I had planned to post a bit more often as the school year wrapped up, but things got hectic, and I decided to focus on my students. I have lots to catch up on like sharing what a success our space camp activities were with our science students. But today, I wanted to reflect on… Continue reading Celebrating an Amazing Year
Category: Experiences
How do you find a balance between responsibility and failure?
I have been thinking/struggling/wondering about this dilemma lately. Which is more important? Helping students learn responsibility and how to meet deadlines or Showing students that it is okay if your “learning timeline” is different from others At my core, I believe the most important thing is for my students to learn – and to nurture… Continue reading How do you find a balance between responsibility and failure?
Practicing Quiet
Thursday was a bluster of noise and activity as students learned about the planets exchanging partners every few minutes to share information on their “home” planet. My classroom is often like this. Lots of movement. Lots of noise. Lots of sharing. Lots of laughing. But I realized that perhaps we don’t spend enough time in… Continue reading Practicing Quiet
Enjoying the Moments
33. 32. 31. 30. 29 days left. It seems like all the other teachers around me are counting down the days until the end of the school year, anxiously awaiting the moment the last bell rings. But I’m wishing the days would slow down. I’m hoping I can ignore the reminders of the small amount… Continue reading Enjoying the Moments
And Now for Something Completely Different
As I was getting ready for school this morning, I couldn’t help but reflect on the lesson we wrapped up in class yesterday. It was a compare/contrast lesson looking at Pluto in relationship to both the eight planets and the Kuiper Belt Objects. The point of the lesson was to highlight the reasons Pluto is… Continue reading And Now for Something Completely Different
A Seating Experiment
Today was the first day back from spring break. The school year is rapidly drawing to a close. I have regular classroom time with my kids the next two weeks, and then we have our state testing. After state testing is over, we begin our space camp in sixth grade activities, so I won’t have… Continue reading A Seating Experiment
Creativity: Sketchbook Projects & Exploration Journals
Last fall, I was challenged to participate in the Sketchbook Project by Malyn Mawby, a friend in Australia I met through Twitter. I don’t really consider myself an artist, but I do think I am artistic at times, and I definitely have some creative tendencies. Also, I took a watercolor painting class one summer when… Continue reading Creativity: Sketchbook Projects & Exploration Journals