The Purpose

I maintain 2 blogs: one for myself and one for school. As I'm sure you figured out, this is my school blog. I probably need 3 different blogs for school. I know that this blog is probably trying to do too much. My school blog is for: 1. my students... with important information for them to know, 2. professional reflection... where I like to think about what I've done in class and what's ahead, and 3. my colleagues... where I like to post resources for them to use and where I keep track of some digital and building colleagues who blog and post resources of their own. Whew! It's a lot. For now, I'm keeping it all here in the Nelson Universe. We'll see if this format continues to suit my needs.

Why do I blog? I blog to write. I work hard to be a writing teacher who is also a writer. I communicate with others, I reflect on my life, and I get my ideas down and out of my ever-spinning brain.

Do you blog? If so, I'd love to read your blogs. Comment here, & leave me your blog's address. I'll check it out!

Welcome Back!

Students, Parents, Colleagues... lend me your ear... Oops. Guess it's time to get out of the theatre mode and back into school mode. ;) Welcome back to another wonderful year at Fairfield Middle School.

This Monday, I'll be welcoming you new 6th grade students to my classes, so don't forget to come to orientation from 6-8 p.m. You'll feel much more comfortable with the building and your schedule. You'll also get to know your teachers a little bit too... it's always nice to see some friendly familiar faces the first day. I'm looking forward to meeting you all!

7th & 8th grade GOAL students: You'll have a special treat on the 3rd day of school. You'll get to meet some of the cast members from the current Way Off Broadway show Big River. This will tie in with the Mark Twain unit coming up at the end of the 7th grade year of GOAL. It will be a nice preview of what is to come for you 7th graders, and 8th graders can enjoy reflecting back on our trip to Hannibal last spring.

7th grade language arts students: Mrs. Wiegand, Mrs. Wolf, and I have been finalizing all the pen pals for this year. I'm anxious for you to be assigned to one. This will be the 38th year of the FMS Pen Pal Program. It's a great way for the community to get involved in our school and for you to get to know people in the community. It's also a great writing exercise (Sorry, it's the teacher in me... I had to bring that up).

It's back to work for me now. My bare walls are calling for posters and decorations. I will answer that call, and I'll see you all soon!

Summer Enrichment!

Are you getting bored this summer? Want to have some fun? Come to FMS Summer Enrichment!

1. Drama Boot Camp: Do you love theatre games, acting, comedy, and improv? Do you love (or think you would love) FMS Drama Club? Imagine 10 Drama Clubs all crammed into one week! Come to Drama Boot Camp, and spend the week tapping into your creativity with Theatre Games, Skits, and FUN! August 2-6, 2010; 8:30-11:30 A.M.; FMS

2. Express Yourself: Make your mark! Share your views! Let the world know where you stand! This class gives you the chance. Animoto, Glogster, Debate, Blogs, Poetry Slam, Wikis, Mock Trial, Graffiti Poetry, Movie Making, Online Comics, Games, and more... a multitude of ways to make your voice heard! August 2-6, 2010; 12:30-3:30 P.M., FMS

Cost for each class is $50. You may sign up for one or both. Any student who has completed grades 4-8 may register (entering 5th grade and exiting 8th grade). Lunch is not provided. Make checks payable to FMS, and bring them the first day of class. E-mail me at tena.nelson@fairfieldsfuture.org with questions or to register. Class space is limited, so don't wait! Registration Deadline: July 28, 2010. Come one, come all!

Fight Summer Boredom!

I'm taking a new class today called Web 2.0. I'm learning about some awesome sites. You all should explore them too. Become the experts!

Photo Peach... yet another cool way to make digital slideshows

Flip Book! Make your very own digital flip book right here

Voice Thread... this is an awesome way to record comments to go along with pics

I'll post more as I learn more! 50 NUPoints to anyone who tries a site and links their project to the comments for us all to see!

Mockingjay

I. CANNOT. WAIT.

The Top 100 Young Adult Books of All Time... ?

I've been enjoying this blog on Schoollibraryjournal.com. Elizabeth Bird is a children's librarian at the Children's Center at 42nd Street of the New York Public Library system. She's been compiling a list of, in her opinion, the best 100 young adult books of all time. It's been so fun to look at the list and compare it to my own favorites.

For 20 NU Points, comment with YOUR list of the Top 10 Young Adult books of all time.

Weekly Preview

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope you all had a great time and are ready to give your all for the last quarter. It's going to fly, and summer will be here before we know it!

6th GOAL: You will be working on your "Stuff" posters this week. Using the Stuff book about consumption habits, you will all report on a different item. Read your facts and then include the important information on your poster. You will report out on Friday. I'll give you classtime Tuesday and Wednesday to work. You can use time in the library on Thursday to finish if you need it.

7th GOAL: After a quick mini-lesson about the United States Census, we are going to be introducing animation this week. You'll see lots of different examples and techniques. Then, we'll start learning how to use Stop Motion Pro so you'll be ready to make your own movies!

8th GOAL: It's the moment you've been waiting for! You'll be watching To Kill a Mockingbird in class this week!

7th Language Arts: You'll be working on spelling pp. 147, 148, & 149 (due Wednesday) in preparation for your maintenance test on Friday. On Tuesday, you'll take the Parts of Speech pretest, and then you'll start working on your study guide, your Parts of Speech booklet.

I Love Learning Something New

This week, at the Young Writer's Conference, I learned about two things I'd never heard of before. Author William Durbin spoke about his books and the research that had gone into them. His book, The Broken Blade, is about The Voyageurs of the North West Company Fur Trade. I knew very little about the Fur Trade, and I'd never heard of The Voyageurs before. I found some websites with some information about them.

Info at the Parks Canada website

Info from the National Parks Service website

Canada's First Peoples Website

The other new thing I learned about was the Winter War between Finland and Russia. William Durbin's newest book, The Winter War, is about this subject. I had seriously never heard of this before, and it's an amazing world event. Here is more information:

Fire and Ice: The Winter War between Finland and Russia

Uralica: The Website All About Finnish People

The New American website

For 20 NUPoints, check out one of these websites and comment with something new you learned about either The Voyageurs or The Winter War.

Weekly Preview

Here's what's coming up during the first week of March, campers!

6th GOAL: We'll be continuing the Great Ocean Rescue with the Laser Disc player. I loved the looks on all your faces when I showed you the actual laser disc. Classic!

7th GOAL: History Day, History Day, History Day! Exhibits: your projects are due Friday. Performances: your scripts were due today (no one was completely done... grr...), and you'll be spending next week practicing, memorizing, and gathering props & costumes.

8th GOAL: Images of Greatness! We're a little off track with Bio-Riddles because of the snow day this week. On Monday, we'll talk about Bio-Riddles. I'll give you next week to work on them along with your trifold display boards. Buckle down, folks!

7th Language Arts: On Monday, we'll begin spelling unit 21 (Words from Names & Places). Pretest corrections & book p. 129 will be due Wednesday with the posttest on Friday. On Tuesday, we'll go over introductions & conclusions for your Epidemics Research Papers. You'll have the rest of the week to get the whole thing (introduction, body, & conclusion) written, revised, typed, edited, & fixed. Final drafts are due next Friday, March 5.

The Secret School

Cast & Crew of The Secret School: FANTASTIC job on opening night. I'm so proud of you! I don't know how you overcame all the obstacles that were in your way during this rehearsal process. The snow days alone would have sunk a lesser troupe of actors. Let's make the final performance even more amazing than the first!

Click here for more publicity...

For 20 NUPoints, comment here by writing a review of The Secret School.