Carpenter Elementary is our Spotlight School of the week

SCHOOL: Carpenter Elementary

Spotlight School-carpenter

GRADE: 2nd and 5th

PROGRAM: Newton’s Lab and Sound Surprise

Scientist: Christine

At our lab, we have a term called a crazy day. That’s when we teach two different programs at the same school. The reason we call it a crazy day is because we have not only load up one, but two programs into our compact cars, but we also have to mentally prepare for two different grade levels, and two sets of information. Well, today I had a crazy day at Carpenter Elementary. Actually, all of that went off without a hitch today. Everything nicely fit into my Toyota Corolla, and I was able to easily transition from 5th grade physics to 2nd grade sound. However, it was still a crazy day.

You want to know why? Was it the kids? Oh no, the kids were great! The 5th graders were very engaged in catapulting different masses across the room and the 2nd graders were also memorized by water splashes using tuning forks. Was it the teachers? Oh no, the teachers were fantastic. So warm and inviting. Getting involved with the kids learning. For example, Mr. Sullivan has already created a lesson plan that went hand in hand our Action Reaction Cars. He plans to start that lesson tomorrow.

What was it then? Without going into too much detail, one of the students I saw today ended up needing extra medical attention during my lesson. Just to be clear, this was from a pre diagnosed medical condition, not something caused by SFFE. Again, without going into detail, it was quick and alarming. However, the teachers and I reacted quickly. I took the other twenty students into the hall to continue my lesson, while the teacher and teacher assistant aided to the child. The amazing thing was how so many administrators, school nurse, and teachers ran to the rescue for the care of this child. They really worked as a team, and I tried to do my part as well by keeping the other twenty students in a positive and safe environment. Eventually, we moved the lesson to outside, which the junior scientists loved. It was a nice change than teaching in the classroom. Even though there was a bump in the day, the school did a great job of coming together and reacting quickly. Just to let you know, the child is doing fine.

And that was my crazy day.