going to write about gifts.  Well, after all, this is the season for gift giving.  However, she had a different twist on it.  She talked about the gifts each person has within them to share with the world.  She showed them a book called Classroom Habitudes by Angela Maiers, which highlights the importance of having students realize the gifts each of them had to offer.  Each student brainstormed the gifts they had within and wrote them in their Idea Notebooks.  It was neat when the kids shared, as Mrs. Bond wrote them all on a chart. It surprised me though, some of the kids did not know what gifts they had inside them.  One boy is always the first to raise his hand and participate in classroom discussions with smart things to say, yet he didn't know that it was a gift he had.  Silly boy!  I hope he can recognize that many kids are so scared to answer questions and participate.  His courage and leadership is a strength!  It will definitely help him later in life too! The kids typed up their paragraphs about their main gift inside and printed them off.  Then they decorated a paper like a gift.  They used glue and colored sand to create the wrapping paper.  It got a bit messy, as the kids put on lots of glue, but it worked out.  Today I decided to hug the gift sign that Mrs. Bond painted to show the kids how much I like the gifts they have inside to offer the world! They liked seeing me there!  I even snuck and wrote a little note to them!

Today the entire third grade class has a winter party.  They had a breakfast and then did a craft.  They did a neat craft that can measure the amount of snow is on the ground.  It seemed like the whole day was full of crafts.  The students really enjoyed using their creativity.  They even had Art this afternoon, so it was a day full of artsy fun! I bet the families of Team Bond will enjoy all of the handmade treasures heading their way!  

My time in Team Bond is coming to a close, and again, I have enjoyed being with them.  I am going to see if I can get assigned here again later on this year.  I saw something on the wall about Digital Learning Day.  I think it is February.  It would be neat to be there for it, since I got to be there for Hour of Code.  

I'm Back in Team Bond

I am so glad that I am back in Team Bond!  This is my 3rd year being assigned to watch them and report.  Each year I look forward to joining Mrs. Bond and checking out what her students are up to! The kids noticed me today, but what they don't know is that I actually arrived on Tuesday night!  I was able to watch the kids from inside a box on their bookshelf.  My first thought when I arrived was...Mrs. Bond doesn't have many kids.  She only has like 12 desks in her room.  She has never had a class that small! When the kids arrived, I figured out that she has 3 tables that kids sit at too now.  She really does have 23 kids in her class.  Weird though...15 boys and 8 girls.  It's crazy that there are twice as many boys as girls. I wonder if it is like that in all the third grade classrooms?
        In the morning they worked on cards with Michigan lighthouses in the winter.  It was crazy to see how the ice forms on the lighthouses.  Mrs. Bond said it looked like a scene from Frozen. They also did a neat thing in the afternoon called Energy Playground.  Kids played but they were able to explore things that used energy. There were sounds galore all over.  From buzzing motors,  to carols from musical cards, and a high pitched noise machine, the kids had fun making noise.  (I have found this to be the case in most 3rd grade classrooms I visit!) A few kids were on laptops working on coding a lit tree.  I heard a bit about it and it has something to do with the trees in Washington, DC.  I am not sure how kids can code trees for Washington, DC, but it looked pretty cool!
     

      Today I moved to the outside of the box (I took a picture from my view point), and sure enough, the kids noticed me during their read aloud in the morning.  Mrs. Bond was so excited when one of the kids pointed to me.  She let them know my background.  I am not a Santa Elf...I am a Learning Elf.  Instead of reporting to the big guy in the North Pole, I report to the head people in schools...principals, superintendents, professors, etc. Mrs. Bond had to go to a meeting this morning, so a guest teacher came.  I think her name was Mrs. Abbot. She seemed very nice.  I felt a bit bad that she struggled with the projector, as the image was blurry, but she was a good problem solver.  The wipe board works just the same!
        In the afternoon students had fun measuring their body.  They measured their arms, their necks, their wrists, and a bunch of other things.  Some of them still need to work on stating at the 0, as they came up with some weird measurements.  One girl thought a boys waist-to-floor measurement was 7 inches.  (That's more like my size!) Silly her...she was using the wrong end of the meter stick.  After math the kids left and went to art.  Then they came back in for just a bit because yesterday was one of the girl's birthdays, and she chose to have an extra recess for a thing called 15 Minutes of Fame.  This must be something new.  I will have to keep my ear open for more examples of it.
       I hope I will get to stay for a bit more in Team Bond.  I did notice there were some kids that still need to work on their listening.  It is such a shame when Mrs. Bond is talking to them about their assignments, and they can't even tell her what they are supposed to be doing.  I also noticed that some kids were being bucket dippers. Perhaps it was just a bad day for them.  (I did notice there is a full moon tonight!) I look forward to watching the kids learn more and enjoy their time with Mrs. Bond in third grade.

Elfnapped!

On Wednesday, there were a bunch of kids staying after school for a program called Destination Imagination.  It was wonderful to see the kids work in teams and use their creativity.  They left for a while to go research in the computer lab.  It sounds like they have a lot to do to prepare for a competition in March. I started to wonder what happened in the other third grade classes, so I decided to check out another third grade class at Glengary the next day.  It completely confused Team Bond, as I heard they searched high and low for me.  Team Bonkowski, which is the class next door to Mrs. Bond's class, welcomed me in.  Just for comfort, I did bring my wreath that the girls made for me, as well as the letter Mrs. Timlin wrote to me.  I found a sweater bag to put the note in, as I have noticed Team Bond adding notes to their mitten and sweater bags on the Winter Bucketfiller Board.  Mrs. Bond had a few more on her desk.  I hope she didn't mind.

While I was in Mrs. Bonkowski's class, I noticed there was another teacher.  I have seen him come into Team Bond here and there.  His name is Mr. Thomas, and he is an intern teacher from MSU.  Team Bonkowski created beautiful snowflakes while I was there. I always love seeing kids get creative!

I decided to hang out for another day in Team Bonkowski, but Team Bond had other plans for me.  I guess they wanted me there for their party, so while the kids were out of Mrs. Bonkowski's room, a girl and a boy came and got me.  I was a bit worried, as they had this purple thing that looked like a hippo and they used it to grab my hat and put me in a green cylinder.  Luckily it was filled with cushy blue felt, and it was actually quite comfortable.  Mrs. Bond remembered that I lots of kids had wrote persuasive letters to me about sitting on the book spindle.  They said that it would be like an amusement park ride when it spun, but that I would also get a great view of the classroom and be around books!  I do remember some kids thinking that the Greater Gator bucket would also be a good place, even though there is a couple stuffed gators near by.  I think I may choose that location tomorrow, as I would love to read what the kids have done to earn the Greater Gators.  Mrs. Timlin talked about that in the letter she sent me.  I wonder if any of the kids have earned one for being trustworthy...the word of the week?

The kids had a great holiday party.  They made ornaments that were stuffed with slips of paper that highlighted specials things about them at this age.  I think they will like reading these when they are older.  They also played fun games.  They had to stack cups fast, hit balloons with paper plates, and even stack nuts (the fastener kind) using only a candy cane.  After the party another teacher came in.  Mrs. Bond had to take her daughter to the doctors.  The children seemed to do well.  They learned more about area.  They also read about energy conversions, although some of the struggled with the questions at the end.  Finally, they worked on Kwanzaa Hearts.  They had to put them in their desk to finish tomorrow.

Well, one last day before holiday break!  I am sure that there will be a lot of excitement in the air! It sure has been fun watching the learning in their exciting educational environment!

A Friday with Mrs. Share!

(I tried to post this on Friday, but my internet was acting funny.  I thought it posted, but when I went on, I noticed that it never was published. Sorry for the delay.)

Hey, something strange happened last Friday!  When the door opened, it wasn’t Mrs. Bond.  It was a different lady.  I heard the kids calling her Mrs. Share.  They all seemed to know her, so she must be OK.  She said “hi” to everyone.  Some of the kids saw me right away.  They told Mrs. Share that I am here to watch the learning in the room.  Mrs. Share said she was nervous because I was watching her.  I was laughing…he he ha ha…

The kids had to go to a thing called PE.  I wish I could go because you get to wear special shoes called PE shoes.  I wonder if they are magical.  Are they flying shoes?  Anyway when the kids came back it was test time.  I don’t know how they kept it all straight.  Blue this and Yellow that.  Then Kalyn and Brandon got to use the computer behind me.  I hope I’m not in trouble. 

After the “BLUE/YELLOW test” the kids went to music.  I love music.  I wonder if they were singing “Elf in the Pointy Shoes” or “Red Is My Favorite Color”.  I love those songs.

The next activity was called TFK.  I heard so many good readers.  There was Gabby, Margeaux, and Lily, just to name a few.  A lot more kids read, but I was really interested in the stories.  I didn’t know jellyfish bloom!  And those field trips, should they be about learning or fun?  I just can’t decide. 

Oh no!  The kids are making a mess!  They called it desk organization, but it looks like room disorganization.  They were trying to clean up.  I hope they can do it.

Yumm! Brianna brought carrots back from lunch.  My bunny loves carrots.  I hope my mom remembers to feed her.  I miss my bunny.

I enjoyed lunch because I took a nap.  It’s hard work watching 25 students all day.  I’m really glad I took the nap at lunch cuz there was no sleeping during science.  It looked like the kids were learning all about different kinds of energy.  That means sound energy was noisy, light energy was bright, and electric energy had noisy motors too.  The quiet center was the one with the books.  Most of those kids went to the hall.  They knew it was easier to think in the quiet.  I liked watching science because everyone got to test the stuff.

Math made me laugh.  A man came in to get Mitchell.  Mitchell was with a lady.  Then the man asked if the students were taking a test.  They kind of laughed because they were working so quietly and diligently.  Mrs. Share gave them a flower note.  Ethan called it a shining moment.  I like that.  I like things that shine.

Ahhh!  Next came quiet reading time.  I saw Aidan, Katelyn, Julia, Spencer, and oh so many students enjoying their books.  I was jealous because I didn’t have a book with me to read.  (I should have brought the story Maddie wrote for me.  Mrs. Bond…if you read this, can you print it off for me?) The books at my house are smaller and easier for me to hold.  It seemed like all of the kids were getting smarter right then and there.  All of those wonderful words soaking right into their brains.  Oh how I love to see them learning!!!

Yahoooooo!  Mrs. Share read from The Secret Zoo.  I am so curious to find out what happens.  Will they find Megan?  Will the animals continue to help the friends?  This is so exciting!

George and Nick were sitting near me for Roses and Thorns.  They were so excited to share.  Then Kalyn and Margeaux did a little play.  I think they like having fun.

Oh, Boy! What I wonderful day I had in Mrs. Bond’s room.  It was a great Friday to see all of the learning going on.  I am ready to climb to new heights next week! 

Wow! A Story Written Just for Me!

I really, really love this class!  I get notes from them, they tell me things when they are walking by, and they are always keeping me in mind!  Like today, when one of the dad's came in to talk to the class about electric cars, they counted me as a student.  They were talking about how Ford employs over 200,000 people and Mr. Tinskey asked how many kids were in the class.  They said 25, but then someone said I was included, so 26.  How cute is that!  I sure did enjoy learning about electric cars and energy.  Electric cars don't make a sound like normal cars do, so they are actual finding ways to add sound to the car so people can hear them, especially people that are blind. It was very cool having him in the class, and I had the best view.  He brought in a Tesla Coil that actually was able to make a light bulb light up without plugging it into anything!
It was so nice of him to share his time with the class.  Speaking of sharing, I got an email from his daughter the other day.  She created a story just for me, as I told her that I love to read. I decided to share it with you too!  I hope you enjoy Maddie's story...I sure did!

Since you said you liked to read, I wrote you a story.....

The Learning Elf's Wonderful Place To Stay

Once upon a time,  on a cold crisp day, a learning elf named Elfran Etavonni was looking for a place to stay. The winds were high and Elfran did not no where to stay. He searched high and low for a warm place to spend the night. He came across a street called Macini street. He thought he might look to see if there was anything just ANYTHING to stay in for the night. But when he turned the corner onto Macini street he was in for a big surprise. Huge rainbows of gold and red painted the sky. The houses, more like castles where made of pure gold that caught the rays of the sun.....The sun???? It was WARM on Macini street. WARM!!! Elfran Etavonni strolled across the diamond road. Seeing people with wings and knights with real       e shining armor. Everyone greeted him nicely with huge grins with every tooth perfectly white. A princess even invited him into the palace for a nice dinner. Elfran Etavonni gladly excepted the invitation. His stomach was growling fiercely. The princess escorted him into the beautiful golden palace. On the table that was big enough for a whole school  to sit on was a huge salad that was 6 feet tall with tomatoes, onions, olives, carrots, and a magical veggie that was called Aka Oka. Also there was a huge chicken that was 7 feet wide and 4 feet tall. For drinks there was fruit smoothies. Made with honey, strawberrys, bananas, mangos, peaches, and of coarse, SUGER!!! Elfran Etavonni's mouth drooled as he looked at the HUGE feast. My names Samantha said the princess. My name is Elfran Etavonni said the learning elf. The princess and the elf dug into the meal. Elfran Etavonni ate only a part of a chicken leg and a few veggies and spinach. The princess ate 5 pieces of chicken and 2 bowls of salad. The reason the learning elf ate only a little bit, was because he was miniature. Elfran Etavonni yawned. Oh are you tired Mr. Elfran? Asked the princess. Yes I am. Said Elfran. The princess took Elfran to a room labeled quests. Inside there were small beds made of pure gold and cloudy mattresses and huge beds made with pure gold and cloudy mattresses to. The princess took  Elfran to the tiniest bed. It was big enough for a doll. Oh this is perfect! Said Elfron! Good! Said the princess. Then I shall leave you alone until morning. Elfran curled up in the bed and put the extra fluffy blanket on top of him and dozed right of into dream land. Dreaming of home.

The end!!!

Cheers to Great Learning!

Etavonni

A Lonely Weekend

I am bummed that I came at the end of the week.  I was just getting used to meeting the new members of Team Bond and then the weekend hit.  Boy, Glengary Elementary sure is quite when the staff and students are not there.  While it was quiet though, I had time to look around the classroom and the hall.  I took a rest in the mailbox in the hallway.  Perhaps this will be a good spot to keep in mind to hang out one day.

While I was out in the hall, I read over one of the bulletin boards.  There were many different posters that had examples of different ways you can be smart. Next to the posters was a huge graph that had kids names on it next to each poster.  I bet the kids had to figure out the type of smartness they use most.  I myself am more of a linguistic guy...a word smart kind of elf!  I love words!  That's why I love writing this blog.  

While writing this post I checked my email, and I just have to share with you an email I got from one of the students.  I actually got a couple emails from students.  How special is that! The student, who I'll call MT, asked me a ton of questions!  I love the curiosity of kids! I figure other kids may have the same questions, so I decided to copy the reply I created (in red text) for others to read.  I also got an email from the class with a ton of questions.  It is too late to answer all of the questions, so I am going to have to email Mrs. Bond back later on in the week.  For now, enjoy the email from MT. 

Wow MT!  You do love to write!  I am going to copy your email below and just reply to the questions in a different color...otherwise, I just know I will forget to answer some of your questions.  By the way, thank-you so much for the little note you put in the boat on Friday.  That was very kind of you. 

Hello class Elf! I'm MT and I'm in Team Bond. I want to welcome you back to team Bond! Will you stay with us until Christmas or longer? I am not sure what my schedule will be.  I know I have to make some stops in other classrooms, as I have some reports to turn in before all the schools leave for the holidays.  I may be able to stop back in after the new year.  It just depends on where I am assigned.  I'd LOVE if you would. I LOVE to read and write. What do you like to do for fun? I am like you, I love to read.  I enjoyed reading this weekend.  Your teacher has a lot of books.  There was a book called Snowmen at Night, and it reminded me of what I do.  During the day I have to be really still, but then at night the magic happens. Do you play any games? No. I don't play many games. I travel alone mostly, so it is hard to play games. What are they called? I'd love to talk to you and see you move. Do you like GA and JG's boat that you were sitting in?Yes, I found their boat to be a perfect fit for me.  It was just the right size.   Or did the spike ball scare you? The spike ball was a bit crazy, but I was OK with it. Josh made me a little nervous with it, but it worked out OK. How do you eat? I usually pick something up to eat when I do my reports.  I really don't have to eat a lot, being little and all.  Don't you get awfully hungry? Will you help me finish my river story? No, I am sorry.  I cannot help you with your assignment.  That is your job.  I am sure you will be able to get it done.  It is on top of my desk. My desk is the third desk at table one and it has a name tag on it that says ______. Are you scared of us? Not at all.  You all are so kind.  I have never received so many notes before.  I even got a nickel wrapped up in paper.  Do you know if I'm on the naughty list? I am not sure.  I don't really have anything to do with the big guy in the North Pole. I grew up an educational elf...learning elf.  So we aren't really connected, other than the fact we look the same as the elves that report to Santa.  My brother and sister would LOVE to meet you. Do you have any brothers or sisters? I have a brother that is visiting a preschool building as a learning elf.  Maybe I can have him send Team Bond a photo of what he is observing.  I know some kids had questions if there were other learning elves out there.  I have another brother that is in a first grade classroom too. Thank you SO much for coming to our classroom. What did you do over the weekend? Funny you should mention that.  I just jumped on the computer to add a blog entry, and then I checked my email.  I probably should get back to my blog entry.  In fact...I may just have to add this to my blog.  I bet the other kids would want to read some of these things too.  I left you a note, it is the neon green one. Please respond to it. I have many more questions to ask you but I have to get ready for bed. Thank you for reading this email! Bye until Monday!!!  Yes, in a few short hours you and your classmates will be here!  I am looking forward to seeing you again! 

Ps.you should create an account for edmodo on the computer. Then you could post things to team Bond!!!  Can you tell me more about this Edmodo? How would I get an account?  I know I heard Mrs. Bond talk about putting things on Edmodo, but I am not sure if it is something that I can do.  Maybe you can ask her for me. 

Happy Learning!

Etavonni the Elf 

The Michigan River Boats and Notes!

I was able to sneak on Mrs. Bond's computer while she was out of the class.  I think she was meeting with a mom, as I noticed a woman come in right before the kids left the room.  I already have been given lots of notes by the kids.  What a warm welcome to Team Bond!

Look at some of the notes that I got! 

Like I said before, the boats turned out great.  I am looking at a table with some on them from my view in the boat. 

 I wonder what they learned about Michigan rivers and the Great Lakes?  If Team Bond would like to email me, my email address is learningelf@gmail.com.  I will try to sneak on a computer and answer you back! 

Cheers to Learning, 

Etavonni

Good-bye for Now Team Bond

 The students noticed that I hung out with my new friends in frames, the giraffe and the cow a bit too long. To be honest with you, I was quite content relaxing and keeping an eye on all of the wonderful learning.  Plus, I figured this was a great place to stay that was germ free.  I don't think many third graders have touched up here.  There have been many kids staying home from school because they are sick.  Mrs. Bond had to remind the kids to cough into their elbow.

I also wanted to hang around Team Bond so that I could hear the rest of The Secret Zoo by Bryan Chick.  It was quite an intense ending to Book 1. The Action Scouts had to battle the Sasquatches in The Dark Lands. Mrs. Bond allowed the kids to turn off the lights to make it a bit spookier.  It worked!  I really wanted to be cuddled next to Maxi like I was last week. All in all, the book was awesome!  Since there were some kids out, Mrs. Bond used her iPad to record her reading using a program called Evernote.  I thought that was pretty cool...as I know the kids that were absent would not want to miss the ending!  I wonder if she will email them the recording or will they have to listen to it on her iPad?

Well, since I have had a lot of time in Mrs. Bond's classroom, I decided to get a new perspective on third grade by visiting Mrs. Hamlin's class.  There is one boy that is in Mrs. Bond's bus line that is always talking about his Elf on the Shelf.  He had fun spotting me each day in bus line, so I thought I would give his classroom a visit.  Mrs. Hamlin had been out sick on Monday and Tuesday, and I could tell she still wasn't feeling 100%.  Hopefully she feels better tomorrow.

The students learned about decimals today in math. They learned about the tenths and the hundredths place. While I was listening, I noticed Mrs. Hamlin used these green blocks to show the kids what a tenth looks like and what a hundredth looks like.  A "long" which is a row of 10 cubes stuck together was a tenth.  The little cubes by themselves represented hundredths.  That helped me understand it better.   I really was interested in this app that kids were playing on the iPad.  It was called Stack the States.  Kids had to answer questions about the states and then they would try to catch some of the states.  It was pretty cool.  Just like in Team Bond, Team Hamlin was also working on gifts for the holidays.  Today I noticed some kids wrapping their gifts.  I bet their families are REALLY going to like what they made!  Speaking of families, there was another adult in the room helping out.  I think she was one of the student's mom.  That sure is nice that family members donate their time to help out at school! 

The kids are having another one of those BA things.  This time it is for Science.  They learned all about Matter and Energy, so they were reviewing for it today.  They had to remember all of the forms of energy they learned about.  Let's see if I can remember...light, heat, electricty, sound...and I think there are a couple more.  Perhaps I will be able to think about them more tomorrow.

At the end of the day Mrs. Hamlin read a book.  It was all about Santa getting a new suit.  The kids seemed to enjoy the book.  The kids go to different classrooms for bus line, so I got to see some of the kids from Team Bond. I could tell they were happy to see me!  Well, that's it for now!  Only 2 more days until the kids go on break!