Today was another day of scheduling conflicts and shuffling kids and busy-ness. I learned some new things in my class. Jim had some good meetings. Samuel is working on lots of homework right now but enjoyed the beautiful ski day. Susannah and Moriah both had a good snowboarding day. I'm putting the little girls to bed early because they had a long day with a short nap. Jim is still in another meeting (after driving into Anchorage twice today) and will be home eventually.
Tomorrow is another day of meetings and the babes will be at Little Bears all day. They love going but a full day at Little Bears means they probably won't nap and will be tired again tomorrow. Another downside of our busy week is that Jim and I will miss something kind of important for Samuel tomorrow. South High School is sending a counselor down to talk to eighth graders and their parents about next year's classes and electives. I'm sure we'll get the information we need, but I'm still disappointed we'll have to miss it.
On a really bright note, I found out that the 3/4 Girdwood Battle of the Books teams won first and second place tonight! How very exciting for those kids and their parents. The teacher who coaches the 3/4 level is a sweetheart and I'm really excited for her too.
Showing posts with label Battle of the Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battle of the Books. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
My Battle boy
Samuel's 7/8 Battle of the Books team took fourth place at today's Battle. I think there were 15 teams total from all the middle schools in Anchorage. 7/8 Battle is essentially the same as the elementary Battle, but the kids don't move from room to room for the rounds. We were set up in a library at one of the middle schools and everyone was together.
Samuel's team of three had a great time together--wanting to do well but having lots of fun and not stressing if they missed a question. I hope I have kids who want to do 7/8 Battle next year too. The books were interesting and I had a good time coaching a 'higher' level.
Samuel's team of three had a great time together--wanting to do well but having lots of fun and not stressing if they missed a question. I hope I have kids who want to do 7/8 Battle next year too. The books were interesting and I had a good time coaching a 'higher' level.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Battlin' Bookworms
I'm going to preface this post by saying I am very tired. Very very tired. I slept on the couch last night to be near Moriah. She had thrown up around 10 pm and then wanted to sleep in our recliner with our pukey bucket handy. The couch was comfy enough, but I woke often, including the two times Bethany coughed herself awake and cried out. Consider yourself warned that I am tired enough that this may not make complete sense.
Thankfully, Moriah recovered quickly and was well enough to compete at the 5/6 Battle of the Books this afternoon. This is a reading competition that they have participated in for the last three years. It's reading books and answering questions for points, basically. Girdwood School had two teams go and Moriah and Susannah were on the same team. This year's questions seemed particularly detailed and hard. Even during practice the kids had trouble answering all of the questions.
Today's Battle questions were no different in difficulty. Both teams missed more questions than they wanted or expected and neither team placed in the top 8, but as their coach I am still very pleased with how well they did. They worked well as teams and they had a good time, two things that are much more important to me than what score they got. I also like to think that they encountered at least one or two new authors that they may not have otherwise discovered.
(insert tangent here: Last year, Moriah and Susannah were on the team that won the district competition for the 3/4 level of Battle. They actually aced the competition--didn't miss a single question. Their team was pretty proud of themselves last year and the girls had that lingering pride heading in to today. Both struggled with 'not even placing' at this year's Battle, but I do think they've already moved past those feelings and are okay with the results.)
Girdwood parents and kids went out to dinner afterwards, which I believe helped the kids decompress and shake off any blah feelings. It made the day a little longer, but it was worth it to see them laughing and joking with each other. Now, however, I am on the verge of nodding off while typing this. I have to get up early to head in for Samuel's 7/8 Battle competition tomorrow morning. On the road by around 7:45. Anyone who knows my night owl tendencies just said "yuck" on my behalf (thanks for the sympathy).
Good night! (heaves sigh that busy day number two is over)
Thankfully, Moriah recovered quickly and was well enough to compete at the 5/6 Battle of the Books this afternoon. This is a reading competition that they have participated in for the last three years. It's reading books and answering questions for points, basically. Girdwood School had two teams go and Moriah and Susannah were on the same team. This year's questions seemed particularly detailed and hard. Even during practice the kids had trouble answering all of the questions.
Today's Battle questions were no different in difficulty. Both teams missed more questions than they wanted or expected and neither team placed in the top 8, but as their coach I am still very pleased with how well they did. They worked well as teams and they had a good time, two things that are much more important to me than what score they got. I also like to think that they encountered at least one or two new authors that they may not have otherwise discovered.
(insert tangent here: Last year, Moriah and Susannah were on the team that won the district competition for the 3/4 level of Battle. They actually aced the competition--didn't miss a single question. Their team was pretty proud of themselves last year and the girls had that lingering pride heading in to today. Both struggled with 'not even placing' at this year's Battle, but I do think they've already moved past those feelings and are okay with the results.)
Girdwood parents and kids went out to dinner afterwards, which I believe helped the kids decompress and shake off any blah feelings. It made the day a little longer, but it was worth it to see them laughing and joking with each other. Now, however, I am on the verge of nodding off while typing this. I have to get up early to head in for Samuel's 7/8 Battle competition tomorrow morning. On the road by around 7:45. Anyone who knows my night owl tendencies just said "yuck" on my behalf (thanks for the sympathy).
Good night! (heaves sigh that busy day number two is over)
Friday, January 23, 2009
Reading and baby bits
I have been really busy the last couple of days with a class and an after school party for Battle of the Books kids (fun reading program in our state). So busy that I haven't even seen much of the little girls. *pout*
Speaking of Battle of the Books (or BoB), Moriah and Susannah are doing the program again this year. Last year both girls were on a successful 3/4 grade level team that tied for second across the state. This year they are part of the 5/6 grade level (I'm the coach) and have 14 books to read for the upcoming competition. There are competitions in (I think) all Alaska school districts and then a state competition. At the actual Battle, they'll be part of a three-person team and will answer 48 questions (four rounds of 12 questions each) that will all start with "In which book...". The list is pretty good this year and they've found some new authors that they enjoy. The Battle is on February 10 so we have a bit longer to get in as much reading and practicing as possible.
Samuel is participating on the middle school team this year, too, and will have his competition on February 11. Several good books on his list, too, but a couple of 'eh' titles that the kids aren't enthused about. Samuel competed from grades 3-6 and made it to the state competition his first year and did well the other years. The 7/8 level reads 12 books and is much smaller in number in terms of schools and teams. I'm not familiar with how the middle school BoB works, and I'll be curious to see the differences.
Jim called while I was at the BoB 'party' and told me that Bethany had gotten out of her crib. Uh oh. A few months ahead of when we expected/planned. I sure hope it's not a new trick that she'll do each nap time. Jim and I figure we don't have to worry so much overnight because of her club foot brace (she'd have to swing both legs up over the side to get out), but this does mean we have to re-examine our timeline to swap Samuel's and the babies' rooms. Samuel...time to start packing!
One other tidbit to share: Tonight I read _Owl Babies_ to the little girls before bed. It is one of my favorite books and has a repeating line from the youngest owl baby Bill who says "I want my mommy!" I had moved on to reading _Are You My Mother?_ when I heard Abigail murmur some words and ended with "my mommy". How sweet! She was 'reading' the book as she said this and got all smiley when I noticed what she said.
Looks like my kids are librarian kids, huh? No choice but to love books!
I'm looking forward to a relatively quiet Saturday. We had an extended break from school late last week because of 3 snow days for icy conditions and had Martin Luther King Jr. day off on Monday...it's been a short week after a 'six-day' weekend but it felt longer. I'm pretty tired. Weird.
Speaking of Battle of the Books (or BoB), Moriah and Susannah are doing the program again this year. Last year both girls were on a successful 3/4 grade level team that tied for second across the state. This year they are part of the 5/6 grade level (I'm the coach) and have 14 books to read for the upcoming competition. There are competitions in (I think) all Alaska school districts and then a state competition. At the actual Battle, they'll be part of a three-person team and will answer 48 questions (four rounds of 12 questions each) that will all start with "In which book...". The list is pretty good this year and they've found some new authors that they enjoy. The Battle is on February 10 so we have a bit longer to get in as much reading and practicing as possible.
Samuel is participating on the middle school team this year, too, and will have his competition on February 11. Several good books on his list, too, but a couple of 'eh' titles that the kids aren't enthused about. Samuel competed from grades 3-6 and made it to the state competition his first year and did well the other years. The 7/8 level reads 12 books and is much smaller in number in terms of schools and teams. I'm not familiar with how the middle school BoB works, and I'll be curious to see the differences.
Jim called while I was at the BoB 'party' and told me that Bethany had gotten out of her crib. Uh oh. A few months ahead of when we expected/planned. I sure hope it's not a new trick that she'll do each nap time. Jim and I figure we don't have to worry so much overnight because of her club foot brace (she'd have to swing both legs up over the side to get out), but this does mean we have to re-examine our timeline to swap Samuel's and the babies' rooms. Samuel...time to start packing!
One other tidbit to share: Tonight I read _Owl Babies_ to the little girls before bed. It is one of my favorite books and has a repeating line from the youngest owl baby Bill who says "I want my mommy!" I had moved on to reading _Are You My Mother?_ when I heard Abigail murmur some words and ended with "my mommy". How sweet! She was 'reading' the book as she said this and got all smiley when I noticed what she said.
Looks like my kids are librarian kids, huh? No choice but to love books!
I'm looking forward to a relatively quiet Saturday. We had an extended break from school late last week because of 3 snow days for icy conditions and had Martin Luther King Jr. day off on Monday...it's been a short week after a 'six-day' weekend but it felt longer. I'm pretty tired. Weird.
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