Why Wednesday on the Blog Hoppin' Link Up

I'm linking up with the Back to School 2014 Blog Hoppin' topics...and today we're talking Why Wednesday...Why our organization style works!

I have to laugh at this one. As I sit at my desk typing this post, I my house is cluttered. It's usually a little cluttered. But during the summer, it gets out of control. I watch my niece (10) and nephew (6) along with my son (3) anywhere from three to five days a week during the summer. We are usually on the go. Today we hit the beach with a friend and enjoyed one of the nicest days of the summer. But I leave a trail in my path.

I'm so embarrassed to show this. But this is my desk. Pretzels blocking my screen from my husband tossing them there yesterday. And a Cabela's ad {once again, not mine!}...this is my honest-to-goodness what my desk looks like on a regular basis. I might as well admit it!

It's funny, because I'm pretty sure I take after my dad on this one. My dad has always had his own "organizational system" that has forever driven my mom crazy. As they moved from their big country home to a smaller condo in town this summer, they had to eliminate everything from wheelbarrows and lawn mowers outside, to two sets of living room furniture and scores of other household items they have had for years! My dad has always been able to find what he needs as long as none of the rest of us touched it. Not easy to do with FIVE females floating around his house for so many years. Plus, most of my sisters and my mom are extremely organized and dislike clutter.

For the record, I dislike clutter too. I can't stand it. But I live in a small house and we're always in and out and my desk fits only in our prime living area, so I've learned to look past it...for now. I have more important things to worry about than whether my desk is perfectly organized. I can generally find what I need and that's enough for me! 

My dad organizes his classroom in a different way. Last year, I noticed a sign in his Maker Space that read: Clean up or DIE!!!!!!!! {A nod to Mythbusters.}

Truthfully, I was pretty impressed at how he kept the Maker Space organized because his classroom hasn't always been the shining example of Type A personality. But then again, he's not a Type A personality so why should he be forced to follow what works well for one personality but not as well for someone who is more of a creative? I think we'll let him off the hook on this one.

I'm off to read some others who linked up and pass them on to my dad. We could both use some help in this area!

One Day Back to School BOOST SALE!

We're offing up a chance for additional savings as we head back to school!

I love a good sale.

Our store is up to 20% off PLUS if you use the promo code: BOOST you can get additional savings from Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Seriously.

What are you waiting for?

Blog Hoppin' - Where Tuesday

More on this fun Blog Hoppin' Week! Join in and read more!

Where are we at? We're in a kindergarten through eighth grade school in Southeastern Wisconsin. More specifically, I'll be in a middle school science lab and our Maker Space.

What is a Maker Space you ask? It's an incredible place for your students to invent and design using STEM/STEAM and engineering design principles. Last year our school received a grant to open a Maker Space for K-8. I eagerly took on the challenge of setting up the Maker Space, facilitating the students and managing the grant money. This year I will be working partially in the Maker Space and also as the middle school science teacher.

I shared a few days ago about what we'll be beginning the school year with in middle school science.

Our Maker Space is also getting up and running. Last year our eighth graders built an aquaponics lab from the ground up. They built the tanks from donated materials, built the plant stand from lumber and one student even created a robotic fish feeder to automatically feed the tilapia!

We grew lettuce, fish, and red worms in this particular set up. My role was to facilitate the project, but I encourage the students to problem solve, to research, to investigate and to invent on their own. I believe in the student-led education in the Maker Space. The students are more excited to learn and often dig in deeper than if they were teacher guided.

Aquaponics lab in our Maker Space

Our students also made a pneumatic tube system to sent items from our Maker Space to another classroom!

Pneumatic Tube from our Maker Space to another classroom!

I'm really looking forward to developing our Maker Space even more than our first year. This is in addition to my already packed middle school science curriculum! I head back to school next week, and the kids follow right after Labor Day. I'm anxious and excited to get back and see what my students come up with this year!

Blog Hoppin' Back to School Week! Day 1 - Who Am I?

We're hoppin' in on the Back to School Blog Hoppin' Link Up. We're excited to share with you a little more about who we are here at Brain Brigade! There are two of us working on Brain Brigade - Jerry and Jolene.

Meet Jerry! 

Jerry has been a grade and middle school teacher for almost 40 years. He retired last June...for three whole days! Then his school had a middle school science opening and he jumped at the chance to teach again this school year. 

Sue and Jerry with two grandkids.

Jerry is married to Sue and they have four amazing grown daughters, three almost as amazing sons-in-law, and five grandkids (and four granddogs, if we're counting!). 

Here's Daisy. She likes to drink from a straw. This is Jerry & Sue's dog.

Jerry and Sue have just downsized from the home where they raised their kids and various pets over the years (dogs, horses, goats). Jerry is an avid gardener but he is happy to say "adios" to see his huge yard that needed {almost constant} mowing throughout the summer. Jerry believes wholeheartedly in hands-on learning. He was named the 2003 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year. He loves teaching. The classroom walls don't stop him! Often you'll catch him teaching a math trick to friends at a party or even a waiter or waitress at a restaurant!

Recent grandkid photo with Great Grandma!

Meet Jolene! 
I'm the voice and look behind Brain Brigade. I'm one of Jerry's daughters (the third in line). I'm mainly a stay at home mom, but I love working with my Dad {Jerry}. He is so passionate about teaching. Education is important to our whole family and I think it's safe to say we never stop learning in our family! I have a son and a dog {check out our ridiculous selfie below!}. During the summers I spend time with the older niece and nephew and we often crash Grandpa's house which is now just under a mile from where we live!

Prior to mom-hood, I worked in marketing including graphic design and event planning. My dad and I work together to create our products for the classroom and Teachers Pay Teachers. My dad is the true genius behind Brain Brigade and with my son starting school next year, I've been beefing up my education knowledge hope to be an active and helpful part of his schooling.

It turns out, I also like taking selfies with my nieces and nephews...check them out below. Love these kids!

Odin, Jolene & Finn

Kayla and ZZ

Here's Linc! Yes, seriously I have a problem. 

My bud and fellow animal lover, Kenzie!

Our whole family a few years ago...our two youngest joined our family not long after this photo. Maybe I'll have to photoshop them in haha :)

2015 Makers Lab

This year's Makers Lab has many lofty goals to add hands-on learning to the classroom. Our first activity will be a challenge to our middle schoolers to build a 2-person boat out of cardboard and duct tape. They will be allowed to place one layer of waterproofing on the exterior of the boat. We're calling our contest "The Dolphin Regatta" and our catch phrase this year will be You Gotta Regatta!.

Students hopefully gain an understanding of specific gravity and the volume needed in order for a boat to float.

Last year we had some great examples that were able to paddle through the whole course and we had some sinkers! Everyone had fun and we gave awards for the best dressed crew, the first place boat, the Titanic award {for the best sinking}, and the best decorated boat.

In early October, we'll take the boat out onto a local lake and have a race. This year we hope to have one or two entries from our teaching staff.

We were featured in the local newspaper last year for our cardboard boats.
We're looking forward to this year's Dolphin Regatta!

What's Happening in Middle School Science

The role I have this year is different from in the past, whereas I was in a self-contained fifth grade class for the past six years, I’ll be moving into a departmentalized situation in middle school. I’m looking forward to the challenges that I’ll face with middle schoolers and want to try to create an atmosphere in my classroom where students are passionate about science.

My sixth graders will begin the year with a unit on astronomy which will include making constellation t-shirts and reducing the solar system to approximately 1,000 yards. 

This year, my seventh grade students will be building their own chargeable batteries out of lead sheet and magnesium sulfate, charging those batteries on a harness, and doing experiments and math to measure force and distance. 

My eighth graders will begin the year studying glaciers and glacial deposits with a field trip planned to study ice age deposits on day number 4. After completing the unit on glaciers, the eighth graders will experiment in breeding fruit flies. 

As an innovative way to do a summative assessment, students will be expected to publish their findings in each of these areas.

Accumulated Materials or Hoarding?

For the coming year, I'll be teaching Middle School Science in addition to working in the Makers Lab. I decided that I would try to purge some of the materials from the science lab, in the hopes that I could make the materials and equipment more available to my students for hands-on activities.

I began by cleaning out the chemical cabinets. What a shock! Some of the chemicals that were in the cabinet were labeled from 1984. I decided to test the viability of some of these chemicals in simple experiments and have found that generally, the liquids are no longer viable. But, my powdered chemicals are still good. This will save me money in not having to purchase new chemicals on my budget.

I was amazed at the amount of junk that has accumulated in this room in the last 30 years. Glass jars, soda bottles, stacks of paper and files, boxes of test tubes and glassware in unopened packaging. In essence, I probably have enough glassware to supply three science labs!

I have found some gems. Two old 1978 textbooks with hands-on chemistry and physics experiments and the equipment for doing those physics experiments!

So many times teachers are known as hoarders {including myself}, there's a reluctance to throw something away because it might be valuable in the future. This has just happened to me in that I threw a box of small mirrors away that I'd been saving for about 10 years. I've just decided that I would challenge my students to build a parabolic solar collector using an old satellite dish and the mirrors. It's maddening because I can't find the mirrors!!!