New Year, New Grade, New Classroom. . . OH MY!

     This summer has been full of workshops, gardening, riding my bike, and finding out that I'm moving to a new grade level!  This means that not only am I moving classrooms (a lot of work in and of itself), but I get to learn a new curriculum this year.  The same year we're introducing a new technology initiative.  And going further into the Common Core.

     My new fourth grade teammates have been wonderful.  Last year, they did "expert planning," where each person planned one subject for the whole grade level, resulting in each one becoming an expert in her subject.  Because of the changes in the reading and math curriculum this year, our team of six has divided in to two groups of three; one will plan math and the other will plan reading/language arts.  I'm know I'm going to learn so much from them!

     Now, on to my new room...  It's the same size and basic shape as my old room, but I'm going to have more students and bigger desks, so everything will need to be up against a wall in order to give us room to spread out and work in groups around the room.

This lovely super giant piece of furniture will (hopefully) be removed soon!  

 

Standing in the doorway, looking across the room toward the other door leading into another classroom.

My wall o' bulletin boards.  Soon to be a math board, student work wall, and data/daily objectives wall.

Still at the doorway, looking toward the front of the room and the ActivBoard.

Front corner:  teacher books, student coats/backpack hooks

Other end of the student hooks, cabinet and sink, doorway.

     And now for some close-ups!

A super cute wall sticker I got from the dollar store!  I stuck him to my filing cabinet to make it less industrial and office drab-looking.

My new small group area in front of the student work wall.  The red fabric is coming down--I need a new, calming color.

I have at least 8 boxes of books I'll need to sort through and decide how I want to organize them this year.

     I will post pictures as I decorate, arrange, and organize.  Please leave me some feedback and let me know what you like!

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A Tech Savvy Summer

Can you imagine 150 teachers in a high school cafeteria tweeting their questions, answers, ideas, and comments during a workshop?  That's what we've been doing this week! 

My friend, Kim, tweeting during our workshop.

 The happy Hounddogs of Halls Elementary school won a technology challenge put forth by our district, and we are one of 11 schools that are working toward integrating more and more technology into our curriculum... hopefully ending with 1:1 tech in each classroom (as of now, elementary classrooms are getting 5 student devices plus a teacher device, not 1:1, but getting there). We've been spending this week working together and learning about constructivist and connectivist educational theories, and learning how to implement them in our classrooms via iPad and Web 2.0 apps.  It's so exciting!   (and a little scary)

Stay tuned as I navigate through using this new shift in teaching philosophies in my classroom {and try to do better in keeping this blog updated!}  

And if you want to follow me on twitter, I've got a professional account @mslmiller123

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More Summer Fun

     When you were a kid, did you ever wonder what your teacher did after all the kids were gone for the day?  Or better yet, what she did over the summer?  It's sometimes hard for kids to picture their teachers out of context, and it's always fun for me to ask my munchkins to think outside the box {or rather, outside the classroom} and find out what they think I do when I'm not at school teaching.  One of my back to school activities this year is going to be to have the kids share what they did this summer and write about what they think I did.  {more on that in a later blog post.}

     So, what AM I doing this summer?  Besides going to workshops next month, doing DIY projects around the house, and making recipes and crafty things I found on Pinterest, I've been busy relaxing and having fun with Wagner, my dog.

 Wagner loves to relax in the air conditioning.

He also loves to watch the Today Show.  Especially when they show animal videos.

 

 

 

 

     Earlier this week I went with nine of my teacher friends on a white water rafting trip.  That's right... White. Water. Rafting.  I was leery of it at first, having never done anything like it before, and realizing that I could be seriously injured {or worse}.  Once we got to Outdoor Adventure Rafting on the Ocoee River, I started to feel better because they were very professional and took WONDERFUL care of us.  We got a safety lesson, our helmets, paddles, and PFDs {NOT a life jacket, it turns out!}, then loaded the bus.  Then we went rafting.

      We had 5 people on each boat, and went through several class 4 rapids.  It was so much fun!

     A special thanks to our guides, Taylor and Donnie, who took such great care of us out on the Ocoee River.






     We laughed the whole time, even during the scary parts!  I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat!  We were able to eddy out and go swimming in one of the calmer parts of the river, but the fun part was getting back into the boat.  One thing I learned is that it's really hard to swim upstream and pull each other into the boat when you're laughing hysterically. 



     On another note.....

 

     I'm really excited to reveal my super-secret crochet project I've been playing with.  I haven't told ANYONE about it because I wasn't sure I could get the pattern to work out correctly.  I was cleaning out a closet a couple of weeks ago and found some skeins of variegated yarn, and I decided to see what I could do with them, and here it is--my new bag!  I've never made anything before without using a pattern, and I had to try it a few times {and take it out again} before I got the hang of it.  I love the way the spacing of the colors makes a plaid pattern on the sides.  It's the perfect size to take to the library with me and use for selecting new books to read {I heart the library!}.

  I promise that next week's blog post will be more school-oriented, but I'm having trouble staying focused with all the fun going on!

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Summer is . . .

   . . . a time to relax and recharge after a long, stressful, and sometimes grueling school year. 

   . . . a time to take a vacation and get away from the daily grind.

   . . . a time to catch up on housework, DIY projects, and crafts I've been meaning to do.

     Well, two out of three ain't bad.  I'm not going anywhere farther than my sister's house and my boyfriend's house this summer, so I'll have plenty of time to work on the other two items on my summer list.

     I've been spending time hanging out on the couch and in the backyard with Wagner, my dog.  We've been weeding the garden, cutting back all the overgrown plants, and gazing at the local flora and fauna.  Wagner has made it an Olympic sport to try to keep all the squirrels out of the yard.  He's tried to make friends with the rabbits, but they don't seem to understand that having a 70 pound dog running at to them is a gesture of friendliness. 

giant leopard moth

     As far as crafts and DIY projects, I've been busy with those, too.   I finally replaced the leaky faucet in the kitchen.  I've never done anything like it by myself before, and it was very rewarding to see it complete (and no leaks!).

The boyfriend trying to loosen the bolts.  Unfortunately we didn't have the right tools and had to stop that day.  He had to work the next day, so I finished by myself.

After finally getting the old faucet off. I had to stop and go back to the store to get longer connections since the old ones were a half inch too short.

 Yay!  A new working faucet!

     The next craft I tried came from a crafty blog I found on Pinterest.  It's called Creating Laura {I LOVE the name :^) } and it has some great ideas.  I have a ton of old t-shirts that I can't throw out because I keep thinking I can use them for something.  I decided to make a no-sew workout shirt using this pattern, and it worked out really well.

before - an old, super large t-shirt I got for free somewhere

after - my new workout tank

      I've also been working on some school stuff {which I've added to my Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook stores} that I'll  highlight in a later blog post.  For now, I'm going back outside to work some more in the yard and throw Wagner's toy with him.

    

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