BIG CHANGES

This week in Science, we explored how heat causes change.  My students and I had a great time melting crayons to explore this concept!  I had seen the melt-crayons-with-a-hair-dryer project on Pinterest but had never tried it myself.  It was actually written in my District's Curriculum for first grade, so I was excited to try it out!

I used Elmer's School glue to secure eight crayons to a paper box lid.  I used the colors of the rainbow!

I brought my hair dryer from home and we had a blast watching the crayons melt, and discussing how the heat from the hair dryer caused such a change in the crayons.  There was also a bit of chanting as the students cheered for particular colors to go down faster.  In the past, almost all of my first grade heat experiments involved ice and water.  This was a refreshing change!  The students absolutely loved it!  Next year I think I'll add even more colors!

Speaking of CHANGE, today brought about a rather BIG CHANGE for me and my students.  My school is going to get 30 new computers.  The staff was given the chance yesterday to vote on whether we wanted the computers split up into the classrooms, or create a second computer lab.  We could really benefit from both, so I wasn't sure which way everyone was going to vote.  But what I did know is that my current classroom used to be a computer lab.  It still has all the necessary wiring and electrical outlets to run a computer lab.  My principal warned me over the summer that in the future she would like to add a second computer lab, at which time my classroom would have to be moved.  But we figured that would not happen this year.  Guess we were wrong!  The teachers voted for the second computer lab, and now I will be moving classrooms ASAP!

This is the room I will be moving into on Monday.  Over the next two days, all of this must be moved out!  I will have a sub for my class on Monday while they stay in a different room to allow me time to move my things from my current classroom to this new classroom.  

This is my current room.  I will not miss the four poles in the middle of the room!  Even with the streamers to remind us they were there, the students and I still bump into them from time to time!

Oddly enough, I was not even upset about the move!  I think I blinked once and said "Ok!".  I usually don't like massive, last-minute changes, but this one feels right!  For one thing, I had already been warned about the possibility of moving once we had a second lab, so I figured I would be moving in the next year or two anyway.  Secondly, after my current classroom left me sick for almost 2 months, I am more than happy to change rooms so that there is no chance of me getting sick again.  My old room had environmental issues that were only just resolved.  The construction was just completed last week, so there are actually areas of my current room that aren't even set up like I would have liked them to be.  I was working on the new bulletin boards this week!  Thankfully I didn't get anything but the paper on most of them.  So there is nothing to take down!  :)

I have been blessed to work with so many wonderful people!  I cannot count how many people stopped me in the hall, stopped by my room, sent me a text, or called me to offer their help in the move!  One teacher used his prep time today to start moving furniture out of my new room to make room for me!  I am thankful for so many helpers!  

Things may be a little crazy in my classroom(s) for awhile, but things will settle down soon enough!  And hopefully I won't be getting sick or need a rescue inhaler in my classroom anymore!