Baker’s Dozen Plus 3

(Don’t you just love our name. It came to me when trying to title this piece and we all agreed it was perfect.) Thank you Mark Haberle for extending our bird sanctuary yesterday. River, Wes, and Grace helped Mark when he came to attach the extension. They then hung the feeders from it. We had our first woodpecker soon after, more chickadees, and maybe a bluebird. We are thrilled with the bird activity at the sanctuary. Then when we thought it couldn’t get any better, the preschoolers came with a birdfeeder they made for our sanctuary. It was exciting. I showed the preschoolers our wall of good deeds and told them to look for their picture the next time they came. (Mark, keep an eye out for your picture on the wall of good deeds too.)

Today is the national Christmas Bird Count! We were outside from 8:15-9 counting birds in three different places. Yesterday, the students and I walked outside to discuss our work and the importance for taking it seriously. We also talked about dressing warmly, as if we were preparing to go skiing. (I am still hoping some of you will be able to bring boughs for our bird sanctuary.) We used Joe’s walkie-talkies to communicate between groups. Our group names were Shrike, Chickadee, and Woodpecker. I think Elizabeth, Beth, and I had more fun with the walkie-talkies than the kids. Our bird count included sightings of: a male downy woodpecker, a hermit thrush, black-capped chickadees, a red-breasted nuthatch, a mallard, and a shrike! Our data will be joined with Mrs. Kingsbury’s and pre-school’s and submitted to the feeder watch coordinator. Scientists will use our data to analyze bird populations, so it was important that everyone count their birds exactly the same way. more than 50,000 observers across North America participate each year in this all-day census of early-winter bird populations. The results of their efforts are compiled into the longest running database in ornithology, representing over a century of unbroken data on trends of early-winter bird populations across the Americas. (Look on the science page for more photos. UPDATE….HOURS LATER…THE PICTURES ARE NOT UPLOADING FOR SOME REASON.  THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING.  KEEP LOOKING BECAUSE WE HAVE FABULOUS BIRD PICTURES.)

The holidays are fast approaching and many of you have asked me about scrapbooking opportunities and supplies. In advance, thank you for your continued support. There is a link on this blog that will take you directly to the Creative Memories site where you can shop at your leisure. (Keep in mind December 15th was the date they guaranteed shipment for Christmas. However, it has been my experience that the shipment turnaround happens quickly. If you shop by tonight, you should have no problem receiving your order.) After shopping on the site, you will be asked to select a consultant at which time all you need to do is type my name in. This will give me credit for the sale and allow the materials to be directly sent to you.

I am also happy to shop for you tonight.  You can call my number 244-7203 and leave a message as to what you would like.  I will be at my daughter’s concert until about 9:00 p.m., but will be placing an order later in the evening.  I can be reached by phone at home until 11:00 p.m.  You may also reach me via email at geobaker3@verizon.net.

I highly recommend purchasing tools for your children’s use at home crafting and/or school projects. My daughter uses our tools and materials for school projects all the time. She is always excited to see her creations look professional and classy because she is able to decorate with self-designed punches and accurately cut papers.

I will be teaching after school classes in the new year in my classroom. I will send you a survey in hopes to best suit peoples’ needs and desires for projects and days and times.

Good day, we are trying to build a bird sanctuary out of our Sukkah.  Being in the rain this fall and having been moved from the front to the side, has made it less impressive and full of holes.  I would like the children to work on rebuilding the sides and top to allow for a true safe haven for the birds.  Could anyone bring boughs from home and drop them off at the side entrance to our room?  I would love to have them for Friday morning as we will be participating in the Christmas bird watch that day.  Also, we are still looking for help with extending the Sukkah to attach birdfeeders that Pat Folsom generously gave us.  Mark Haberle may be able to help Wednesday mid-day.  If so, I am sure he would be happy to have assistance.

Last Friday, Patricia Folsom, Birdwatcher extraordinaire, came to class to help us kick off our new social studies/science unit.  Pat graciously is giving of her time to teach us about birds in our backyards and how we can participate in the upcoming Christmas Bird-watch on December 19th.  We made bird feeders with pinecones, peanut butter, and birdseeds.  Yesterday we were distracted by all the activity outside our window in our newly made over sukkah/bird sanctuary.  Pat also provided us with bird-feeders to place outside our window.  Does anyone have feeder poles they are not using right now?  If so, we would really appreciate being able to borrow them.  We need them as soon as possible.  Lastly, Pat is coming back this Friday to teach us how to collect data for the official bird-watch.  The children made beautiful pictures of birds we might see in our backyards of Vermont.  Each one was beautifully crafted.  I was particularly impressed with how carefully each person replicated his/her bird of choice.

hi everyone this is Isabel.I am having a great time in Uath ,I went to the desert for two days.It was so cool I got to hike in a canyon.I took another hike to Cassidy`s Arch and went on top of the arch. An arch is a rock formation that looks like a big bridge. If you have a map of Utah, you can look up Torrey and Boulder, those are two places we stayed. Miss you a lot and I have my report ready for when I get back. I have lots of pictures to share.  Izzy

Thank you to all who are able to come into the classroom each week and lend a hand. It is a terrific thing for children to see parents working along side their teacher and them. It is also a benefit to the parents to be able to hear lessons, witness programs at work, and to see how the children interact. For anyone who could not commit for a regular time, PLEASE feel free to stop by when you have a minute to just say hi or sit with us for ten minutes. I have an open door policy.

This Friday, at 8:00 a.m., Pat Folsom, Waitsfield’s resident “Bird Lady”, is coming to class to kick off a very special unit on birds. I am planning on Beth Libby and Bear or Elizabeth to be helping. I asked Beth to gather a couple of jars of peanut butter and birdseed so that we can make bird feeders with Pat. We will be creating a bird sanctuary just outside our classroom. I am really excited about the unit and the work we will be doing. Look for an outline of the unit to come in a future blog entry.

O.K. I finally was able to load this fantastic picture of “my Boy Scouts” from the Veterans’ Day celebration. They did such a terrific job that day being the color guard for the flag. We were all very proud of them. In fact, Eli told me that by participating and wearing the uniform he and Wes will earn points towards a badge.  YEAH!  (I have spent most of my spare time today trying to get the underlining gone on this message.  Another site problem.  EEEK!)  Remember, check a few below the most recent article written because I sometimes like to separate according to topic.