Happy Holidays!

The shopping is done. The presents are wrapped. (I’m ready for a little nap!)

It’s time to party, spend time with family friends and enjoy our time together!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Photo source: fossil

Motto

This is my motto.

(I’m almost finished with my degree. Almost!)

This week...

This week is going to be busy! But I am waaaay too blessed to be stressed, right? As long as I’ve got a load of caffeine pumping through my veins, I’m gonna be allllllright!

Also, with the holidays just around the corner, I can’t help but buzz around the house/classroom with a little extra excitement!

Have a wonderful week!

photo source: http://www.ilovedust.com/project/view/Amelie/product

Ha! Ha!

Thought you might like a little laugh on Hump Day :-)

A Good Reminder

This is such a good reminder for me right now. Can I get an “Amen”?!

I’m enjoying the new month, the season change and looking forward to my parent conferences this week, but sometimes I load a little too much onto my plate and I need this little sign to guide me.

I hope you’re enjoying the changing weather and the growth you’re seeing in your students, too! Have a wonderful week!

Whoa! AHHH! Ooooo! Umph!

What?! Summer’s over?!

School started?!

Grad school classes are back in session?!

Wait, what?! We need a new roof?!

Yes, life is in FULL SWING around here! How about you? :-)

I’ve been blessed with a snuggly little group of 20 kindergartners, the best team of teachers and super classroom parents. My husband is still the most supportive ever and more ideas are swimming around in my brain than I can handle. The summer began with optimistic hopes of writing, writing, writing and it soon turned into a summer of living, exploring, memory making and keeping cool (we’ve had an unbelievable heat wave)! Hopefully, I can carve out a few moments to share about each.

Back to my little study room! Ta-ta!

TEPSA 2011

Oh my goodness! I had SO MUCH FUN at TEPSA this year! I met some wonderful principals that are incredibly dedicated to helping their teachers help children. Absolutely beautiful!

My session was called “Come On Principals, Let’s Do the Twist!” I presented on ways teachers can twist their current curriculum and integrate technology and the fine arts. I designed a web site (instead of a power point) so attendees could be interactive and bookmark some of the sites we visited together. Check it out if you’d like - it’s under the ‘Lessons’ tab.

This is a shot of the room before we started:

It was a lovely facility, but I quickly learned it was a dead zone for the internet. (Ahhhhh! Remember how I said I created a website for principals to click through with me?! Again, Ahhhhhhhh!) I was able to manage through the presentation, but I know some folks were frustrated they couldn’t play along. I hope they were still able to glean some good info for their staff.

I actually connected with two lovely ladies I knew from former schooling/work (like this sweet gal above). Ya know when you see someone you recognize but you can’t place from where...this picture is the moment I was saying “I went to collage here, worked there, how about you? ” (Don’t you love those moments?! I’m sure I’ll remember in three months when I’m doing something random like washing my hair!)

Here I am with my dear, sweet, wonderful friends Mark and Debbie Lukert. Have Mark come to your school and speak with your students and/or staff - I promise, you won’t regret it!! I feel so blessed to call them friends! Debbie and I could sit and talk education philosophy till our tongues fall out! She’s the best!

I LOVE that face...I think we were on photo take #5 by then :-) 

Oh TESPSA! Such a fabulous time...are you over already?!?!

Also, I want to say a big thank you to all the principals that wrote such positive evaluations of my presentations! I wish I knew who you were so I could send you all a thank you card!!

It's a big, big world out there...Twitter

Last weekend, I went to EdCamp Plano. It’s a grass-roots movement sweeping the country - a time when amazing educators simply collide on a designated day and share their ideas. Educators can show up with a presentation they’d like to give, sit/listen/learn or simply hang out and connect with other educators. I went to a class on brain-based research (a topic I always love) by Diane at fortheloveofteaching.net. (You can check out her presentation there.)

I also gave the idea of creating my own PLN (Professional Learning Network) by joining Twitter a try - to see what educators are talking about...so I joined! Feel Free to follow me!

nsmithk4

Kevin Henkes

This month I’m posting an entire writing unit as the ‘Spring 2011 Newsletter’. It focuses on using quality literature for children to model their writing after and then use it to springboard into their own writing style. I chose Kevin Henkes (since many teachers already own several of his books) and I’ve always enjoyed his style and voice.

Happy Writing!

(This unit can also be found under the Lessons tab and downloaded as a PDF.)

State Testing Time

Are you ready?

Is it just me or has this whole thing gotten way out of hand?

Jump Around

Jump around

Jump around

Jump up, Jump up and get down

Spring break, Baby! While I have a break from my job - I still have schooling to attend to.

(I know, right?! What kind of college doesn’t have spring break?!)

Oh well, still VERY happy to have some extra time to play and JUMP AROUND!

photo source: unknown, lyrics: house of pain

The Writing Process

The class I am taking now is actually called ‘Teaching the Writing Process’ and I am soaking up every delicious morsel! We get to free write about personal experiences everyday, then at the end of the week, we post our writings and all the students read each other’s writing and discuss. Free feedback on my writing - GREAT! Don’t people usually have to pay editors for things like that?!

So I’ve been having a blast trotting down memory lane and snickering at all the wacky adventures I got myself into as a child. Seriously, I don’t know how my parents and teachers put up with me! God bless them!

Maybe after my first critique, I’ll post a couple of the stories for your own amusement.

Happy Weekending everyone! :-)

Photo source unknown

Internet to the rescue!

I’ve finished my secondary lit class (yippee!) and have two days before my next starts (the writing process). I have plenty to keep me busy around the house, but this darn internet machine keeps drawing me in like a moth to the flame. I find myself doing random things like reading every blog I’ve ever bookmarked, dreaming of different nail polish colors, virtually trying on glasses, watching a baby audition and just about anything else to avoid anything on the ol’ to-do list.

Sick Day

I only wish I was home faking it. :-(

Don’t you wish some days you could feel as carefree about missing school as you did as a teenager. All I can think about today is the parent conference (I am not prepared for) tomorrow, the assessments reports that are also due and the last bit of report card prep that is hanging over my head.

Oh well, back to bed for me.

Words from this Week

Today, as I was reading with a child-

Me: You did a great job reading that book.

Child: Yeah, reading is my first best thing.

Me: That's good.

Child: No, wait! Reading is my second best thing.

Me: Oh, what is your first?

Child: Playing Wii.

Testing computer vocabulary in the lab-

Me: What do you call this part of the computer (pointing to the monitor)?

Child: Ther-monitor?

This happened to another K teacher in my town this week-

Child to Teacher: We really liked that prostitute yesterday.

Teacher: Excuse me?

Child: That prostitute lady. You know, the lady that teached us when you were absent? She was really nice.

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best in 2011!

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