Papa 'Ekolu

Day 3

Today was the Preconference for the Boston iPad Summit. All day long I was challenged to complete projects on my iPad using more than one app at a time, which is called “app smashing”. I worked with educators from as far as Istanbul, Dominican Republic and Canada. Boy did I have to work my brain to keep up with all the techies in my class who were so fast to do challenge after challenge. Get ready kids, I’m going to challenge you, too, when I get back.

But the day was not all about work. After “school”, my KS colleagues and I took a walk down the street to the Museum of Fine Arts. Tonight they offered a free admission to the museum, so we were excited to take advantage of this. Look at this piece of work called the Chihuly Glass Tree. It is totally made out of glass and towers way above my head. Isn’t it beautiful?!

To end the night I had a delicious meal at a restaurant called Soncie. I had baked oysters, gnocchi (soft dough dumplings) and a rich, chocolatey bread pudding. What a delightful way to end a splendid day!

Day 2 of my trip to Boston. Ms. Everett and I got a quick lesson on riding the public transportation in this wonderful city of Boston. We traveled by boat, subway, train and private car (Uber). Just getting from one place to another was a great life lesson for us. We learned that it is so important to know how to read signs, maps, and apps on our phones.

We started our day off at the Museum of Science where we hopped on an amphibian “DUCK” vehicle. These “Ducks” were previously used as trucks in the U.S. military during WWII. It drove us through the streets of Boston, and then took us for a ride down the Charles River. Our tour guide gave us lots of facts about Boston and other surrounding places, such as Cambridge. It was informative, interesting and amusing.

After our ride on the “Duck” boats, we jumped on a commuter train bound for Salem. Here we visited Salem Witch Museum and The Witch Dungeon. I didn’t know the history behind the Witch Trials in 1692, but now I do. Many people, mostly women, were wrongly accused of practicing witchcraft and were unfortunately condemned and several killed. The tours explained how it all started and ended. We even toured a recreated dungeon that showed what inhumane treatment was casted against innocent people.

Whew, living in the past sure wasn’t any easier than it is today. I’m glad that we became an independent country from Britain and that we have the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights to protect us from such unjust treatment. Lucky we are Americans! Proud to be an American!

I made it to Boston! After flying over 5,000 miles in about 15 1/2 hours, I am finally getting a chance to rest in my comfy hotel room. Though totally fatigued from missing out on one night’s sleep, Miss Everett and I took a tour this afternoon called The Freedom Trail. It was interesting to learn more about the topics we discussed in class: The Revolutionary War, 13 colonies, and events that led up to separation of the colonies from Britain.

Some highlights on the tour included visiting a huge gravesite of many important individuals that took part in signing the Declaration of Independence, like John Hancock and Samuael Adams. We didn’t talk much about them in school, but they were still very important people. In addition, I learned about other key events in our country’s history, like the Boston Massacre and The Boston Tea Party. It was like me going to school again. So interesting and fun!

I hope you all had a fabulous Monday! Until tomorrow… Ta, ta!

Congratulations to our two fantastic students, ‘Aukahi and Damien, for demonstrating mālama in and outside of school. These boys were honored today for taking care of themselves, others, school property, etc. They are the perfect role models for others.

Mahalo to ʻAukahi’s and Damien’s ‘ohana for joining us today!

Look at what made my day today… students who were totally engaged in learning about topics they were truly interested in. During Genius Hour, students were enthusiastically watching videos, reading books and articles, searching the internet, and taking notes about volcanoes, ponies, baking, baseball and more! Boy was it a wonderful sight to see. Not a child was off-task. Just look at the pictures below. Some of them didn’t even notice me taking their picture.

More research needs to be done. We’ll continue our acquisition of knowledge next week. Until then, no one should be doing any projects at home. We need to be geniuses about our topics first, then we can start to work on our presentation to share our new knowledge with others.

I mua Team 3B!