September 17

💭💻Blogging Experience & Pointers!!💻💭

Hello Bloggers!

If you didn’t know already, my name is Alivia. I have participated in the Student Blogging Challenge twice, with one of my posts being featured the second time. The Student Blogging Challenge is a friendly competition where you have your own blog and create posts that collide with the prompt along with the week’s topic. In this post, I am going to be sharing my past experience and some pointers for you to look out for when competing.

Blogging Experience

During my first year of competing in the Student Blogging Challenge, I honestly wasn’t very into it. Back then, I was not as passionate about writing as I am now. But, I participated and I followed every prompt and topic. It wasn’t until my second time participating where I strived to be featured on their site.

When my second time taking part in the challenge took place, all I wanted was to get featured on the Student Blogging Challenge site. And I did, eventually. But before that, there were some really fun posts where I was able to put my hardest work into. Like the emoji week, Earth Day week, and the Schools Around the World week.

The topic of the week when I got featured was Catch Up or Free Choice. For that prompt, I created a post about my dog – who is now six – Nikki. I wrote about when I got her or when her birthday is or and this one absolutely amazing trick she can do. This was, that she was able to climb up the ladder of my treehouse (It’s not actually a treehouse, it’s on the ground but that’s not important. I just wanted to clarify that because I am politically correct😊) and go down the slide. In that post, I incorporated a video of her doing that, which led me to be featured on the STUBC site.

Blogging Pointers

I briefly mentioned earlier about giving some pointers about the challenge and blogging itself. This could be anywhere from punctuation to the material used in a post. In this section, I will be giving some tips on how you can get featured on the Student Blogging Challenge site. These are pointers I think will benefit when you enter the challenge.

Grammar is Key

When writing a post to submit to the challenge, proofread every single word. You want to sound like you know what you’re doing. If it sounds choppy or unprofessional, revise it. Or, you can use grammar-checking software like Grammarly. I, personally, use Grammarly for everything in writing. I think it definitely helps a lot.

Stay On-Topic

Let’s say you’re writing a topic on plastic pollution for the Earth Day prompt. You have two paragraphs already, written about how it’s important and to recycle. But then, you start writing about climate change and how it affects the Earth. Don’t do that. You want to stay on-topic at ALL times.

Tech-Savy

One way to get featured is by showing off your amazing techy skills. You can do something completely crazy like make a coded game on a coding site and incorporate the game in your post. Or, you could do what I did, which was add a video. But, you can do whatever you want if you’re techy like that.

I hope this post gave you some idea of my experience the two times I’ve competed in the challenge and that it gave you some tips beforehand. Everyone, have a GREAT challenge this year! Remember to wash your hands! Have a great day!

-Alivia😇💙✌🏻

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March 31

Home Learning: Making it work

As we continue with our Home Learning due to the international COVID-19 pandemic, I want to emphasize that learning can and will still take place for my students.  The location of that learning has changed, as will the schedule of that learning, but it will continue to happen. The biggest shift is that now you, the student, will need your own motivation to continue to learn.  The habits that you establish during this time will help set you up for future success as a learner!

For my students, I will continue to use Google Classroom as my primary digital platform for communicating with you.  I will also be using other apps and platforms that we have used throughout the school year, such as Flipgrid, Padlet, Edublogs (for my Advanced LA class), as well as the G Suite tools (doc, slides, and forms).  Zoom is the new platform that we will be using for video conferencing and lessons and I have added an option to use Google Hangouts.

And of course, all can follow me on Instagram @le.rdcaudill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, all do not have online access during this time, and paper versions of each assignment will be made available for those who need them.

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March 18

Let the Home Learning Begin! (aka School Closure)

On Friday, March 13, Logan Elm Schools began an extended school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  A “state of emergency” has been declared in our state (Ohio) and all schools have been ordered to close.  Since the closure of schools, restaurants, movie theaters, bowling alleys, gyms, and many others have been forced to close their doors in order to reduce the spreading of the coronavirus.

In less than a week’s time, our lives have completely changed.  Schools and teachers are preparing for an extended closure, preparing virtual learning lessons and also determining how to meet the many other needs of our students.

There are so many questions that we all have.  And there are no answers at this point, as things seem to be changing on a daily basis.  One thing that I DO know…we will get through this!  As a community, we will rally together to help each other.  We will be there for each other in any way we can.  How do I know this?  Because I know that #McDowellStudentsarethebest  and we are all part of #BraveNation.

I’ve been so encouraged by the work that my students are already doing on their own.  Now, more than ever, is a time for students to take charge of their learning beyond classroom walls.  I just miss their faces tremendously, so I’m extremely grateful for the technology that we have that allows us to stay connected through these unprecedented events.

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March 5

McDowell Jr High Wrestling Season

This year we had a pretty good Wrestling season. Though we didn’t place 1st at any tournament we made some big achievements for the size of our team. The reason I say “for the size of our team” is because we didn’t have 8 or 7 wrestlers, that like half of a team. Even with the disadvantage of the small team we still wrestled hard and came in top 5 or 10 in most of our tournaments. Tournaments that we went to often had around 20 teams. We only had problems with not being on weight with a couple of kids and only one problem with ringworm.

Even though we went to tournaments with 20 teams or more with a lot of competition when districts came around we faced some real good wrestlers. When some of the team went to districts we didn’t do so well, most of us were done wrestling by the 2nd round but some of us went to the 3rd and 4th round.  But that was at OAC Districts and there were still other districts that you could go to. That’s what two of our wrestlers did, they went to OHWAY Districts and won both of there weight classes. So we only have two wrestlers going to state but we have until next season to improve.

(TeamPic)

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March 3

Fun Facts Of Cattle

Cows first descended from a bull-like creature called an aurochs. Aurochs originated in India, then spread to China and the Middle East, eventually spreading into Northern Africa and Europe. The people started domesticating aurochs about 9,000 years ago, around 7,000 B.C.

The first cattle were brought to America by Christopher Columbus in 1493. Columbus took the cattle to the western hemisphere. Also, Hernando Cortez, another explorer, took offspring of the same cattle that Columbus took, to Mexico. Furthermore, Juan Batista de Anza brought 200 cattle to California so he could supply the California missions.

Today cattle are used for two main purposes. These purposes are meat and milk. Did you know that cattle produce about 25 billion pounds of meat each year? Holy cow, that is a lot! Cattle also provide people with leather and other by-products that are used to make different things. The hide from a full grown cow can make 144 baseballs, 20 footballs, or 12 basketballs. If you think that is a lot, think about this. The average American eats around 65 pounds of beef a year. Since there are around 327.2 million people in the U.S.A, that means there is around 21.268 billion pounds of meat consumed each year in the U.S.A!

Cattle have one stomach with four separate compartments. Each stomach has a different job that allows the cattle to digest their food. The digestive process of a cow is continuously regurgitating and chewing it again as cud. Since cattle thrive on grass, vegetation, and feed, they have to have this special digestive system. Cattle chew their cud for about 8 hours each day. When cattle are chewing their cud this means that they are healthy and happy.

The basic terms of cattle are:

Cow- Adult female that has produced a calf

Bull- Male animal

Steer- Male animal that has been castrated

Heifer- Young female that has not produced a calf

Hope you enjoyed these fun facts about cattle!

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March 2

It Approaches

Spring, the time of year where you get to put away your heavy winter coats in favor of your nice jacket. We will finally be able to say goodbye to those cold, dark mornings of winter and welcome the warmer, brighter mornings of spring instead. Well, that’s if you live in the northern hemisphere.

Just two weeks until we get to bask in the warmth of that giant ball of fire for longer and longer. No longer will we have to deal with ladybug impostors sneaking into our homes for warmth. However, everything has its equal. Instead we will get to deal with more insects as it gets warmer, like flies and bumblebees. Of course, those are the easier ones to deal with. The real terrors of the sky are the wasps and hornets that will come back from the dead and give us the sting of death. You know, the one that feels like someone jammed acid into your skin. It isn’t very far from the truth though. When wasps sting you they inject a basic venom when they sting you that would be much deadlier if we were smaller, or allergic.

Now, if you haven’t learned about the handy dandy ph levels in science yet, or have completely forgotten about the subject because it isn’t relevant anymore,  I’ll explain it to you really quick. The ph levels are a way to measure how corrosive something can be. Essentially the more acidic or basic something is that you touch, the worse it is going to hurt. Luckily, wasp sting are pretty mild when looked at on a scale, a simple addition of soap will take the pain away.

Thankfully, wasps are probably the worst things about spring, so we don’t have too much to worry about. Aside from the insects that seem to come out of nowhere, the pools will start to open up. So, get ready to dig out your favorite swimsuit and goggles, because soon the pools will start opening up, even that really nice underground one that everyone loves. Maybe they’ll even get out the really big floaties everyone loves.

Hopefully everyone is looking forward to the arrival of spring, we all know those few people that won’t shut up about how cold it is. If you aren’t looking forward to the bright, sunshine season that will come knocking at our door in less than two weeks, maybe you should buy a ticket to Australia. They’re just about to end their summertime fun with a big bang.

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February 26

The 7th grade Logan Elm braves season

The 7th grade Logan Elm Braves went undefeated during the season. They played every team twice and won all three of their playoff games including the championship game. In total they went 18-0.

 

They played Circleville Tigers, Liberty Union, Fairfield Union, Teays Valley East and Teays Valley West, Bloom Carroll, and Hamilton Township. They played Teays Valley East in the first playoff game. Then played Teays Valley West in the second playoff game. Finally played Fairfield Union in the championship game.

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February 24

Baseball Tryouts

At our school Logan Elm we have baseball tryouts. During baseball tryouts you tryout to make the team like in any sport. Whenever you tryout you normally go to the position that you are best at, so then the coach will see how good you are and pick you. Our 7th grade baseball coach is keeping 12 people on the team. The years before you played for your elementary school team. Logan elm has three elementary schools. Laurelville, Pickaway, and Washington. Whenever you still play for the elementary team there are different levels. The first level would be K-2, the next would be 1-2 , then it would be 3-4, and last but not least 5-6. Therefore those are some of the things about Logan elm.

The last two years for the elementary schools the 5-6 grade Laurelville team has won the championships, but now this year we combine all of the elementary school teams and that’s why the school only keeps 12 so everybody can have playing time. Also the biggest thing about 7th grade is now scouts for college watch to see how good you are. Most of the time people keep stats. My parents this year if I make the team are going to keep stats for me so I can study and see what I need to work on.  Another big thing is you might not make the team for the next year even though you made the team from the previous year. So that is why I recommend taking lessons for whatever sport you play. Like I do for baseball. It doesn’t have to be baseball, it can be basketball, football, soccer or whatever you play. Therefore that is a little about Logan Elm baseball and tryouts. 

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February 19

Showcase

Every year for competition dance, we do a showcase in February.  This year, it is this weekend.  Basically, it is a performance in front of friends and family to get us ready for real competitions.  At this one, I am performing four competition dances.  I am doing a solo, a duo, a group, and a production.  If you weren’t aware, a solo is one person, a duo is two, my group is six, and the production has thirty-three.  In the morning of the showcase, we have to practice on stage.  We must arrive at 8:30 am and we don’t get to leave until around 9 o’clock at night.  It is a very long day, especially for the little girls.  The youngest on the competition team is four years old.  Our February showcase is this weekend.

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February 19

Middle School Girls Basketball

The 2019-2020 seventh grade girls basketball team was coached by Chad Savage. In the first picture above starting from top left, Coach Savage, Mckenna 23, Bailey 34, Maggie 13, Kinsley 24, and Macie 22. On the bottom, from left, Gracie 4, Ella 3, Mia 14, and Hannah 11.

The eighth grade girls basketball team was coached by Tom Congrove, former Logan Elm girls Varsity coach. From top left in the picture, Kaitlyn 20, Katarina 4, Enaja 11, Coach Congrove, Brooke 10, Jenna 1, Addison 5, Cadence 35, September 15, Cadence 52, Tia 50, Clara 12, and Jenna 40.

For the seventh grade girls basketball team Hamilton Middle School did not have a seventh grade team, so there was an odd number of teams. Since there is an odd number, the number one seed Liberty Union got a bye and we did not have a play-in game. On Saturday, February 1st, the seventh grade team played Bloom Carroll, the number two seed. The seventh grade girls basketball team ended their season with a loss to Bloom Carroll.

 

There was an even amount of teams for the eighth grade level so they got a play-in game against Hamilton’s team on Thursday, January 30th. It was an extremely close game, but Logan Elm pulled it off and won 29 to 28. After that the eighth grade girls team played Bloom Carroll on Saturday, February 1st. The eighth grade girls basketball team ended their season with a loss to Bloom Carroll.

Both seventh and eighth grade basketball teams improved throughout the season. Everyone had fun and got along great. The 2019-2020 middle school basketball team was a great learning experience for all.

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