Dear "Gabby"

Giving advice is not always an easy thing to do.   Especially if it involves friends.  For your blog response this week, I want you to pretend that you are a famous advice columnist in a newspaper.  People write to you regularly to get advice about how to handle some difficult situations.

You have just received the following letter from a fourth grader in New York.  He writes:

Dear Gabby,

I am a fourth grade student and I have a problem.  There are two students in my class who are always making fun of other students in my class.  The things they say and do are very mean and hurtful.  The problem is that the only person they are nice to is me.  Now everyone in my class thinks that I am a bully too.  I'm afraid that if I'm not friends with them that they will be mean to me as well.  At the same time, I don't want everyone else to think I am a bully either.  What should I do?

Hoping for answers,
Not A Bully

Pretend you are "Gabby."  What advice would you give to this student to make this situation better?  What are your reasons for your advice?  Give this some thought before you post your response.  It may be helpful to write a rough draft in your journal first.

Anxiously awaiting,
Mr. Fletcher

Workshop Reminder

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to take a minute to remind everyone that our first workshop will be tomorrow night (1/27/11) from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m..  This first one will focus on interacting with our class blog and then we'll take some time to discuss future get togethers.

Hope to see you there!
Mr. Fletcher

The Leading Men of Avatar

You may be wondering what this picture means, right?  Well, Mr. Fletcher and I made an agreement during our checkers game.  I had shaved my head and was a little worried that people might laugh at me, so I kept my hat on.  Mr. Fletcher said that if he won the game, I would have to take off my hat and be proud of my haircut and own it.  However, if I won, then he would shave his head to match mine.  It probably won't take long for you to guess who won.  And that's how we ended up like this.

Owning It,
Rory

You Down with P.O.V.?

As in Point of View.  Today in class I showed the kids a famous picture that many of you are probably familiar with.  For those of you who aren't, here it is:

If you have never seen this image before, it is actually pretty interesting.  Some of you upon first glance may see an old woman with a very pronounced chin, looking down to her left.  Others may see a young woman looking over her right shoulder.  What we focused on today in class, is that it doesn't matter which woman you see.  What matters is that once you know there are two women there, that you are able to see them BOTH.  We had a great time with this activity and as usual I was highly impressed  with the insight and thoughts the kids brought to this activity.
Coming at you from every direction,
Mr. Fletcher

"Are you 1, Are you 2....?"

I always get a kick out of hearing the kids immediately go into this chant after singing "Happy Birthday" to a friend.  The kids ask each number until the birthday person says "stop" on the number for their age.  Today, I thought about how funny it would be if the kids did this for me....all the way up to 35!  That's right, today is my birthday.  As always, I found myself looking for the little things along the way today that I could learn from.  There were actually quite a few.  For example, nothing is better than having your son sing Happy Birthday to you and then blow out all the candles on your cake so you don't have to.  I was also reminded of some great childhood memories today as my sister and I played the original Super Mario Bros. on my Wii.  In addition, I now know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a re-gift, so I therefore will be sure to never do that to someone else.  Finally, I learned that I don't have to go out and do something wild and crazy  to be okay with being 35. 

A while back, during a conversation about upcoming birthdays, this woman asked me how old I was going to be and I said,  "35."  She replied with, "Well, you act like you're 10."  I don't think this not-so-nice person intended her response to be a compliment, but that is exactly how I took it.  So I guess that is the most important thing I learned today...it is totally fine to be 35, as long as I don't act like it!

Just another shooting star,
Mr. Fletcher

The Agony of Defeat

So for those of you who haven't heard yet....Rory was the winner of our checkers tournament.  I'd like to say that it was a close match, but he had me on the run the whole time.  As many of you know, Rory and I have been spending our recess time lately playing checkers and it has turned into a sort of grudge match...friendly of course.  I have played a lot of checkers against a lot of fourth graders, but I have officially met my match.  During our recess matches, I have held a slight lead, coming from two games down.  It is because of this that I officially challenged Rory to a best of three tournament to be played during our game time at our holiday celebration.  The stage was set....I was ready to send the message that I am the Checkers Champion of the Universe.  Apparently, I am not. 

As is my way, I try to look at the outcomes of events in my life and see what I can learn from them to improve myself as a person.  Here is what I learned today:
1.  Never challenge Rory to checkers.
2.  How to win gracefully.

Even though I did not win today, I learned a valuable lesson from Rory in how to win like a true champ.  After Rory delivered his final blows to my poor little checkers pieces,  he naturally celebrated and showed his excitement....as he should have.  It was how he did this that impressed me the most because it was all good natured.  It was at that moment that I was actually a little thankful that I didn't win, because I probably would have done something like "IN YOUR FACE, RORY!" and then proceed to get everyone's attention and make an announcement of my victory.  Boy, would I have looked stupid.  So today, I learned a valuable lesson, and for that I am very thankful to Rory.  You are a great kid, a great opponent, and a fantastic winner.  Well done, my friend!
On a different note, I would like to send an enormous "thank you" to everyone for the incredibly thoughtful gifts I received today.  From beautifully decorated cards, beaded bookmark, delicious cookies, picture frames, books, and even a note box made from elephant poo, I am truly appreciative.  By the way, the elephant poo note box is an awesome example of how to reduce and reuse!  My new Jack cookie jar has found it's place; safe in my kitchen where no cats or children can cause it harm.  And Rory, if you're reading this, your gift is under my tree, where I said I would keep it until Christmas Day.

Big thanks to all the families who were able to join us in our celebration and made the day even more special.  You are an awesome group of parents and I thank you for teaching your children to be equally awesome!

Thanks again to everyone and as this will more than likely be my last post of the year...I wish all of you a very safe and happy holiday.  Enjoy every minute with your loved ones and be sure to let them know how important they are to you.

King me,
Mr. Fletcher

How Cool Was That?

One thing I love about running the spotlight for Mrs. Hoyt's concerts is that I get to stand back and take it all in.  I may have one of the best seats in the house!  Last night's concert was fantastic.  You ALL looked absolutely incredible and as always, I am amazed at your talents.  You made your families very proud....and your teacher!  If there were any backstage "butterflies" it certainly didn't show, as the way you presented yourselves as musicians, both vocally and instrumentally was inspiring.  If you are already this good, I can't wait to see what you have instore for the spring concert!  Great Job!


Shining a spotlight,
Mr. Fletcher