Pasadena CA shows up!

No More Kings
Pasadena, CA

Grassroots overpass protest today. More teslas honked than people flipped us off 😂😂😂

Larry the Pumpkin has been doing well.

I’ve been off for a month, and it’s been one of the worst months of my life. I teach in Pasadena, CA, and my district was where the Eaton fire was. We’ve been back for just over a week. Any given school day feels normal until I start to count the kids in my classroom that lost their home.

Been setting up my PEF grant - trout eggs arrive next Wednesday, tank is set up and insulation is half-set up. My students can’t wait to welcome the fish!

Back on BlueSky. I’d been having trouble logging on, so just left it. Too much going on now - had to get back on.

Five coolers were still cold after 24 hours. Not frozen, but still cold. Not bad for 6th graders, recycled building materials, and a lot of duct tape!

Go me! Thank you Pasadena Education Foundation for accepting my grant for the equipment to raise CA FWS trout eggs in my classroom in the new year!

A room full of coolers constructed by my 6th graders. Each has an ice pack in it, and I’m taking temperature readings every half hour. Which cooler will stay cold the longest? Which is best at slowing the flow of thermal energy?
Answers to come…

Larry the pumpkin is looking forward to welcoming students back on Monday!

Today (and tomorrow) are the days students build their coolers! They are using their knowledge of thermal insulators and conductors, and their understanding of thermal energy transfer to build a cooler to test. Testing time will be in December…

Having fun in those last 20 minutes of class on the days before break…

Every day I do the New Your Times word puzzles with my son who is away at college, and every day I MERCILESSLY CRUSH HIM!!!

@mattophobia.ie - I just rearranged my Patreon subscriptions a bit and added you. I’ve listened to the Podcats since the beginning, and despite connecting with Dan & Jon’s content more, you were clearly the sane one in the room!
Wishing you luck as you figure out the next steps.

I’m both a mom of teens and a middle school teacher, so I know I’m expected to not be “down with the scene”, but I would like to know…

I can’t help but notice a plethora of pigeons since I have re-inhabited Bluesky. Why exactly?

Meet Larry the Pumpkin (named by one of my students Lawrence Frankenstein Esq.).

Larry symbolizes this school year. Good ideas, but somehow always getting done late.