The Water Bottles - An Update

 There’s an old saying “One man’s trash is another man's treasure.” Well, I can update that to “One teacher’s recycling is another teacher’s project materials.”

In about an hour, one of my colleagues from a school where I used to teach will arrive to pick up 8 large garbage bags full of (mostly) empty water bottles. I have not counted them, but I estimate there must be three to four hundred bottles in those bags. 

When I sent her the picture of them piled up at my entryway, she texted back “Heavens! How long did it take to collect all those?” 

I replied “In our middle school, this is about a week and a half’s worth of water bottles.”

She was stunned. In her school, each student has his or her own refillable water bottle.

That’s a better way to do things then wasting gallons and gallons of expensive bottled water.  ‘Nuff said.

So, what are they doing with these hundreds of bottles? They will be used for a 7th grade science project. Each student will set up two identical terrariums where they will plant grass seed. One of the terrariums will be the control and they will change one variable in the other bottle and see what happens. 

Since the twin terrariums will be identical controlled environments, they will be able to observe and measure the effect of changing one thing. 

This seems like a great idea for a project and it’s now something I have tucked back into my mind for potential future use. 

The Water Bottles - Ugh

 OMG those water bottles!

They are everywhere; on the floor, on desks, sitting on windowsills, under the tables, and in the lockers - so many water bottles in the lockers. It seems if there is a flat surface, there’s a water bottle on it. 

I am sooooooo tired of cleaning up, mostly full, water bottles in my classroom. I can’t take it any more. 

If there were a professional league for throwing water bottles across a classroom and landing them in the sink, I’d be an MVP. I am the Steph Curry of three-point shots with water bottles. 

Last week, as I tossed the bottles into the sink, I intentionally didn’t empty them or put them in the recycling bins. I just let them pile up. I filled the sink and then some!

I can not imagine how much our little school has spent on cases of water, but I’m sure it’s enough to buy a considerable number of new books.

Nobody wants sluggish, dehydrated students or students who drink so much water they’re in the restroom half the time. But, there has to be some middle ground. 

How about about dumping them out in the sink when you’re done and tossing the empties in a recycling bin?

How about carrying a reusable bottle and filling it up from time to time?

How about taking your water bottles with you?

How about finishing what you take?

Thoughts on Grading

 I think some students are surprised that I don’t grade every single piece of paper they turn in. I think sometimes they are disappointed when they have worked hard on something and I don’t grade it. I think they feel they have wasted their time and energy. 

Not true!

Sometimes the work is practice or review. Some assignments are for me to see how you are doing learning a new topic or set of vocabulary words, etc. I look over the work, get a sense of how people are doing, of who’s “getting it,” who’s having trouble and who’s flaking off instead of working. (There’s a term for these kinds of assignments - formative assessments.)

These insights are addressed in the following lessons. Sometimes I need to review content, sometimes I need to speak one-on-one to someone about their work habits, and sometimes I need to reteach a topic all over again. None of these are a waste of your time and energy, they help us all move forward together. 

The work I grade is usually after you’ve had time to read and digest something, or have had time to practice a new skill, or to close out a section in our curriculum. (These are called summative assessments.)

Learning is a process. When you learn something new - like how to play the ukulele, write new code or identify the roles of certain organisms in an ecosystem, you’re probably not very good at the start. Do you really want me to grade that work? No, you want a chance to practice, to deepen your understanding, and to improve before I start entering grades in my grade book.

If I don’t grade a particular assignment, its not because I am trying to waste your time. It’s just part of the process.