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Happy New Year! Father Time has helped us ring in another new year. Happy 2002! Most of us spend some time reflecting on the previous year and making plans or resolutions for the New Year. We establish new goals and then strive to achieve them. We wish you success and happiness in this year's endeavors. In addition to this newsletter, keep checking Vital Picks. We have been highlighting resources teachers will find useful for the classroom. We have also been highlighting accomplishments of teachers and urge you to nominate teachers for our Vital Award. This month we also have a special gift awaiting you and your students in the Activity section of Teacher's Corner. Check it out, and if you have activities that you would like to share with other teachers, please send them along. We'll make sure to post them immediately and to give you credit. Send your ideas to teachers_corner@vitalknowledge.com "For success, attitude is equally as important as ability."
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The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2002 as International Year of Mountains. What a wonderful opportunity for teachers to use this year's theme in cross-curricular activities. Social Studies teachers will appreciate the focus on world geography, history teachers will explore the history of the regions and the people who live there, and science teachers will examine the global importance of mountain ecosystems. Almost every state or province can boast about the beauty of their own local mountains. Your class can share their local mountain region by sending a postcard to the United Nations who will post it on their site. Mountain climbers from all over the world already appreciate the beauty of many of the more famous mountain ranges such as the Andes, the Alps and the Rockies just to name a few. For those who are not faint of heart they may take up the popular sport of mountain climbing, for the rest of us we will just enjoy the breath taking beauty from a picture. |
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After putting in busy weeks at school, we are usually faced with playing catch up on the weekends. The following story tells us just how important Saturdays really are. 1000 Marbles I enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the backyard patio with a steaming cup of green tea in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned in to one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. I turned on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap meet. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. He was talking to someone about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well, but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital." He continued, "Let me tell you something, Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his marble theory. "You see, I sat down one day and did a little math. The average person lives about 75 years. I know, some a little more and some a little less, but the average is about 75 years. "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part. "It took me until I was 55 years old to think about all this in clear detail. By that time I had lived through over 2800 Saturdays. I got to thinking about it, and if I lived to be 75, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. "So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up going to three different stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. "I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help you get your priorities straight. "Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out to breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time. "It was nice to meet you, Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family. I hope to meet you again." You could have heard a pin drop on the radio when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all something to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife with a kiss. "C'mon, honey, I'm taking you and the Grandkids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special. It's just been a while since we spent a Saturday together with the Grandkids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles." HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND, AND MAY ALL YOUR SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL. - Author Unknown |
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Before we can catch our breath after a busy Christmas season, our attention will be turning to the athletes from around the world who will soon be off to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Olympic Winter Games. To help us count down the days till February 8, 2002, we can follow the Olympic Torch as torchbearers criss-cross through the United States until the torch arrives for the opening ceremonies. Visit the official Olympic site to read the bios of your favorite athletes, or read the athletes own stories of courage and motivation as they prepared themselves physically and mentally through years of hard work and training. Also on January 21st, our neighbors to the south will be observing Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Many of Dr. King's famous speeches can be heard through an interactive chronology of his life and you can read some of his inspirational sermons that helped secure freedom for African-Americans and helped all nations gain tolerance. Education World provides lesson plans on Martin Luther King and a link to a study guide for teachers and students, plus lots of other related information. |
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What a wonderful fall we experienced, but now that the colder days of winter are here you may find that your students will be spending more time inside. To help your students stay active while indoors we wanted to share some activities with you. Jumping rope is always good exercise and very inexpensive. On blustery days when students stay in, gather in the gym and grab a skipping rope. Teachers can even join in by swinging the rope or help teach the students jump rope rhymes. Students can get ready for Jump Rope for Heart in April and not even realize it. To bring the warmth of a campfire setting to your class, why not have students sit in a circle and sing campfire songs. Keep them moving by adding the actions that go with the songs. Looking for some winter classroom activities to incorporate into your curriculum for K- 8 students? Visit TeacherVision. |
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When the air is cold and crisp and the sky is clear, it seems the stars are close enough to touch. Everyone seems to have a fascination with the vastness of the universe. Many schools have guest speakers from local observatories visit during the winter months to talk about the solar system and have "family nights" where family members look through the telescope and see the craters in the moon, or the rings around Saturn. Visit the sky-watching site for more ideas to bring the stars into your classroom. Just as the lines to see Harry Potter are starting to thin, The Lord of the Rings opened over the Christmas break. A professor of medieval English literature, J.J.R. Tolkien wrote "The Hobbit" as a bedtime story for his son. The hope is that the books in this series will continue to spark a love for reading in children. Create a word search puzzle for your students using the character names and the key words by visiting Puzzlemaker. |
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Teacher : Make up a sentence using the word lettuce! Teacher : You missed school yesterday, didn't you? From: Scatty.com |
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