Feels good to do good...

Yahoo! Finally we have our blog to share our classroom learning journey and celebrate the way we do things. 

This week was pretty special for the students- we put the needs of others ahead of our own!  Every morning we spend time on our Dalai Lama moment. It's a name we came up with to encompass social and emotional learning, world affairs and growth. We talked through an infographic on how our lives compare to those in other parts of the world and in different circumstances to our own. It was powerful, it really got us thinking of how fortunate we are, reflecting on what we have to be grateful for and about what small steps we can take to improve the days of others. Which brings me to the amazing gesture of today. Each Year 6 student made and decorated 10 cupcakes to sell for a small donation. There was everything from "teddy bears on the beach" to "poo emojis"! We raised over $1,300 for a local cancer charity! It was a day to feel really good about ourselves- it feels good to do good! 

We wrapped up the week with another STEM Challenge- Army Man Launcher! It was terrific to see the students engaged in design and trials to perfect their launcher. It was also refreshing to see their healthy sense of humour as they counted down- three, two, one.... flop! Yep, the launch resulted in a 40 centimetre flight for our toy soldier- no comparison to the winning flight of 20 metres! Limited materials and six brains working together has pushed some out of their comfort zone but it most often ends in fun, success and solutions. 
  So, until next week-  Paper, scissors...

What is STEM?