Pete the Cat

The Life of a Teacher

So I'm preparing to leave one of the most beautiful places that I've ever been - Willowood Ranch in Sherman, TX. I attended the Willowood International Technology Summit with 40 absolutely brilliant educators from around the world. Real learning occurs when your heart is touched as well as your head. This week was filled with fun, contagious laughter, deep discussions, sincerity, humility and information. 

Summer Safari

The first week of summer safari is in the books!  Tons of fun and the kids are excited about learning. Teaching such a small group has taught me several things. There are some children that literally disappear in a large group of children. They have soft personalities and don't draw attention to themselves. They are polite and cooperative. It becomes easy for them to "fade" in a regular classroom setting. As a teacher, the demands to effectively manage a large group of young children has most definitely become more challenging. More students come to us with a great variety of issues including serious social, behavioral, emotional and academic deficiencies. Even so, the challenge remains the same. It is our responsibility to teach EVERY child. We are challenged to divide our time equally between ALL students. This is a shift in thinking for a lot of teachers. It is so EASY to give the majority of your attention to the students who so masterfully DEMAND it. It requires thoughtful reflection, sound classroom management and a fair amount of patience to accomplish this. Here are a few pics from summer safari. Enjoy!

Last Day

The kids taught me so much this year. I am thankful for my job. 

Field Day

We made it inside the gym RIGHT before the rain started!!😳

Field Day!

Vocabulary Parade

OSMO Magic

Check out the children's colored pencil portraits I've been working on. They will present them to their Mom for Mother's Day in a pretty frame☺️

OSMO Masterpiece

Here are the draft portraits I've been working on for Mother's Day gifts. The kids are excited!  What a cool tool the OSMO is!

Earth Day for Kids

What can kids do to take care of their earth?  Today, we talked about conserving water, recycling and not littering. Check out our awesome earth models!

Importance of Play

I'm so thankful that I work for an administration that respects children's need for play. Play is the WORK of children. 

OSMO fun😜

Exploring with OSMO

Just purchased this really cool tool for my classroom. Can't wait to play! #playosmo

Little Engineers

Our discussion about 3-d shapes led us to a YouTube video of a man describing basic engineering of structures for safety during earthquakes.  He modeled the principles of building (with marshmallows and toothpicks) and we experimented. It takes 12 toothpicks and 8 marshmallows to build a cube!