About a year in any case! Before the 2014-15 school year was over, I bought Marie Kondo's book. I really didn't think there was much I could learn. I am an organizer by nature. I can whip anything into shape. Maybe I wanted confirmation, and we were near the end of our home renovations. I was ready for a deeper level of cleaning things out. What I realized though is if you have more than one of a thing, you have to keep organizing them. You have to keep sorting them. You have to continuously remember where to put that obscure item you don't remember why you pulled out. So, we dug in. We kept things we liked. We gave away and discarded things we didn't like or use. Easy right!? Well, even for a cold-hearted soul like me, there were times that it wasn't all that easy. It was brutal to be brutal. And I thought I was. Yet, I'm still finding boxes and thinking, "that needs to go." I put a banker's box of electrical things out for Ron yesterday. I didn&#

Those of you who know me in real time, know I'm an organizational fiend. You've made a mess of it, I can whip it into shape. Thirty year mess? No problem! And I absolutely love it! But there are areas in which I struggle with organization. I have come to the conclusion that digitally organizing things just isn't always the most efficient way for me. Ideas - searching, gathering, and of course organizing them for easy retrieval (oh what the heck - even just remembering they were ever a thought in my head to begin with!). My random thoughts - weeding ideas lessons for mmmm lets say 6 grade levels ;) lessons for every subject that is taught or might be interesting to students ways kids can valuably respond to literature (can they please be fun too) doodles resembling art hand lettering ideas notebooks Bible studies articles on advocacy yes, I want to submit a proposal healthy meal plans oh man, I forgot to check the Google drive for NCSLMA Levi would

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.

I'm thinking about stations, so I wanted to share a couple of posts from http://fctlsocialmedia.wordpress.com that I wrote last year. This is Post 2.

I'm thinking about stations, so I wanted to share a couple of posts from http://fctlsocialmedia.wordpress.com that I wrote last year. This is the first one.

Last summer, I read  Destiny of the Republic   by Candice Millard. Possibly one of the best books I've ever read. Millard is a great story teller, but her subject was captivating. I'd not known much of Garfield before this except that his presidency was short. He was an intelligent, thoughtful man. He loved his family. He had huge faults, but truly cared for all citizens of the US. He was not a man to be bought. The efforts of  A. G. Bell to save his life was an amazing side story. Today, I'm being rather lazy and I came across a program on Amazon. American Experience: Murder of a President . It's not as good, not as thorough, not as well-rounded as  Destiny of a Republic,  but it is a good retelling of Garfield's life and death - flaws and all. We have no idea what Garfield might have done as president if he'd lasted longer than his half a year, but to think about the accomplishments and character of presidents past seems a good idea today.

The library is far enough along that I can walk away for a couple of weeks. Nonfiction started in an odd place, so I emptied a wall and started shifting. [gallery ids="5694,5695,5696" type="rectangular"] That empty book case will have to go somewhere else when I get back! There are 100s of things I still want to do, but for a few days, I'm going to rest, think about conferences and lesson plans, and plan what to do next! If you'd like to see all the pictures of this summer's progress in one place, visit my Pinterest Board.