Microgravity Pictures

Just a quick post today with the pictures from Colorado. They were finally published online today. You can check out the entire album at http://www.gozerog.com/photos . I am in the Colorado Springs flight. Click on the galary in the middle of the page. The video should get here in the next 2-3 weeks.

KMH: Patriot News

Yesterday I briefly mentioned that KMH: Patriot News, the broadcast club that I sponsor won first place in a video competition that we entered. I just want to say how proud I am of the students in KMH from last year. They did a phenomenal job all year long but especially on their entry into the Reel Spirit Awards. My goal last year when we entered that contest was to touch nothing. The winning broadcast, which you can see by going to: http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~mkelsey/KMH , was completely done by the kids. They wrote the scripts, filmed the segments, edited the video, and did all of the green screen effects. I didn’t do anything on that broadcast. Sometimes, especially at the beginning of the year I will center a camera shot for the kids, or do a green screen effect but for that broadcast, it was all the kids. They did an outstanding job. I am super excited for those kids. I can gauruntee that we will be entering again this year. I am typing this on the airplane coming back from Colorado Springs and I can’t wait to get back to school on Monday and see the trophy.

More thoughts about zero G. Our coach told us that for the next couple of days we would feel a little odd after having been weightless. He isn’t kidding. It hits at odd times and doesn’t last long but every once in a while I have a feeling that makes me think about floating around. It isn’t so strong that I feel like I’m floating but it feels like that first second of weightlessness when you just feel like you are getting lighter. Flying today hasn’t been a big deal, I haven’t had the urge to yell, “Feet down – coming out” and I haven’t grabbed onto anything to hold on. But I’m also not on the ground yet. I know that the kids are wondering about something and yes, I will be wearing the flight suit to school tomorrow!

Way Too Short

Flight Path we took over North Dakota

My team!

I just got back a little while ago from the microgravity flight. What an amazing experience! It was unbelievable but WAY too short. It felt like we had barely gotten into the air when it was over. When we got to the hotel this morning, we had a light breakfast (2 small muffins and a banana) then we got into our flight suits. They are really cool with a Weightless Flight of Discovery Patch, and the Zero G logo as well as a name tag. The tag was upside down. From what I was told this is a Navy tradition that Navy pilots do not get to turn their wings upside down until after they have landed successfully on an aircraft carrier. After the flight, the commander met us at the bottom of the steps and turned our name tag and we got a picture taken. After getting cameras stowed away, experiments put away, and got briefed we watched a short movie about all the stuff we would be doing. It was really heavy on safety. I probably heard a hundred times that safety was the number one concern. I was a member of the gold team. We got gold bracelets (like the live strong ones) and gold socks. We put those into a pocket for later. We then made a final pit stop (no bathrooms on the plane) and headed out to the bus. Before we got on, we got wanded with metal detectors and the bus took us straight up to the airplane. Once we got off, we took a bunch of pictures, both of the whole group and just the gold team. It was really cool because almost all of the gold team knew each other from summer classes through the Space Foundation.

Once we got onto the plane, we set in regular seats for takeoff. I was really glad because it was a very turbulent takeoff. Our airspace was over North Dakota. Once we got past the turbulence we got out of our seats and took a few more pictures, then all of a sudden they said we had ten minutes, just enough for a safety meeting, getting out the cameras and planning what we were going to do during the Martian and lunar parabolas. We decided just to enjoy those and we did. We then got the call to lay down and we started pulling Gs. My head was toward the cockpit and my feet toward the tail. Laying down, it wasn’t too bad and you could not tell at all that we were going up at a 50 degree angle. That was one of the really odd things. During take off every time we hit turbulence we could tell the plane was moving and shaking. It was actually pretty disorienting. Then once we got to our area (we were at the front of the plane) I never could tell if we were going up or down. When we first got to Martian gravity, it was awesome. I was doing one handed pushups and just kind of bouncing all over the place. And then we got the call, “feet down coming out” and we scurried back to laying down. Then we pulled more Gs and got the call of Lunar 1 coming up. Again, we got into push up position and you could push yourself up so high that you could almost stand up. Really an odd feeling and very hard to describe. We also did some frog kind of leaps. We couldn’t really jump because we would have smashed our heads but we could king of frog/superman jump toward the camera, loads of fun. Then we had the second Lunar parabola and we all tried to pile on to Kim’s back and let her do pushups, that wasn’t very successful because it becomes so hard to control your body even in 1/8 gravity.

Next, we had a few minutes to prepare for our first zero gravity parabolas. We decided to just enjoy those and man did we. It is really an odd sensation to just float up off of the ground. You kind of have to help yourself get up with a little push. When I say little, I mean with a finger, not all of your fingers but a finger. I made the mistake later of pushing up very slightly with my feet. I went crashing into the ceiling.

Our next parabola we decided to play catch. We had brought some tennis balls for an experiment but the ball we used was cooler. Me. I folded up into a little ball and Bobby and Brian pushed me around the cabin. Then for the next three loops we played catch literally with each other.

Video and picture note. I did not get very many pictures, or much video. It was so hard to steady the camera that it just didn’t work. In 4-6 weeks I will be getting a video from Zero G with all the footage and the pictures should be online by tomorrow.

Next, we got out our experiments. I got out the higher mass ball and the lower mass ball. We did that for one loop and let me tell you, an object in motion really does stay in motion. When we hit the first balls together, they did something (Don’t want to give it away yet) but then Bryan got the tennis ball and completely missed the other ball and it sailed off and I still don’t know where it went.

Kim did a flying pig experiment that didn’t work very well because of technical difficulties and Bobby had a Jacobs’s ladder toy that did some crazy things. After those parabolas, we were down to four and did a few group things like linking arms and flying like superman. We also tried to crawl around the cabin. I really stunk at that. I made it about half way up one wall and then just kind of floated off. Spiderman has nothing to worry about.

Probably the coolest part was the second to last parabola. I didn’t do anything than just kind of push myself around but at one point I ended up spinning upside down and got totally disoriented. I had absolutely no idea which way was up. I thought I was grabbing onto the ceiling and it was the floor, then I thought I had the wall and it was the ceiling. I absolutely know why they say that there is no up or down in space.

Overall it was a phenomenal experience that I would do again in a minute but it was too short. It was one of those things that was amazing but if I had it to do over again, I would do some things differently. I can’t wait to see the video and still pictures. Sorry that mine aren’t very good but when you are floating around and have absolutely no control over which way your body is going, it is tough to focus on taking a picture.

These were the only two pictures I took while actually floating! That is not a sweat stain on Kim, someone had water that got loose.

Group photo, I will post a better picture later when I get them. I'm the tall guy in the middle, right under the o in zero.

Micro-gravity Update

This is Mrs. Kelsey. Mr. Kelsey just called me and told me that their airspace is over North Dakota. He doesn't have flight number but he said that you can go and look for the COS airport code. Then you will have to look for a flight that is departing and landing from Colorado Springs. It is the only flight that does that this morning. Have a great weekend and Mr. Kelsey can't wait to share all his excitement and pictures with you on Monday.

Dallas

I've made it half way to my destination of Colorado Springs. I'm just putting a short post up now to put this picture up that I thought was cool. This is the flight path that my plane took. I don't have much time because they moved my gate and I only have a few minutes. Also, if you are in my class, or not, and want to send me an email, I would love to hear from you. Probably won't check things until after the flight tomorrow since it will be late when I get in and an early day tomorrow.

Microgravity Hodge Podge

Okay, here it goes. I am going to attempt to give out all of the information that I know about my upcoming flight. I think I have touched on a few of these things in previous posts but I have found some really cool pictures in the last couple of days to go with it. First, the picture below is the plane I will be flying in on Saturday. This is not a doctored photo, this is actually the angle that it will go up on. A normal airplane takes off at a 20 degree angle. We will be going up at a 50 degree angle.

I don’t know my flight number yet. I will try to call my wife and have her post it to the blog on Saturday morning so that you can follow along if you want. The web site is http://www.flightaware.com/ . Basically you can go into the site and enter whatever information you know (tale number, flight number, airport, etc.) and follow along with the flight. Even if you don’t follow along in real time, you can go back in later and see the path that we took. I’m really interested to see where we fly. My guess is that it won’t be over the mountains. I would guess that we will actually be over western Kansas for most of the flight but I don’t know. Some of the other flights from California and Washington D.C. have flown out over the ocean. They try to put us away from all other aircraft because in the past when other pilots have seen a plane going down at a 45 or 50 degree angle they have put in distress calls.

I meet up with everyone at a hotel in Colorado Springs at 7:00 on Saturday morning. We then have a briefing and a light breakfast. We are supposed to avoid milk and eggs but instead have more bread type foods. Fine with me, I don’t like eggs and love cinnamon rolls. Then we have the TSA screening. I thought this was kind of odd that it was at the hotel rather than the airport. After that we get on a bus and head to the airport. We actually go out on the runway to load up on the plane. I think they will be taking some group pictures out there. We are supposed to take off at 10:30 Colorado Springs time. That is 11:30 Kansas City time.

When we load up onto the plane there are 35 seats at the back that we will set in for takeoff and landing. Once we get up to cruising altitude we will get out of our seats take off our shoes and put on colored socks. The socks tell us what part of the cabin we are supposed to be in. The main part of the plane is a padded room. (insert your own joke here). In each of the three areas, there are two video cameras. We are also allowed to bring cameras and video cameras. I am bringing both.

Once we start flying our parabolas, we will go out and lay down in the cabin. We do this to help us pull the G forces. In the bottom of the parabolas we will be pulling almost 2 G’s. It shouldn’t be too bad but when you get 2 G’s right after being weightless it might be a little disorienting. That is why we lay down. The first parabola will be a little shallower and will simulate the gravity on Mars (1/3). The second two parabolas simulate lunar gravity (1/8) and the remaining 12 parabolas will be zero gravity. They come in sets of three. The first three we have no experiments planned. Each of the last sets of parabolas we have some simple experiments planned. I’m not going go into those too much since I have already done that.

While I don't know my flight information yet for the microgravity flight, I do know my flight information for Friday and Sunday. These are just normal flights but if you want to practice or see "Where in the World is Mr. Kelsey," the information is below:

Friday, October 19

Leaving KCI (MCI is the airport code) flying to Dallas (DFW) - 6:00

American Airlines 1069

Leavign Dallas flying to Colorado Springs (COS) - 8:25

American Airlines 829

Sunday, October 21

Leaving Colorado Springs flying to Dallas - 11:15

American Airlines 1882

Leaving Dallas flying to Kansas City - 3:40

American Airlines 2036

I have a couple of main goals for the flight. Obviously I want to enjoy it. I don’t think I will be able to keep from having fun. Second, there are a couple of pictures that I want. One of me and my friend Bobby with one of us right side up and the other upside down. I also have a mystery picture I want. I will tell more about that later, after the flight). I also want to get good usable video of the experiments.

One of the kids asked me today what I am looking the most forward to on the trip. I wasn’t sure how to answer. There are so many things that I think will be amazing but probably what I really want to savor is the first sensations of being weightless, the first parabola of zero gravity where I will be laying on the floor and will just float off of the ground. I think that is the part I’m looking the most forward to.

Reading Buddies

Today we spent some time with our reading buddies sharing books and reading to each other. I am hoping that before I leave for Colorado Springs I will have time to update the blog with some information about the flight specifics. My plan is to do that either tonight, or tomorrow at the airport as I wait for my flight. If anyone has specific questions, I would love to try to answer them. The kids have been asking really great questions that I have tried my best to answer but some of them have been tough questions.

Microgravity Discussion

We had a great discussion today about the microgravity flight. I slightly changed one of the experiments to fit better with the state Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) so we talked about that today and decided on our hypotheses for both of the experiments. The kids had some great questions about weight and mass and about the mechanics of how the whole flight is going to work. Here are some basics.

We fly in parabolas. The top of the parabola is where we are weightless.
The first parabolas will simulate Martian Gravity (1/3).
The next two parabolas will simulate Lunar Gravity (1/8).
The last 12 parabolas will be zero gravity.
We are conducting three basic experiments (mixing oil and water, Newton’s Laws – hitting balls of different sizes to see what happens, and a weight vs. mass experiment)
You can follow along with the flight in real time at www.flightaware.com

The kids had some great hypotheses about what is going to happen in each excperiment. I have listed them below.

Microgravity Oil and Water Hypotheses
· I think the oil and water will separate with a little empty spot in the middle (Brandin, Rafael, Charlie, Hope)
· The oil and water will mix but will be in the middle of the bottle. (Allie)
· I think the oil and water will float to the top of the bottle and stay mixed because there is no gravity to cause them to separate (Madison)
· I think that the oil and water will both go to the top – I think they will stay separated but I don’t think it will matter which one is on top – random. (Logan, David, Nick)
· I think the oil and water will stay mixed because there is no gravity to tell which one is heavier or lighter. (Amanda, Kaide)
· I think that the oil and water will mix then piece by piece will separate similar to on earth. (Jake)
· I think the oil and water will separate and float in the middle of the bottle. (Hadei)
· I think the oil and water will go to the top of the bottle and remain separated. (Monse)
· I think the oil and water will not mix because the water will be on the top and the oil on the bottom - opposite of earth. (Michael)
· I think the oil and water will float to the top of the bottle and stay mixed. (Creyana, Brittany)
· I think the oil and water will mix and float together in the middle of the bottle. (Marressa)
· I think the oil and water will separate into separate globs and not mix. (Justin, Keevan)
· I think the oil and water will separate because of no gravity (Chasity)

Microgravity Balls of Different Mass Experiment Hypotheses

Ball with a smaller mass hitting a floating ball with a bigger mass.
· When the small mass ball hits the bigger mass ball, I don’t think the bigger massed ball will go very far. (Brandin, Madison, Logan, Jake, Kaide, Hadei, Marressa, Chasity, Charlie, Nick, )
· I think the small ball will hit the bigger ball small ball will not move very far (Allie, Monse, )
· I think that results will be the same as on earth but the balls will travel farther. The balls will travel the same (small hitting large, or large hitting small) (Rafael)
· I think when the small ball hits the larger ball, the small ball will rebound away. Bigger ball will move slightly (David)
· I think the ball with the more mass will go about 10 ft. when hit by the ball with less mass. (Brittany)
Ball with a larger mass hitting a floating ball with a smaller mass.
· I think the ball with the smaller mass will travel about 10 ft. when hit by the ball with more mass. The results will be the same no matter which ball hits the other. (Brittany, Chasity, Hadei)
· I think both balls will travel together. (Nick, David)
· I think smaller ball will only travel a little and the larger massed ball will follow it forward. (Charlie, Monse,)
· I think smaller ball will travel slightly farther than the larger ball did in the other experiment. (Marressa, Allie)
· I think the results will be the same no matter which ball hits the other. (Rafael)
· I think the smaller ball will go really far because the larger ball has more mass. (Kaide, Logan, Madison)
· When the larger mass ball hits the smaller mass ball, I don’t think the smaller massed ball will go very far. (Jake, Brandin)

Hall of Fame in Search of Members

The book blog hall of fame selection committee (Mr. Kelsey) is in search of book blog posts and coments to add to the hall of fame. Remember that just because you get a good score does not necessarily make you a hall of famer. The example we used in class today was John Candelaria. He used to pitch for the Pittsburg Pirates. He was good, not great but good. He even threw a no hitter. He is signing autographs at a show in two weeks. He is charging $14 to autograph a baseball. Bob Gibson, who was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history, is charging $99 for an autograph and an additional $20 to put HOF on it. He dominated the game for a span of several years. I think this is a good example to show the difference between good and amazing. I had a couple of posts and comments today that were close to Hall of Fame status but not quite. I also talked to the kids about the important things on the blog to remember. First, a ton of kids have been messing up the citation information. There is a link on the blog that explains exactly how to put that information. Second, the genre. We have talked about genre, they studied it in fourth grade, and Mrs. Green is always going over it. They need to be specific. Instead of saying fiction, tell me what kind of fiction. Finally, a lot of kids are not giving evidence to back up their opinions. They are telling me what they like or don’t like but they don’t explain why. This is a huge part of the grade and a big MAP skill. Read some of the posts and when you get the grades back, go back in and see how they did. I try to put the date that they were submitted on the evaluation form. You can always help your child grade their own work before they turn it in.

Kachina Dolls and Classifying

Sample Kachina "Powerful Moose"

Today we worked on two big projects. The first was classifying. One of the big skills that the kids need to know for the map test is how to classify vertebrates. We worked with Mrs. Green today on learning all kinds of facts about a specific class. Tomorrow students will be sharing their information with teammates so that we have a complete classification chart. We will be having a classification test on Friday.

We also spent time today creating Kachina Dolls. These were dolls created by Native Americans to represent different spirits. We did one as a class for a made up spirit (the powerful moose). I am anxious to see how the kids do on these when they turn them in tomorrow.

Slam Dunk Lesson

To work on how many degrees there are in a circle we practiced our slam dunking abilities. The kids had all heard of a 360 slam dunk but I don’t think that many of them had made the connection to the number of degrees in a circle. Below are some pictures of our high flying activities today!

Hunting Whales with Sticks

Yes, the Northwest Coast Indians hunted whales using spears from canoes. Today we discussed them and watched a short video about them and tomorrow the kids will be learning even more about them. I cannot imagine the bravery that it took to go whale hunting with basically a stick. Even if you did manage to kill a whale, you still have to get it back to shore. It is almost beyond comprehension.

Today we also went over our math tests. They were not pretty. For the class there were only 4 Cs and those were the top grades. After going through the tests, the kids kept a tally of how many small, careless mistakes they made. It was amazing that the class shifted from everyone getting a C, D, or F to everyone getting an A, B, or C. I think going over the test really opened some eyes to doing quality work.

T-12 Days and Counting

In 12 days, I will be floating around somewhere over Colorado. Today in class we did the first of two partial experiments. We have already done the experiments I will be doing in zero gravity here on earth and today we started the process for conducting the experiments in zero g. Today we worked on oil and water. We asked questions that we wanted answered and began to form hypotheses. I was pretty impressed with some of the thoughts the kids had. Tomorrow I am collecting them and will run a more detailed list but so far the kids have come up with:

· The oil will float to the top of the bottle with the water at the bottom leaving air between the two.
· The two will mix in the middle of the bottle because there is no gravity so the oil wouldn’t go to the top.
·One will float to the top and the other below it forming layers, this is random and if shaken again, the other might go to the top.

I can’t wait to see the whole list tomorrow. We really worked on getting a lot of specific information into the hypothesis so that anyone that reads it knows exactly what we think will happen.

Manheim Steamroller

Last night right after school my wife and I drove to Ames, Iowa to see the Manheim Steamroller Concert. I was invited because I am a Space Foundation Teacher Liaison. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. They are more famous for their Christmas music than anything. All that I knew was that it was a “space” themed concert that is sponsored by the Space Foundation and that the former director of Kennedy Space Center, Jim Kennedy had told me about it when I was in Florida. We left at 4:00 and the concert started at 7:30. It is a three and a half hour drive. We literally pulled into the parking lot on fumes with about ten minutes to spare. We got our tickets from will call and the lady said “you guys have good seats.” She wasn’t kidding. We had seats in the 9th row almost right in the middle. When we walked in there was a huge screen with the space shuttle and a countdown clock. The only sound was of Mission Control going through the countdown. Needless to say, I was excited. The auditorium was really cool with a whole series of balconies. I don’t know how many people it held but it was full.

The house lights stayed up until it got to 20 seconds before liftoff. Then the lights went down and the countdown kept going. When it launched, the sounds were amazing. For just a second I was standing back at Banana Creek watching/feeling/experiencing the space shuttle launch. It was the first time since the launch I have felt that rumble in my chest. I thought I would at the NASCAR race and I completely didn’t. This morning my wife and I were talking about it and without me saying it, she mentioned that you could feel the launch rattle your chest. That was a cool moment because I really felt like she experienced a part of the launch with me, three months later. They showed nothing but the launch until about 2 minutes into the launch. Then all of a sudden, the screen was yanked down and the music started blaring. The great thing was, they didn’t stop the sounds of the launch, or mission control. That was all part of the music. I bought their CD and it is the same on the CD. Their music is definitely different from what I normally listen to (country) but it was really cool. After the first couple of space songs from their album called “Music of the Spheres” they played a few far out songs from their other CDs, a couple of which are now on my wish list. The third song was probably my favorite. It is hard to describe but I remember thinking that this might be what imagination sounds like. I know that sounds weird but when you hear it you will understand.

The rest of the first half of the show was good, there were a couple of songs that I didn’t absolutely love but for the most part, they were really good. Oh, I almost forgot, after their first two space songs (which also had video of a landing that was really cool too) Jim Kennedy came out on stage. He did about a 15 minute presentation on the history of space travel. 50 years ago on the 4th of October was when Sputnik was launched, the first satellite. His presentation was good, but it wasn’t really anything I hadn’t heard before. Probably the neatest part of it was hearing the people around me and their reactions. They obviously weren’t space nuts like me but it was obvious that they were impressed. There were a lot of oohs and aaahs.

The second half of the show started out in a really cool way. Up on the big video screen behind (which for the entire show had space images, and galaxies up on it) the band was a picture of Clayton Anderson who is currently on the space station. He opened up the second part of the show with a tour of the space station and telling us that he hoped we enjoyed the show. Talk about a really cool way to start a show. They then played another series of songs from their new album one of which included a remake of the Star Trek theme song. They also played some music from their other new album which is a Halloween album. That music was weird. I bought three albums (they came in a package). Their new Christmas album which isn’t released until Monday, a 3 disk Halloween set and Music of the Spheres. It was pretty cool, they were also selling NASA stuff last night.

Overall, it was absolutely worth the trip and I will probably go back to see them for the space concert again. One of my favorite things from the concert (other than setting next to my wife) was watching the piano player. He was amazing! He had a funky grand piano and a keyboard setting on top and he would play both at the same time. Than at one point, he was playing a piano with one hand, a drum with another and sometimes he would pick up a tambourine type thing and play it and the piano or drum. Like I said, he was amazing. The last thing was that it was obvious that Chip Davis, the leader of the band/drum player, and all of the other people in the band looked like they were having an absolutely great time as they played. You can tell they love their job. I wonder if that is what I look like when I’m teaching? I hope so.

Future Teachers

Not much to write about today, this is more of a photo blog. The pictures are of the students teaching each other today during our jigsaw tournament. I was impressed with how well they did. Each student prepared a lesson plan, activity guide, and game to play with their “class” of two other students. Who knows, maybe in a few years one of them will be teaching across the hall from me.

How Big is a Million?

Today students got an opportunity to learn just how big a million is. They did this by taping their desks for a certain amount of time and then taking that data and looking at how long it would take them to reach one million. They also looked at a billion, and a trillion. Ask your child how long it would take them to tap one billion times. The kids also continued today to work on their preparations for the jigsaw test tomorrow. This is where they become teachers and teach the rest of their group about the topic they were assigned.

Also, today there was a small power outage here at the school. A couple of transformers in the neighborhood (I’m anxious to see if I have power when I get home) blew up. It made some noise and knocked out some power. It didn’t affect class at all, other than the fact that the cave . . . I mean room without windows was a little dark. We went on as normal and were actually able to hear ourselves better because the air conditioner was also out for a while. Other than being a little dark for a while, it was a perfectly normal day.

What is in a name?

A lot of humor would be my answer after today. In math today we learned about the traditional multiplication algorithm and we played a game to review. The game we played was called the name game. Basically two students went to the board and raced to see who got a correct answer on a multiplication problem first. The winner had to choose a number that corresponded to a name. That became their new name. Some of my favorites today were Skunky, Snoop, Ima, and Daisy Bubba.

Manheim Steamroller

I don’t know if this relates to school or not but I just found out about it so I thought I would mention it. I was invited to attend a “test drive” concert for Manheim Steamroller this weekend. From what I understand this is only open to space people and corporate sponsors. I got invited because I am a Space Foundation Teacher Liaison. The concert is in Ames this weekend so I will be driving north to see them. I am excited. I have heard a little of their music, mostly Christmas stuff but for this concert I guess they recorded a launch and landing in high definition sound and have worked that into their music. Also, when I was in Florida I got to speak to Jim Kennedy, the former director of Kennedy Space Center and he told me that Manheim Steamroller had asked him to be their “opening act” for this new concert series. I am really excited to hear their new music.

In class today we made personal timelines that go along with Social Studies as well as our memoire project we are working on. We also learned about the lattice method of multiplication. Tomorrow we will be learning/reviewing the traditional algorithm, the way that you and I learned to multiply. After that, I want the kids using the traditional way unless I tell them otherwise. It is important for the kids to see different ways to multiply but for normal multiplication, and especially for the middle school, they need to be comfortable with the traditional method.

Reading Blog Was Due Today!

The Room 42 Reading Blog, our ongoing reading project for the year was due today. Technically it was due yesterday but I accepted anything as long as it was posted before I got to school today. We have gone over this project extensively in class. I have modeled how to do it, we have practiced, and the kids have worked on their assignment. I think some of the grades were a shock today. Many were low. We had one A, and a lot of Bs. After that, the grades dropped off pretty significantly. There were two main reasons. The first was that the project was not done. This isn’t like other assignments where they have time to get things done after the due date. The kids have an entire month to work on this so it is completely due on the due date. Also, if I let them go over the deadline, that puts them behind for next month. The second reason was direction following (also something we talked about today). The kids have an evaluation form that tells them exactly what is expected. They know how to use it, it is just a matter of them actually looking at it before they submit something to the blog. There were a ton of kids who lost points because they forgot to put citation/bibliography information on their post, or forgot that they needed to list the genre, or they needed to tell what they liked or didn’t like about the book. We again went over it in class today and my hope is that we are all on the same page about what is expected. I know that it will take a while to completely get into the swing of it but already the conversations that are going on about books are awesome.

I also wanted to mention a new section I added to the Reading Blog. The Big Read is a program where communities around the country read the same book. The book for the KC area is A Farewell to Arms by Earnest Hemmingway. I have never read anything by him but I got a copy for myself and one for my brother so we will be participating. Anyone else that would like to participate is welcome to grab a copy and post your thoughts on the Room 42 Reading Blog.

Best Brother Ever

I don’t say this very often, but my brother really hooked me up today. Captain Jim Lovell from Apollo 13 was in town as the grand marshal of the NASCAR race at the Kansas Speedway. My brother is the editor of the Kansas City Kansan and he called up the press contact at the speedway and told them I was a teacher and asked if I could get a press pass. They said yes and I got to go to the race and the press conference with Mr. Lovell. I was able to get a picture with him and asked him what he would tell a class of elementary school students. He had a great response that is posted below. To view the video, just click on it and then hit play.

I also got to watch the first 15 laps of the race from the infield. There were a couple of things that I noticed. First, the cars were not nearly as loud as I thought, at least at first. When they started their engines, I was underwhelmed. When they started actually running around the track, they got a lot louder. It still completely paled in comparison to the shuttle launch. The thing that did impress me was the speed. You watch on TV and they look fast, but not amazingly so. When you are watching them speed by, they are going really, really fast.

Blog Hall of Fame

Today we had our first induction into the Blog Hall of Fame. Whenever a student puts a post or comment onto the Reading blog that is amazing, they will get inducted into the Hall of Fame. This doesn’t just mean a perfect score, but a truly phenomenal post or comment. We talked today in class how when a baseball player is inducted into the Hall of Fame, they can then write HOF ’07 after their name. Any student who makes it into the Blog Hall of Fame can then write HOF ’07 after there name on any paper that they turn in. I am also going to be adding these signatures onto the Blog Hall of Fame Web Page. Congratulations to Brittany, our first Hall of Fame inductee. You can read her amazing comment by clicking on the link below.

http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~mkelsey/blogHOF

Glow in the Dark

Room 42 has a student from William Jewell, Mr. Wolrond, that has been observing and teaching lessons each Thursday. Today he taught a very interesting lesson about fireflies and chemical reactions. I took a couple of pictures as he was teaching, I thought they turned out kind of cool with the glow sticks he was using. Today we had a big work time on the book blog. Tomorrow will be more of the same. It is really important for the kids to check their own work with the evaluation form. I have talked a lot about the different components of a good post and a good comment and still I have had many turned in that don’t have some of the very basic parts included. A student can do a great summary of their book but if they don’t talk about what they liked and didn’t like, they will lose half of their grade for that post. This first month, especially we are still working out some of the kinks. Also, you may have noticed that the due date is a Sunday. Basically what I told the kids was that they will have a large amount of time to work on it in class but if they don’t get it finished, they will need to finish it at home. We will go over in class tomorrow exactly what is due and who needs to turn what in. The main thing for me is that everything is in by the time I get to school on Monday. After that, I won’t accept it. The great thing about a blog is that everything that comes to me has an exact time on it so I know when it was submitted.

One other thing I wanted to mention before I forget, there is a full size replica of the Space Shuttle in town this weekend and on display at the Lenexa Fall Festival. I have put a link below that has some pictures on it. It should be something pretty cool to see. I plan on heading out there sometime on Saturday to look around and get a few pictures. I will post those next week.

http://www.makingspiritsbrightkc.org/

What an amazingly beautiful day. I don’t think that we have had a more beautiful day for Radical Challenge in my 9 years. I was worried that mud would be a problem but it wasn’t. I think we had the most positive group of kids and parents that we have ever had. Last year was my least favorite year ever and this year was my favorite. One of the really great things about this trip is that all of the kids take turns being leaders and you get to see some leadership qualities in kids that you don’t always get to see. Not only is that good for us as teachers to see but also for the kids to realize that they have the ability within themselves. Sometimes I think kids just fall into the groove of being a follower and that is where things come easy. These kids don’t ever try to lead and to see them today thrust into the leadership role is always fun to see. I want to thank all of the parents that went along. I know how hard it is to get up and over there at 7:00 in the morning to go traipsing around the woods. I have literally seen groups of parents come slumping up the hill. This year there were smiles and enthusiastic thumbs ups! I’m ready to go back again.

The Mayor is Coming!

I just confirmed that KMH has their first interview of the year scheduled. The mayor of Liberty, Robert Steinkamp will be joining KMH for an interview in November. I think it is really exciting when people take time out of their busy schedules to help out a school. Once again, it shows the power of education.

On another note, we have an upcoming field trip that I wanted to talk about. On Wednesday we will be traveling to Earnest Shepherd Youth Center for Radical Challenge. Some of the kids have asked me what Radical Challenge is. I tell them that it is a bunch of challenges that are . . . radical! They don’t like that explanation very much. Actually it is a series of outdoor team building exercises that the kids will be completing. Thanks so much to the parent volunteers who will be showing up at 7:00 for their training. As of now, the weather looks beautiful. Last year it was about 34 degrees and drizzly. Hopefully there will be much better weather this year.

KMH: Patriot News

For the last six years I have sponsored the broadcast club at Manor Hill. Currently we are the only elementary broadcast program in the district. It seems like each year we grow a little bit or accomplish something new. In the past we have done a lot of exciting things including interviewing visiting authors, a former Harlem Globetrotter, our state representative, and a United States Congressman. We have also covered a professional soccer game and participated in the Show Me Tech-Knowledge Student Showcase in Jefferson City where we met the Lt. Governor, and were recognized on the floor of the House of Representatives. We have also gotten a couple of grants including a $2000 Best Buy Grant last year. I teach the kids how to use the equipment and to create the broadcasts but they literally do all of the work.

I just found out that KMH: Patriot News is a finalist in the Reel Spirit Student Showcase Awards. I am heartbroken because I don’t get to attend the awards ceremony. It is October 20th and I will be in Colorado Springs on the Microgravity Flight. Apparently they have a movie theatre and they literally have a red carpet for the kids to walk down. It should be a great experience for the kids. Below are a couple of links. The first is to the video that we entered into the competition. As you watch the video remember that everything was done by 5th graders. On this broadcast, I literally did not touch a computer, camera, or anything to help. They did all of the filming, writing, and editing, including all of the green screen effects.

Reel Spirit Website: http://www.reelspirit.org/

Link to KMH: Patriot News video entry:
http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~mkelsey/ReelSpirit

I am smiling - right?

I don’t know if you call it a smile, or a grimace, or exactly what the expression on my face is but Room 42 was featured on the front page of the Liberty Neighborhood News section of the Kansas City Star today. When I went out to pick up my paper this morning, there I was staring back up at myself. It really was a very nice article along with two pictures of me and one of Charlie and Chasity. (That is my favorite picture from the article.) There were some very nice things said about me, which I truly appreciate. I have included the link below.

http://www.kansascity.com/317/story/280738.html

Room 42 Reading Blog

Hot diggity dog, we got to start the Room 42 book blog today. I know that there will be some bumps along the way as the kids figure out exactly what the expectations are for this project but I am still excited. I thought I would take a minute to go over some of the intricacies of this project and also invite anyone reading this to follow along. We want EVERYONE to participate. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older brothers, former students, anyone and everyone is welcome to participate.

If you are reading this, you already know what a blog is, it is a type of journal. We will be using it differently for our reading project. Basically what the kids are doing is having a year long discussion about books. Every month the kids will be required to write up a “post” about the book they are reading. They don’t have to have the book finished, they can actually do this as long as they have read at least half of the book. I put the word post in quotes earlier because for our classroom use we are calling them posts. Technically they will be publishing their thoughts under the comments section. (Have I confused you yet?)

In each of the kids “posts” they will be giving a short summary, and a run down of what they liked or didn’t like about the book. This is actually the main part. We want them to support whatever they say with evidence from the book. (Think MAP test). The other part of the project is for the kids to do two “comments” on other kids sections about what they are reading. This is to help spark the discussion about books.

Story time. Last year there was a book on the Mark Twain list called Yankee Girl. It was very definitely a girl book. Flowery looking cover, the whole nine yards. One girl from another class posted about that book. A boy (that liked her) read her blog and decided to read the book. He loved it! He posted about it and pretty soon all of the boys were reading it, and they all enjoyed it. They never would have even thought about reading that book if it hadn’t been for the blog.
Each month the kids will start a new grading period but the blog will continue to grow. We have a map that shows where people have looked at our blog from. At last count we had six of the seven continents and almost 40 countries. Talk about a world wide audience.

Some of you might be asking yourself about safety. That has been thought of as well. Anything that goes on the blog goes through me first. I personally look at everything and either approve or reject it. I hope that after reading this I haven’t confused you. If I have, check out our reading blog at: http://room42readingblog.blogspot.com/ . There are some links on the right side of the page that explain what the blog is all about and there is a Word document that you can download that has all of the directions about how to participate.

DRA

It is that time of year again, DRA time. The DRA is a reading assessment that we give to the kids to see where they are as far as reading level goes. It is a very involved test that requires a lot of effort on the kids part. A lot of times, the amount of effort put into the assessment determines their final level. Basically if the kid try their hardest, the score will be accurate but if the kids do not work hard on it and sluff their way through it, their score will be low. We will be talking about it more tomorrow as we continue getting all the DRAs complete.

Room 42 in the News

I just got in my Saturday paper and when I opened to the Local section, what did I see but our very own Logan working on a science experiment. We had a photographer from the Kansas City Star in the room on Friday taking pictures to go with an article that will be in the local section of the paper next Wednesday. They ran this picture with a cool caption as a bonus today. Below is the link to the picture on the KC Star website. I’m not sure if you have to register with the Star to be able to see it. Below is the caption that ran under the picture. The title was: Science Experiment for Fifth Graders.

“Fifth-grader Logan Riddle contemplated the results in a science experiment Friday at Manor Hill Elementary School in Liberty. Riddle and his classmates were testing theories in an experiment that teacher Marty Kelsey will duplicate next month when he will experience zero gravity during the Weightless Flights of Discovery Program."

Here is the link to the Kansas City Star story. http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/276178.html

Flight Tracking

I just found a really cool web site that I wanted to share. I will be sharing it again later but if anyone is doing any traveling or is picking someone up from the airport, this is a really great site. The address is http://www.flightaware.com . It allows you to track almost any aircraft that is flying. The map that shows all the aircraft in the air right now is kind of frightening. I have always been interested to know what I am flying over and what route we are taking. Not real easy to do while you are on the plane but you can also register so you can look at flight tracks after they have happened. I don’t know my flight number for the October 20th Microgravity flight but when I get it, I will post it and you will be able to follow along real time (I think you have to hit the refresh button) but you will be able to see the real time track that I am taking as I am flying over Colorado. I just looked up a track from a previous microgravity flight, kind of an odd track. Out and back over the ocean. Mine won’t be over the ocean, just mountains.

Flying Fish

Yes, you read correctly there have been flying fish in Room 42 this week. While we have been busy working on our tests, we occasionally will have two or three minutes between tests, or before specials. We have been catching gold fish as they fly around the room. Much to everyone’s amazement today, Marressa became the Room 42 gold fish catching champion. This surprised everyone because she hadn’t caught one before today.

We have one more day of testing left and tomorrow we will be working on the second of three experiments that I will be taking up on the zero G flight in October. Today we worked on mixing oil and water and tomorrow we will be learning about Newton’s Laws by using tennis balls. Who knows, there may also be more flying fish tomorrow.

Heavy Testing and a Busy Day

Usually testing week is pretty laid back. Today was anything but. Testing took a lot longer than I thought it would. Not that this is a bad thing, I really feel like the kids are doing a good job of concentrating on the tests and doing their best work.

Part of the reason that it was busy was because I have been trying to schedule interviews with the Kansas City Star. They contacted me and wanted to know about me going to the space shuttle launch and the microgravity flight in October. Because of this I had to contact Northrup Grumman so they were aware of the interview. I actually got a picture of myself from the class I took in Colorado Springs in my flight suit. Not a great picture but at least you can see what the flight suit looks like. They also sent me a press release which I will post below.

Press Release:

Teachers Prepare to Soar as Northrop Grumman Foundation’s
Weightless Flights of Discovery Nears

Two flights from Colorado Springs Airport set for October 20

Program endeavors to inspire the next generation of scientists, mathematicians and engineers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Sept. 12, 2007 – Martin Kelsey of Liberty Public School District in Liberty, Mo., will be among the 58 math and science teachers from six states who will experience weightless flights and share those experiences with their students as part of the Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery program. The flights will take place on Saturday, Oct. 20, from Colorado Springs Airport.

“This program is all about giving teachers the tools and experiences they need to show their students that math and science are not only entertaining, but can also be the basis for a fascinating career,” said Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation.

The teachers will participate in a parabolic or zero-gravity aircraft flight, which creates temporary weightlessness, similar to what humans experience during space travel to the moon or Mars. The experience simulates how astronauts train for space flight.

To prepare for the flight, Kelsey recently attended a workshop where the teachers reviewed relevant science and engineering concepts and designed in-flight microgravity experiments to share their weightless experience with students when they return to the classroom.

Kelsey teaches 5th grade at Manor Hill Elementary School. He is the sole participating teacher from Missouri (or Kansas).

“Northrop Grumman’s work for the U.S. government is, at its core, based upon a fundamental understanding of science, technology, engineering and math, so we look carefully for opportunities to bring philanthropy to the education enterprise. This is a particularly special opportunity because we recognize and appreciate the critical importance of what teachers do to inspire our nation’s dreams and ensure the continuing success of our country,” said Tim McMahon, Northrop Grumman corporate lead executive for Colorado Springs.

The Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery program is designed to inspire students to pursue science and technical careers by first inspiring their teachers. Since being introduced in June 2006, the program has doubled in enrollment size; it now provides professional development to 480 current and future teachers. The Weightless Flights of Discovery program was created and developed by Northrop Grumman in cooperation with Zero Gravity Corporation.

This program is one of several initiatives that the Northrop Grumman Foundation sponsors in support of promoting education and student interest in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. To learn more about the Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery program, visit: http://www.northropgrumman.com/community/weightless.html.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $30 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.

Where were you?

Flag in my classroom that flew over the US Capitol

I was getting ready to start teaching (I still have the lesson plan from that day). I had been in a meeting all morning and had left home before anything started happening. One of my students came in and told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I honestly didn’t believe her at first. Then all of the kids started telling me about it. I went to my computer and pulled up CNN. That was when I knew something big had happened. The CNN website was overloaded. All they had up was an image of the second plane hitting the tower. I can still see that picture in my mind. As the day wore on, we would get periodic updates from the office but we were told not to say anything to the kids. Talk about a hard thing to do. The kids knew something was going on (they can always tell when I’m upset, or having a bad day, or not feeling good) and we couldn’t say anything, we just had to keep teaching while all we wanted to do was sit down and watch the news. At the end of the day, I sat down with the kids and I told them that something happened today. When you get home, talk to your parents about it. It is something that you will never forget.
The next day was hard. Everyone was still scared about something else happening. As a teacher I wasn’t sure how to talk about it. Is terrorism appropriate to discuss at the fifth grade level? So I improvised. I had worked at one of the local casinos on the grounds crew one summer and when they changed the flag, I asked if I could have the old one. They let me have it and it had been in a box since then. It is huge, literally covering most of one wall of my classroom. I took it out that morning and hung it up. It was pretty impressive to see it hanging there. When the kids came in we didn’t talk about the attacks, we talked about patriotism and what that meant. If anything good could have come from September 11th, it was that there became a renewed sense of patriotism. I think it has lasted pretty well but needs to be emphasized. I also gave the kids some small flag stickers that I had in my desk and they wore them. By the end of the day I had teachers coming in and asking me if I had more for them to wear.
In my classroom there are always two flags flying. The small one provided by the school and one that I bought that has flown over the capitol in Washington D.C. I think it is important for us not to take our freedoms for granted and to remember those that protect us. On this anniversary, that is what I will talk to the kids about. Where were you on this day six years ago?

Quick Post

Just a quick update today, I only have a few minutes before my early release meeting starts. Testing went very well today. I thought the kids took it very seriously and did their best. With an early release, and a big chunk of time take up with testing, we didn’t get a whole lot else accomplished today. We did have some time for silent reading, which was great for me. I am getting close to finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Gallows. It has been a great book so far and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. I will definitely be taking it back and forth between home and school so I can finish it up. And now I am off to my meetings!

SAT Testing Next Week

Next week is SAT testing. This is not quite like the high stakes testing that we have for the MAP in the spring but is still a test that we should take seriously. We will be testing every day next week, including the early release on Monday. (We get out at 1:25). There are several hints that can help your child do well on the tests. Most of them are common sense but I wanted to list them anyway.

1. Get to school on time. Once we start a test, we will not stop until we are finished. Some of them are 50 minutes long. If a student isn’t in the room when the test starts, they have to hang out in the office until we are finished and then make the test up later in the week.

2. Avoid absences. You should always try to do this but especially on testing week. If a student is gone, they will make up whatever they missed when they get back. This usually means missing some class time. Please try to avoid scheduling doctors appointments next week if you have to have a doctors appointment or take your child out of school, try to do it in the afternoon. If your child is truly sick, keep them home but if it is just a runny nose, send them to school.

3. Keep a normal schedule. If your child normally goes to bed at 9:00, don’t have them go to bed at 7:30. They will lay there awake and not sleep at all. A little early would be good, but not way early.

4. Have a good breakfast. Being hungry is not a great way to take a test.

5. Get everything ready the night before. Lay out clothes, make sure that the school bag is packed. There is nothing worse than rushing around the morning of a test looking for a lost shoe, or trying to scramble to finish a piece of homework.

6. Tell the kids that you are proud of them and you just want them to do their best on the test and that you will be proud of them no matter what.

Audio Math Review

A project that I really wanted the kids to work on didn’t work out quite like I had planned but the kids can still get something out of it. I had created a build your own math review where the students would take Audacity, an audio editing software and create a math review just for them with segments that I recorded as well as my wife. Because of some technical difficulties and a lack of time in the computer lab we did the project a little differently. We built the audio review together and I posted it online. Hopefully the kids will listen to it tonight. You can listen to it by clicking the link below or by right clicking and save target as. That allows you to download it and put it on an mp3 player.

Link to the Audio Math Review
http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~mkelsey/Unit1MathReview

Class Participation

I wanted to talk a little today about class participation. Today was a rough day on that front in Room 42. We had to have a class discussion about my expectations for participating in class. I asked a question today and literally no one raised their hands. I understand that it was the first day back after a long weekend but wow. I really emphasized that I want participation and I don’t care if the answers are correct. As a matter of fact, the question I asked this morning had no right or wrong answer. I think this is something we will continue to work on the rest of the year.

On a different note, today we started one of my favorite projects of the year, the Room 42 reading blog. If you are reading this then you already understand how a blog works. We will be using a blog (very similar to this one) as our big reading project for the year. Next week when we really get into it I will explain more about it. Today the assignment was to write an introduction of yourself as a reader. This will be on the main reading blog page for the year and will be most peoples first introduction to the kids. Our reading blog has a map like the one on this page and we have had hits from all over the world. So the kids really do have a world-wide audience for their writing. Pretty cool stuff.

The other project we started today was the cartographers challenge. For this geography assignment the kids create their own country and design it based on a theme. I can’t wait to see what they come up with. I am hoping to take a few pictures and post them on here.

Launch Video . . . Finally

Photo taken from NASA website at: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov

I finally got it done, I have officially posted the video I took from the Space Shuttle Launch. I think you will be able to tell from the audio what an amazing experience it was. To truly get the full effect, use the biggest speakers that you have and get close to them. Wait until about 2 minutes into the flight and you will really hear what it was like. The sound literally thumped you in the chest. Video doesn’t do it justice but I wanted to post it anyway. Enjoy!

Video of the Space Shuttle Launch
http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~mkelsey/shuttlelaunch