Abilities Awareness Assembly

Did you know that October is Abilities Awareness Month?  We got to start our day this morning with an assembly featuring a special guest: Katie Banister.  

Katie is a quadriplegic, author, and public speaker.  We learned a lot from her!  Here are some reflections from our class:

"Never give up.  When she got disabled, she didn't give up on life, she persisted.  Persistence and resilience is a take-away from this lesson because as I said before, she could've given up on life, but bounced back and stuck to it." - Aidan

"I think we should be persistent.  If Katie Banister can overcome all of her physical differences, we should be persistent, too.  Some people don't like differences, but would you like everybody to be the same?" - Winston

"It's okay to be yourself but don't be ignorant, just say hi!  She will always be herself and if she can overcome all of the things she went through, then you should, too." - Xavier 

Xavier's Illustration

"I think it was interesting how optimistic she was about being in a wheelchair.  I also think that the message that stood out to me was sometimes it's kind of cool to have a disability.  That was because she said her wheelchair can do all sorts of cool stuff.  I also thought it was incredible how people gave up so much just to help her like her counselors, husband, and friends.  I thought it was amazing that she was still writing books even though her hands were paralyzed and she could eat by herself and even put on lipstick!  She also said that she wrote her sadness away." - Johann

"After listening to Katie Banister, I learned a lot and one life lesson that I learned from her is that don't let bad things stop you from happiness.  Evidence to support this life lesson is when she said not to have self pity just because she was in a wheelchair and she was still happy after what happened.  Some more evidence to support my life lesson is when Katie Banister was talking about all of the things that she needed help with but she would not get upset about the things she needed help with.  The final piece of evidence to support this life lesson is when she was talking about all of the disabilities and she would not let them stop her from doing what she loves.  I think people should be like Katie Banister to always be persistence and keeping positive and keep going.  It's what's on the inside that counts." - Lucas

"Katie Banister has some disabilities but she is a kind friend to people."  - Kathryn

"I didn't realize that there were all those cool inventions to help wheelchair-bound people like the awesome wheelchair." - Robert

"I think the author visit shows how to be mindful, because sometimes disabilities prevent our minds from calming down, or just settling the thoughts.  Katie Banister showed and told us some ways on how she calms down, and why she does it.  One way, she said, is that she pays attention to the world around her.  What I mean is that she said whenever she was crying or screaming or yelling, she would either stop or take some deep breaths, because nobody wants to help someone cranky.  She also taught us that you need to be persistent, even when life is tough.  I know this because when she got in the crash, it still didn't stop her from following her dreams." - Charlie

"I think that Katie taught us when something happens you have to move on and keep persisting.  This reminds me on America's Got Talent when a contestant, Katchy, was in a place crash, she kept persisting and she pursued her dreams.  What Katie said is the nicest thing you can say to a person with a disability is hi." - Emma

"What I think is that Katie Banister can't move her fingers or legs.  I feel bad for her but she has help.  She can do most things without help but she sometimes needs help to go upstairs and eating." - Christopher

"I learned that some people use their anger in a constructive way and I think that's really cool.  I also learned that people know when they need help but they know that can do it by themselves with a little hardware and maybe a small tool.  She really inspired me to try harder things without any help to make me stronger and better at what I do." - Ben

"Katie's visit has really inspired me to be myself, alone and with other people.  Knowing about all the disabled people out in the world, lots of people should feel lucky to have a body that they can control themselves.  This really makes me start thinking about all the people out in the world who don't appreciate their bodies for what they can do.  Katie didn't give up, even with her disabilities to walk.  She still has a sense of humor, which is a positive thing people can see in her.  She also loves herself for who she is, whether she can do things or not.  She keeps her body healthy, physically and mentally." - Sarah

"Just because someone has a disability doesn't mean you have to pity them.  Also if someone has a disability doesn't mean they need help with everything they do like Katie Banister said.  You also don't need to be thinking that they're weird or scary because if you do that really hurts them mentally.  In the end, we're still all human if we have a disability or not.  And the nicest thing you can say to them is just a simple hello.  And we're all different like how each snowflake is different and if you have a disability, you can still be proud." - Mazy

"I wonder if Katie Banister got mad or frustrated, would she ever use a body scan, or try to take a breath?  Would she use mindfulness to help her feel better?  Did her counselor teach her mindfulness?  What Katie Banister said, that the nicest thing you can say to a person with a disability is hello, I think that is correct.  If you say something like, 'Oh I am so sorry, how can I help you?'  Just a plain hello and treating them like the same as everyone else, I know that would make me happy." - Alice  

Fifth Grade Fall Fun

Happy Autumn, families! 

We have been hard at work in fifth grade, as I hope you've heard about, and I wanted to share some of it with you! 

Firstly, I am shipping off our Pringle Challenge discovery projects today. 

For this project, students were challenged to package one Pringle chip so that it would safely reach a partner fifth grade class at Glenridge.  Students learned about what happens to packages during shipping and how to package items safely.  They were given some limitations for materials and size.  They researched designs and devised prototypes for their packages and then tested them.  Once our packages arrive at Glenridge and their packages arrive at our school, our classes will Skype and watch as we unbox our projects to see who succeeded.  I can't wait to see what happens!  

Our next discovery project was introduced by Dr. Martin to all of the fifth graders this week.

We want to empower students to make a difference in our community.  They are all going to be considering different problems or issues that concern them, and then research ways to make a positive change.  Then students will create plans and carry them out.  Students who are a part of XL will also be exploring this through their work, as well.  We know that our fifth graders are leaders and can't wait to see what they pursue with this project!

Speaking of leaders, we got to meet with our 2nd grade reading buddies recently.  It was lovely to see these partnerships share stories together!

One of the areas of focus for our class in mathematics has been working on our growth mindset as mathematicians.  We reflect on Jo Boaler's "Math Mindsets" at the beginning of each class period and keep those as a focus through our work.  There are 8 in total: everyone can learn math to the highest levels, mistakes are valuable, questions are really important, math is about connections and communication, math is about creativity and making sense, math is about learning and not performing, and depth is more important than speed.  Many times students write these on their desks as reminders.

We've also started using a new technology in our math class: Pear Deck.  This is an interactive interface for presentations so students can respond to our math problems on their own iPads and I can view their thinking on my computer screen.  It's an incredible tool for fostering conversation around our thinking!

Finally, I must thank you for ordering books through Scholastic this month.  I was able to order 18 books at no cost to add to our classroom library!!!  I selected a mix of non-fiction and fiction, a couple of graphic novels, and chose books that would hopefully appeal to your children and support our learning in fifth grade.  Thank you so much!