What is our Theme this month?

It's my party!

Dearest Kiddies,

Thank you for making my _ _th birthday filled with lots of love and warm memories.

Miss Lou loves you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Room 401!

Which country did this celebration come from?










Andrew (Mr. Crazy Face), Anne (trying to get away from Mr. Crazy Face), Felicia (smiling cute!) and ________ are all wearing their alliteration crowns proudly.

Challenge: Write an alliteration about the student hiding in the back.

Revenge of the Right Brain (Parents)

Growing up in a middle-class family, in the middle of America, in the middle of the 1970s - parents dished out a familiar plate of advice to their children:

Get good grades.
Go to college.
Pursue a profession that offers a decent standard of living and prestige...

and...

If you were good at math and science, become a doctor.
If you were better at English and history, become a lawyer.
If blood grossed you out and your verbal skills needed work, become an accountant.

Later, as computers appeared on desktops and CEOs on magazine covers, the youngsters who were really good at math and science chose high tech, while others flocked to business school, thinking that success was spelled MBA. But a funny thing happened while we were pressing our noses to the grindstone:

The world changed.

The future no longer belongs to people who can reason with computer-like logic, speed, and precision. It belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind. Today - amid the uncertainties of an economy that has gone from boom to bust to blah - there's a metaphor that explains what's going on. And it's right inside our heads.

Scientists have long known that a neurological Mason-Dixon line cleaves our brains into two regions - the left and right hemispheres. But in the last 10 years, thanks in part to advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers have begun to identify more precisely how the two sides divide responsibilities.

The left hemisphere handles sequence, literalness, and analysis.

The right hemisphere, meanwhile, takes care of context, emotional expression, and synthesis.

Of course, the human brain, with its 100 billion cells forging 1 quadrillion connections, is breathtakingly complex. The two hemispheres work in concert, and we enlist both sides for nearly everything we do. But the structure of our brains can help explain the contours of our times.

Until recently, the abilities that led to success in school, work, and business were characteristic of the left hemisphere. They were the sorts of linear, logical, analytical talents measured by SATs and deployed by CPAs. Today, those capabilities are still necessary. But they're no longer sufficient. In a world upended by outsourcing, deluged with data, and choked with choices, the abilities that matter most are now closer in spirit to the specialties of the right hemisphere - artistry, empathy, seeing the big picture, and pursuing the transcendent.

Beneath the nervous clatter of our half-completed decade stirs a slow but seismic shift. The Information Age we all prepared for is ending. Rising in its place is what I call the Conceptual Age, an era in which mastery of abilities that we've often overlooked and undervalued marks the fault line between who gets ahead and who falls behind.

To some of you, this shift - from an economy built on the logical, sequential abilities of the Information Age to an economy built on the inventive, empathic abilities of the Conceptual Age - sounds delightful. "You had me at hello!" I can hear the painters and nurses exulting. But to others, this sounds like a crock. "Prove it!" I hear the programmers and lawyers demanding.

OK. To convince you, I'll explain the reasons for this shift, using the mechanistic language of cause and effect.

The effect: the scales tilting in favor of right brain-style thinking. The causes: Asia, automation, and abundance.

Revenge of the Right Brain Continues (For Parents)

Until recently, the abilities that led to success in school, work, and business were characteristic of the left hemisphere. They were the sorts of linear, logical, analytical talents measured by SATs and deployed by CPAs. Today, those capabilities are still necessary. But they're no longer sufficient. In a world upended by outsourcing, deluged with data, and choked with choices, the abilities that matter most are now closer in spirit to the specialties of the right hemisphere - artistry, empathy, seeing the big picture, and pursuing the transcendent.

Liberated by this prosperity but not fulfilled by it, more people are searching for meaning. From the mainstream embrace of such once-exotic practices as yoga and meditation to the rise of spirituality in the workplace to the influence of evangelism in pop culture and politics, the quest for meaning and purpose has become an integral part of everyday life. And that will only intensify as the first children of abundance, the baby boomers, realize that they have more of their lives behind them than ahead. In both business and personal life, now that our left-brain needs have largely been sated, our right-brain yearnings will demand to be fed.

As the forces of Asia, automation, and abundance strengthen and accelerate, the curtain is rising on a new era, the Conceptual Age. If the Industrial Age was built on people's backs, and the Information Age on people's left hemispheres, the Conceptual Age is being built on people's right hemispheres. We've progressed from a society of farmers to a society of factory workers to a society of knowledge workers. And now we're progressing yet again - to a society of creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers.

To flourish in this age, we'll need to supplement our well-developed high tech abilities with aptitudes that are "high concept" and "high touch." High concept involves the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to come up with inventions the world didn't know it was missing. High touch involves the capacity to empathize, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one's self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning.

Developing these high concept, high touch abilities won't be easy for everyone. For some, the prospect seems unattainable. Fear not (or at least fear less). The sorts of abilities that now matter most are fundamentally human attributes. After all, back on the savannah, our caveperson ancestors weren't plugging numbers into spreadsheets or debugging code. But they were telling stories, demonstrating empathy, and designing innovations. These abilities have always been part of what it means to be human. It's just that after a few generations in the Information Age, many of our high concept, high touch muscles have atrophied. The challenge is to work them back into shape.

Want to get ahead today? Forget what your parents told you. Instead, do something foreigners can't do cheaper. Something computers can't do faster. And something that fills one of the nonmaterial, transcendent desires of an abundant age. In other words, go right, young man and woman, go right.

Adapted from A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age, copyright © by Daniel H. Pink, to be published in March by Riverhead Books.

Ocean Wildlife

What is on our class mural?

In January, our class made a three-layer mural consisting of all the different ocean wildlife mammals. Students painted the top layer and drew the underwater creatures on black construction paper using chalk and pastels.

We had soo much fun...what will be next?

Hi Suchi!

What are you looking at?
Anything interesting to report to the class?

Please Write Back!!!

Love,
Room 401

Our Solar System is Cool!!!

Tell me how many planets are in our solar system. Do you know them in order?

True Friends...

Help you see the forest before the trees.
Keep secrets.
Are the best mirrors.
Always give words of encouragements.
Share memories of the good old days-and dreams of days to come.
Light up your life when you’re in the dark.
Remember your birthday but forget your age.
Know laughter can be the best medicine.
Hear old stories with new ears.
Allow you to think out loud.
Read you a book.
Are on time (most of the time)
Are there at every turn of the road.
Like fine wine, are better with time.
Find comfort in the little things.
Listen when no one else hears.
Will tell you when an outfit is not you.
Are not offended when you put them on hold.
Don’t always agree.
Love you for who you are.
Pick you up when you’re feeling down.
Remind you to have a sense of humor about yourself.
Enjoy sharing special talents.
See you through love lost and weight gained.
Like good health, are even more valued when they are lost.
Help you stretch your mind as well as your body.
Make going to the smallest place like an adventure.
Never feel far apart even when oceans are between them.
Share good advice.
Share gossip and never tell.
Help you when going gets tough.
Share a philosophy of life.
Share thoughts and dreams.
Welcome a storm in search of a rainbow.

the Whales on the Bus go Round and Round

Tell me fun facts about the two different types of whales!




What do you know about toothed whales?
What do you know about baleen whales?










Come on! Come on!! Tell me what you know!

Nathan and His Sweet V-Day Present

Dear Nay,

Thank you for your creative Valentine's Day present to me. How did you know I LOVE to eat fruit? The orange was tasty, juicy and very delicious.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,
Miss Lou

Yum, yum...or yucks!

Tell me some fun facts about this huge Whale eyeball!!!

Is is yucky or cool to you?

What is Darien eating??

What activity were we doing with the little paper cups and snacks?

Write a math problem that we did on the 100th Day of School.

Guess who these twins are?

Tell me in the Comment below.

Are they REALLY twins???

You'll Never Believed What Happened to Me...

I once went to China; it was a lot of fun. I watched a small television at my neighbor's house. I liked it because I could watch for a very long time. My grandpa went to buy me yummy breakfast everyday: fresh soy mild and fried strip thing made of wheat flour. I went to the Yellow Mountain with my mom, brother, cousin, uncle and my aunt. I rode on a big boat and climbed the mountain. My mom took to Suzhou with my brother and cousin. At Suzhou, I went to a lot of beautiful parks, peeled lotus seeds and look at ants under a big ancient tower. I also played at a toyland and an arcade. I stayed in a hotel in Suzhou. We stayed there for three days before I went back to my grandparent's house.

Christina, age 7

Thank you Christina for the beautiful roses! They are brightening up my home.

Love always, Miss Lou

Why I Live in Fremont

My mom and dad decided to live in Fremont because it is the center of the Silicon Valley. Fremont is a safe city because of the low crimes. My neighborhoods are nice because one neighbor gave me a shirt when I was a baby. The street is very quiet. The house's price is reasonable. Our house is near the shopping malls. There are a lot of tennis courts in Fremont. My house is close to Forest Park Elementary school. A lot of nice, good and helpful friends live in Fremont too. The weather here is pleasant. I love Fremont. Yah!

Kelvin, age 7
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First of all, my dad works close. We need a house near his company. We came here because Forest Park school is a very good school. My mom and dad like outdoor activities. Fremont has a lot of outdoor parks: Mission Peak, Dry Creek and Central Park. And last, the house in Fremont are cheaper.

Nathan, age 7
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My mom and dad made Fremont my home because the school is better and the house is cheaper. I live in Fremont because I like it very much. My house is in Ardenwood area. I like Fremont because the weather is nice. I love the swimming school. The big park in Fremont is lots of fun. The park has slides and swings. There is a long trail around the lake. I could ride my bike around the lake. The Mission Peak hills has a very, very good view. I could see far, far away up there. I could see lots of houses, freeways with big and small cars, a lake and the bay. On the way up, I could see cows.

Christina, age 7
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My family came because there is a good school.
My family came because there are some good neighbors.
My family came because the carpet was clean.
My family came because there was a big front yard and backyard just for our family to play in it, lots of shops are nearby and we can go there by walking. Ardenwood and Coyote Hills is nearby too and we can go exercise every week. It is a good place to be home.

Marvin, age 7
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Fremont is a nice place to live. it is a medium size city. Fremont is also very close to big cities such as San Francisco and San Jose. There are many quiet and safe neighborhoods in Fremont. There are many shopping malls around the city. Weather in Fremont is very comfortable all year around. Fremont is a comfortable and reassuring place to live.

Felicia, age 7
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Fremont is the center for most of the major cities. It's easy to get jobs around Fremont without moving. That was the main reason my parents moved here eight years back before I was born. As they started living here, slowly they started lvoing the city for its friendly people, great community, lost of attractions in and around Fremont, good restaurants, plenty of shops, and non-stop activities. Last but not least, the fame of Forest Park Elementary school made my parents buy a house here. I think my parents made a wise choice. Fremont is a wonderful, lively and friendly city. I am loving it more and more everyday and I think, so does everybody.

Arvind, age 7
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Thank you students for writing so well! I am so so so sooooooooooooo proud of each one of you.

I will include more writings soon.

Miss Lou

Group 1

Thank you to ALL our wonderful parents that came for the field trip. We sure are lucky to have such dedicated and caring chaperones!

Guess who's hand is in this picture?

Tired

A few of us were tired, but many of us had enough energy to play and laugh on the way back from a long day out.

How did you feel?

What did you have for lunch?

For our field trip, we packed a bag lunch and ate at a very beautiful cafeteria that looks out to the beautiful Bay Area.

Do you know what city the bus took us? What did you pack for lunch?