If you live in Central Florida, or if you ever find yourself in the area, you might consider taking your kids or students to see a rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. It’d say “It’s a blast!”, but then you’d probably send me hate mail and unfriend me on Facebook.
Last week I visited the Kennedy Space Center with some friends. My friends live and work in the United Kingdom, and as such had not checked out the Kennedy Space Center before. Our family got annual passes some years ago and been to the center several times, but it is always interesting to visit the complex, especially (for me at least) the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit. On this particular day our kids did not accompany me to visit the center – they had school that day.
When we arrived we learned that there was to be a launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket later that evening. We decided we would take the shuttle to watch the launch. None of us had seen a rocket launch before – they don’t get that sort of thing in the UK, and while I do live here in Florida I had never gotten around to doing it. Maybe it was one of those “it’s always there if I ever want to do it, so no hurry” sorts of things. So after exploring the center we took the shuttle to the special viewing area and sat in the bleachers to watch the launch.
The launch went according to plan (well, okay, it was one minute late) and it was amazing. At first the flames appear, then the clouds of smoke start to billow beneath the rocket. The rocket slowly lifts into the sky, gradually picking up speed as it climbs. Then the noise hits you – a thunderous bass that shakes the bleachers even from far away (which is a good thing – being too close to a rocket launch will result in incineration or death by, believe it or not, ridiculously loud noise). As the rocket pierces the atmosphere it leaves behind a little wisp of cloud before it continues upward into space.
I’m hoping to take our own kids to the Kennedy Space Center to see a rocket launch someday soon. I think it is fascinating to see science in action, and the immense power of a space rocket in flight is breathtaking to experience. It also demonstrates how amazing we as a species have become at manipulating the materials of our world into amazing technology like space rockets, space shuttles, satellites, and telescopes to explore our universe. It also makes me think about STEM teaching, and of finding ways to introduce kids to different technologies by actually experiencing them – like exploring the insides of a computer, riding a high speed train, or watching something being manufactured at a plant. If you can think of any good ideas of this nature, please let me know!
P.S. One interesting site that a tour guide told us about at the Kennedy Space Center is Spaceflight Now. On this site you can see the various rocket launches that are scheduled throughout the world.
Hi Everyone! I hope you all are having a great end of the school year! I just want to thank you for all of your hard work this school year. Just think about all of your lives you have touched!
I’m giving away two $10 gift cards to two lucky people to help you wrap up the school year. One giveaway is at my instagram account Yvonne__Crawford. The other giveaway is at my facebook page – Mixminder. Enter both contests and double your odds of winning!
I’m also throwing a Teacher Appreciation Sale – 28% off my entire store. Just use code – THANKYOU17 to receive the entire discount.
Make sure to check out my new products, as I’m always adding new items. My newest item is an interactive notebook for kindergarten. Here’s a little peek at it.
Some people might think interactive notebooks are only for younger students. Some people believe that learning pre-algebra, geometry and algebra should be taught through worksheets and videos and other means. I think that Interactive Notebooks have their place with these upper grade classes as well. Here are my three reasons why I think you should use higher level math subjects.
1. Many students today are young when they take pre-algebra, algebra and geometry. When I was in school students didn’t take algebra until they were in high school. Today, students start take algebra as young as 11 and 12 years old. They are still young and would enjoy learning in a fun and interactive way.
2. Even students in high school are still young at heart and would just love some school work outside of the norm. Sure, there might be some students that might roll their eyes at the work, but they probaly would roll their eyes at anything.
3. It gives students a sense of accomplishment. Students can reflect on what they’ve learn and can also study for test using their interactive notebook.
Here are some of my own Interactive Math Notebooks for higher level math classes:
8th Grade Math
Pre-Algebra
Algebra
Geometry
I remember the days of yesteryore when I was in school and we had PE every single day for an hour. This was from when I was in kindergarten until I graduated. I know some people opted out of PE in highschool after doing their required two years, but I stayed in it because I liked it. I had grown up with it. Today; however, it’s a time where students are lucky to get PE every 3 days and many PEs are skipped because specials are cancelled for some reason or another.
I’m sure there are some schools where students do get PE every day, but not at my children’s school. I used to homeschool them so we always exercised together as part of our homeschool curriculum. They actually attend a school where there is no PE. I think there is a health class they are required to take for 1/2 of a sememster, but it’s not just PE, it’s learning about the body, etc. They attend a public performing arts school and in the last 3 years my son has gone there, he has not had a PE class once. I’m fine with that because this gives us a task as a family. We need to stay in shape together. My son and I like to take walks together and go running together and my daughter and I take Irish dance classes together and practice together.
I’d like to hope that I’m instilling in them the sense of health and the ability to take care of ones’ body and soul through exercising. Time will only tell.
The other day, I mentioned that I have a new Spanish Interactive Notebook. What I didn’t mention is that I have a new French Interactive Notebook too.
I think interactive notebooks are even more important for learning a new language than for math or reading because so much of learning a new language is repetition. Also hands-on activities make it easier to remember new vocabulary words and grammar points. Here are few pictures from my New French Interactive Notebook:
For more information about my new French Interactive Notebook, click here.
I love interactive notebooks as much as the next teacher. I think they give students a lot of great information to reflect on when studying for a test, as well as when they look back on what they learned for the year. It’s also great to show parents and administors as well. But, more importantly, interactive notebooks are great for keeping students involved in the lessons!
I was looking for a good interactive spanish notebook for my friend for her daughter that she homeschools, but I couldn’t find any. I decided to make one myself. Growing up in Texas, we always spoke Spanish. My mother was fluent in Spanish and made sure we all knew how to speak it. She felt, like I do, that learning new languages is really important, as well as fulfilling.
Here are a few of the pages from my new Interactive Spanish Notebook:
If you’d like to see more information about my Interactive Spanish Notebook, click here.
I love coloring and so do my kids. My Easter color by number printables are sure to be a hit with all of your students. The great thing about them is they are leveled for different grades. So, whether you are teaching kinder or teaching 6th grade the math problems will be geared towards your students.
There are 12 pictures in each set. Enough to have a lot of choices for you and your students. You can use them as homework, morning work, for your subs or as a reward. The uses are unlimited!
To find my Easter Color by Number Printables, click here.
Happy Easter! I hope you all have a wonderful spring and Easter season.
What’s better than STEM? Easter-themed STEM! Easter is a bit later this year and I like it because it’s not too close to St. Patrick’s Day so there is a lot of time to fully celebrate both holidays! I’m super excited with my new Easter STEM packet because my own children had so much fun making these challenges.
The first challenge is a Rocket Egg challenge. It’s really neat to see how innovated students can be when given a list of materials they can use and provided with a task.
Creating an Easter Egg Tower is so much more difficult than you can imagine. I tried building a few and although I did have some successful ones, I had a lot of disasters too which made us all laugh. Here’s one my son built.
Sewing in itself isn’t STEM, but it is when you try to create geometric designs in the design. And to tell you the truth, my daughter knew how to sew before this activity, but my son didn’t know. Now he does! So it’s really a win because he can sew his own buttons on his clothes when they fall off now. Believe it or not, but he really enjoyed sewing too and creating the designs. It also makes STEM more STEAM! Which is what I prefer!
The last challenge in my April STEM packet is a windmill. It’s really cute and I’ve included some printables that your students can use with their designs to help them have a more realistic looking windmill if they want to use them.
To fine my April STEM/STEAM unit click here.
One of my best memories of when I was young was when I used to cook with her. I remember one time she was a little upset, but she still wanted to do a little baking. My brother Rob Batot, my mother and I made up some coconut cloud cookies. But, since she was upset, she forgot to put the mixer together correctly and cookie batter flew all over the kitchen. My brother and I just went around and cleaned up all of the mess, of course by licking it up. Gross, yes, but it is a good funny memory because after that happened, my mother couldn’t help but laugh.
I like to cook and bake with my kids too, but it’s so hard since just when you think you have everything figured out, you find out that this or that is bad for you. Luckily for me I don’t have to worry about one thing when I cook with my kids – seasonings. My brother, Rob, created his own line of low salt seasonings. So, I just have to have those on stand by and everything else comes into place.
Here is our latest creation from last night – baked chicken, steamed broccoli and roasted utternut squash, seasoned with low salt seasonings. My kids were pleased with the results and my husband gobbled it up. I’m happy to have enough leftovers to eat today for lunch. It’s a win for all!
One of the things I really try to teach my kids is variety because I’m so bad at it normally. I try to buy different vegetables and use different types of meat so that they are used to eating different things and not the same thing over and over. I’m pretty sure they would be happy to eat mac and cheese every day, but that’s also not going to help them grow up healthy and strong if that is their only food.
I really try to actively get them into recipe selections and engaged in all aspects of cooking, from prepping to cleaning up. Because really who wants to clean up after cooking, not me! We try to clean while we are cooking. Then, when we are done, we don’t have much to do.
One of my favorite holidays is St. Patrick’s Day. I think it’s because I love Ireland and I love the color green. It’s also a great holiday in the middle of a span with not much going on, especially when Easter falls in April, like it will for the next few years.
I’d like to show you my new St. Patrick’s Day STEM unit. There are four activities: 2 activities for St. Patrick’s Day, 1 for National Quilting Day and 1 for Johnny Appleseed Day.
Here’s one activity that is sure to amuse your students. They must build a trap for a Leprechaun. You know how sneaky those Leprechauns can be, so they need to think about how to lure them and trick them.
Have you ever heard of National Quilting Day? It falls in March (the third Saturday to be exact) and it’s a great time to use a little duct tape to create their own quilted item. I think it’s a great time to explain what patchwork and quilting is since a lot of students aren’t exposed to these types of crafts.
I hope you all are having a great school year. If you’d like more information on my March STEM unit, click here.
If you live in Central Florida, or if you ever find yourself in the area, you might consider taking your kids or students to see a rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. It’d say “It’s a blast!”, but then you’d probably send me hate mail and unfriend me on Facebook.
