For the last several years, I've written a "what I did on my summer vacation" post. Mainly to show that it's no 3 month vacay. (And 3 months!? Really?) So here goes. Week long training at UNCG for clinical teachers. Had my "read and ride" donors choose grant funded. Went through the TED-X application process. (Accepted btw) PD on Exploring NC Digitally. Thanks to NCSLMA. Worked on campus about 20 days. I lost track. I was in more than I intended. Wrote 2 math books for Carson Dellosa - a 4th and a 5th. This took up the majority of summer. Went to the mountains for a few days with my girlfriends. Attended multiple meetings for school or NCSLMA. Applied for an admin program and scheduled a retirement meeting. The coupling of these two is bizarre, but I'm planning for every contingency. Mwahahaha What I planned but didn't do: Rework my school web page. Practice my Spanish. Plan like a library demon. Read a book a week. I re...

What to do with Kinders/1st grade the first week of school. Mmmmm Those early lessons are always a dilemma for me. I've got a lesson planned using David Goes to School. I'm really happy with the lesson, but I'm thinking it might not have enough pop for the first week. I'd love for the kids to check out books. So, I've been digging, and I found this: Children's Book Week: Kindergarten Style [gallery ids="5773,5774" type="rectangular"] What a great idea! Essentially kids are playing musical books (without anyone being eliminated). Kids are moving, exposed to a variety of books, and then they check one out. I think this one is a definite keeper.

Today is the 4th of July. American Independence. I watched a sad video where people could tell what they do on the day but not what the day represents. I was going to make a comment, but then I saw two posts in the few on the screen that bashed teachers for this lack of knowledge. I don't know about you, but I did not need to go to school to know what we celebrate on July 4! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJmNnEPZHW8&feature=share&list=PLAFEA994F0FAF5CD4&index=13 The day was not much different for me (since it is one of my summer days!). It was a beautiful day, so I read on the back deck for a while finishing Adrenaline . Then I: Cut out letters for banners in the library. Worked on the student page of the library website. Got a few station activities started. Cleaned out my desk and the office closet. (Which means a boatload of stuff for recycling and the shredder.) Started looking over the assignment for the 5th grade math book. Cooked out on the same dec...

For those of you who like to count something about your food, this site has some great numbers.       Look at these view numbers! Always amazes me when I get a Slide Share update and I see numbers in the 10,000s for views.               Worked on the alphabetizing game started the other day. NOT finished yet ;) Started a new book: Adrenaline [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="314"] Adrenaline[/caption]    

Barb Kibler linked to this on FB:   Uses of something similar in the library are rolling around in my head!