7th Grade in Kinnelon: Herb Fisher Remembers

Kinnelon 7th Grade field trip to Newark Airport early 60s - Herb Fisher

In addition to favorite Kinnelon teachers, what were your favorite school activities or field trips? Herb Fisher forwarded this amazing photo and the following:

This does not qualify as a tradition in Kinnelon grade school,.... but it should.

This is a memory or more accurately, a " fossil" in the history of Stonybrook school, early 60s. 

Peter Matthews was our 7th grade teacher. He was the greatest teachers I ever had. I have tried to find him via the Internet, with no success, maybe he is no longer with us.

NOTE: Doris Cameron was our 3rd grade teacher in the old Keil Avenue firehouse (that is where our classroom was in 1958) and she was on a scale of one to ten....10.50.  Matthews was a 10.51.... these were unreal educators. Heck, I am now 63, but remember and love both.

Getting back to Matthews.... he organized a Shakespeare Festival in which we all had parts. I can remember my lines plus I played my trumpet at certain points.  "all the world's a stage and the men and women are only players"....."but light what yonder window breaks, it is the east and Juliet is the sun, arise fair sun and kill the envious moon who is already sick and pale with grief"....  I could go on.....question is....how do I remember this stuff after 5+ decades?  GREAT TEACHERS!!!

Attached picture, far left Peter Matthews, field trip my Dad arranged at Newark Airport.

No classroom chairs like Emma earned; had a chair like that but my Jenny (daughter) grabbed it and  it was in her apartment at Texas Tech many years ago.

HOF Jr.

Thanks, HOF!

What do you remember about your favorite teachers and what they exposed you to?

3rd Grade in Kinnelon: Kim Vawter Remembers

'Grandpa', Tegan and Tanker in Kim's favorite chair

What are your favorite memories of 3rd Grade?

In response to Emma's story about Star of the Week in the Papasan Chair: Emma's 3rd Grade Tradition, former Kinnelon resident Kim Vawter - who shared Smoke Rise Relic: Car Badge - wrote the following about her 3rd Grade experience at Kiel School:

Emma,

  I remember my third grad teacher. Her name was Miss Galloway. She was the most beautiful and glamorous person I ever knew. She wore her dark hair in a "Bubble Cut" like Jackie Kennedy. She let us hug her when we came in and hug her when we left to get on the bus. She was the first person in Kinnelon to wear the fashionable "sack" dress when everyone was wearing "shirtwaist" dresses. When she got married, she invited the whole class to the church to see her get married. I went with my mother. It was the most beautiful wedding that I ever saw not on T. V. 

  I remember that in 3rd grade I had my first "crush" on one of the boys. Of course, boys were mostly icky. He was icky too but I remembered that I thought he was cute. His name was Michael and he was blonde. In third grade, I got mostly all "A's" and school was fun. I loved to be called the class "monitor" and I got to clap the erasers together to get rid of the chalk dust. This was a real privilege to be able to do this!

  I am sorry that I can no longer remember her married name because all the third graders from Kiel School went on to Stonybrook school where we joined the 4th-6th grades in that building. Later, the big Kinnelon High School was built to accommodate the 7th- 12th grade until the Pearl Miller Middle school was built.

    I enjoyed your story about the Papasan Chair. It looks very comfortable and special. I just purchased a little child's chair for a Christmas present today. It is still in the box in back of my van. I think everyone should have one great wonderful chair in their life for their very own. Here is a picture of mine with "Grandpa" and my grand daughter, Tegan, and my dog, Tanker.

Kim

Thanks, Kim! Miss Galloway sounds pretty special.

I'd love to hear more stories about favorite Kinnelon teachers. Who were they and what do you remember best about them?

Star of the Week in the Papasan Chair: Emma's 3rd Grade Tradition

What classroom traditions do you remember from grade school? I remember getting to write about a Piranha fish instead of doing something else and I loved cleaning the blackboard. None of those, though, were formal traditions that the entire class participated in. Luckily, as we are learning from Emma's classroom experiences, Kinnelon School has developed plenty...

Here is a wonderful tradition that Emma experienced in third grade with her teacher, Doreen Kolster: Star of the Week.

When a student becomes Star of the Week, s/he gets to bring to class something special each day and gets 10 to 15 minutes to talk about what makes that item special and answer questions. For example, the student might invite someone to come in and read a book or talk about careers with the class, share a collection or favorite book, create a poster, or share a favorite snack with the class....

Emma was chomping at the bit for her turn to come. And it did... at the end of the school year! She brought in her State Quarter Collection, a snack that Ted made and... me to read a favorite book, I Crocodile.

The Fourth Grade Tradition is called "Spotlight On...". It lasts one day, says Emma.

In the meantime, here is Emma's [brief] account of life as Star of the Week in the Papasan Chair in Mrs. Kolster's 3rd grade class.

--------
Aaah! It is so relaxing to sit in the Papasan chair.

The Papasan chair is in my third grade teacher's classroom. It is big, yellow, comfy and fun. Whenever you are Star of the Week, you can sit in it.
When I was Star of the Week, I got to sit in it!!!

Mrs. Kolster, my third grade teacher, used to have a green one, but now it is yellow. I find yellow a very soothing color. Now, that is my opinion and you can have your own!

Just picture yourself sitting in this awesome chair, after a long hard day, coming home to sit in it!

Did you ever have a chair in your classroom like this?

Do you have a chair like this at home?

I would love to hear what it is like.

Thank you.

Emma and her 3rd grade teacher, Doreen Kolster

As sad as Emma was about 3rd grade ending, she is loving 4th grade with her teacher, Carol Moore, in the same classroom she had for third grade.

Back to my original question, what were your favorite grade school traditions and memories?

Kiel School's IdeaPaint Contest Submission: Interview with Annika Levitt

Annika Levitt's 1st Grade Class, Kiel School, Kinnelon

Have you checked out Kiel School's IdeaPaint Contest Submission? Pretty cool, don't you think? Here's an interview with Annika Levitt, Kiel School First Grade Teacher who, with her students, put together a contest entry.

First, some background information.  Annika Levitt began her teaching career in 2005 in Westfield, NJ where she taught 2nd and 3rd Grade at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School. She graduated from The College of New Jersey with a B.S. in both Elementary Education and Psychology.  She joined the Kinnelon District in 2009 and has taught at both Stonybrook and Kiel Schools in a range of classrooms.

Her favorite quote : "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." ~William Arthur Ward

C.B.: Annika, could you give me more background about the contest?

I came across the contest searching through the web on a Saturday afternoon the third week of school. Since I had just set up the classroom, I was in the process of searching for ways to maximize our space. We have the smallest classroom, but I wanted to be creative. Originally, I thought about painting on that chalkboard paint, but was not sure how that would work. Then I saw the video for IdeaPaint, asking for a school or small business in need of more space and… voila, I was sold.

C.B.: What caught your attention about the contest?

Two words: “maximize space!” I was always taught, as a teacher, that the classroom environment and set-up is crucial for learning. Over the summer I must have changed the room 10 times until it felt “just right.” I played the goldilocks game (too big, too small, etc.), except there was never a “too big!” The contest seemed doable and right up our alley.

C.B.: How did you get the students involved? 

I decided to bring it up during a morning meeting with the students, the Monday after discovering IdeaPaint. I showed the kids the contest video on our Smart Board.

Every Monday we explore a new poem. Sky-Lynn, one of my students, raised her hand and said, “Why don’t we just write a poem about IdeaPaint?” As I often try to do, I listened to the voices of my students.

C.B.: How many students participated?

The contest required a “handful” of students to participate in showing off the classroom. To make it fair, I picked names through a computer generated random selector we use in class. 5 students were featured in the video, but we ALL had a speaking part.

C.B.: How difficult was it to put together the IdeaPaint contest submission?

After we made it into Round 2, IdeaPaint asked for a second submission of the teacher/representative and more footage of the room. Here is the second IdeaPaint submission link. I shot that video while the kids were at recess, highlighting our classroom “nooks & crannies.”

C.B.: Thank you, Annika! What an awesome process and submission. I hope your class wins!

You might also enjoy this recent video from Kinnelon Patch's Ariana Cohn-Sheehan: Kiel Class Needs Help Winning Whiteboard Room Makeover.


Don't forget to vote a few more times for Kiel School's first grade entry for the IdeaPaint contest!

Vote for Kiel School's IdeaPaint Project! Now!!

Dear Readers,

On behalf on Kinnelon's Kiel school, and more specifically Annika Levitt, Kiel school first grade teacher, I have a special request: please vote for her class' entry into the IdeaPaint 360 Makeover Contest for 2011 which ends this Sunday, December 4th.

IdeaPaint is a white board paint that transforms spaces into creative, collaborative learning environments. I first came across it in 2009 when I virtually attended a trade show taking place in Chicago and IdeaPaint was taking drawing requests via Twitter [see I attended NeoCon virtually].

Kiel School's IdeaPaint Project has made it to the final round and is one of the top 10 finalists. Annika's first grade class needs all of us to help make the Kiel School Project be the winner. The prize: a “makeover” from IdeaPaint which will maximize space, transforming the walls and other surfaces into whiteboards! Will you help?

Here's how:

Click on IdeaPaint 360 Vote where you will notice all 10 finalist video entries.

The first entry is Kiel School's. Do watch it!  It is very clever and includes the first graders who explain why the makeover is so important.


Then, vote!  You can vote once per day until Sunday, Dec. 4th until 11:59 pm. If you have different e-mail addresses, use them.

Please pass this message and ask family and friends to vote.

Thank you!