Ms. Pitman Went Missing

Oh, dear! I completely forgot to post yesterday. My apologies.

Yesterday's homework - for those who were/are wondering - was:

Math: Finish 2.4; Get test signed and return to school
*No other homework was given.

We have now entered our fourth quarter and we have 52 school days left to go. To get the second half of our spring semester off to a good start, we began yesterday's class taking stock of the first half of the semester. Each student was given his/her progress/grade report (these will be sent out via snail mail to you later in the week) and asked to reflect on it...if they thought it was fair, what they felt they did well and what they wanted to work on in the final quarter.

In the afternoon, we read through a series of quotes about "stepping up to the plate" and each student filled out a "contract" explaining how they were going to "step up" for the next two and a half months. Then, each student was given a paper plate, a pair of ready-made "feet" and a buffet of art supplies, from which they were to make "Step Up to the Plate" mobiles (much like the aspiration flags we made at the beginning of the school year.

The mobiles are currently hanging in our classroom and will hopefully serve as reminders to help us keep stepping up throughout the remainder of the school year.

Here are a few of the quotes the students read (and some used in their mobiles):

You can't hit a home run unless you step up to the plate. You can't catch fish unless you put your line in the water. You can't reach your goals if you don't try. – Anonymous

It's always hard to recover after a loss. . . . I have to know when it's time to step up, not to revert back to bad habits but to keep ahead with the good ones. – Venus Williams (Tennis Pro)

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. – Dale Carnegie (American lecturer)

The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult. – Madame Marie du Deffand

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. – Anthony Robbins (American Advisor to Leaders)

Cheers,
Ms. Pitman