Friday, May 27, 2011

Physics 500

Cardboard race cars here is one of the heats

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Summer Vacation...

is almost here. I can't wait to head down to the house in Florida and settle in for some daily workouts, swimming and uninterrupted knitting. Throw in some golf and a few parties and summer vacation is perfect.

However this year we are taking a short detour before heading south and going east to central Europe. We will start with 4 days in Prague then head to Nuremburg and A riverboat cruise down the Danube ending in Budapest. To help with keeping track of our travels I have created a Google map I have included some information on each of the pin markers so you can learn a bit about each city we are visiting. Along the way I will do daily blogs with pictures to keep you updated on our travels.

We leave on the 21st of June. Need to call the airline to see if I can take my knitting on the plane. Quantas had a fit when they saw them on our trip to Austrailia.

The end is near....

one more day of classes and we are essentially finished for the 2010-2011 school year. It has been a whirlwind experience and so much fun with Charlie as our interim head. But alas his heart is in the classroom and not in the administrative side of school life. Jay arrives July 1 to take over. I know the faculty is welcoming but after our last experience we are understandably gun shy of someone new.

I spent a lot of time working with my colleagues in PLP and expanding my social networking knowledge. After many, many years I am being given a chance to have my own tech class. What an incredible opportunity to start a fresh class. There are so many topics I want to cover with the 6 graders. But are they up for the challenge? Of course we need to cover all of the Google apps, move them along with searching strategies using tools like Google Wheel, Quizlet comes to mind when thinking about study aids. Prezi is a must - they have got to be tired of powerpoint. DIgital Citizenship is a biggy. I will use Edmodo to work on their social networking skills. No Facebook in school. Of course there is the big documentary project the have so iMovie will take up a chunk of time. I have many more things on my list but I may try to bite off more than I can chew if I am not careful.

The summer will be spent sorting out all of the materials I gathered and sit down and write some concrete lesson plans. They will at least be a guide to follow once the students are in their seats. After that I punt.

It has been sometime that I can honestly say I will miss being in school.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Thank you Ms Jang

As a thank you to Ms Jang the 6th grade sang a song they learned in their mandarin class.

Author skype

P253

6th grade just read Red Scarf Girl and are skyping with the author Ji Li Jang