Happy New (school) Year!!!

I'm new to the blogging world. In fact, I'm so new, I probably won't even tell anyone I'm doing this until I have lots of fun activities to post. So for now, I guess it's just for me! I wanted a place to post all my math/science activities, posters, journal entries, etc. The reason is simply for communication. I've always e-mailed my students' parents each Friday to let them know what has happened throughout the week, but now I'd like to take it a step farther and actually show them all our hard work! Lots of what we do is in our journals, so unfortunately the parents don't always see all our great entries until conferences. Now, assuming I can keep it together, they'll get to see all the fabulous thinking going on in a much more timely manner!

I'm very excited about the new year beginning on Monday!! This is my sixth year of teaching (fifth year teaching 4th grade) and my team and I work very hard to make sure each new year is our best! My school district has made summer professional development a huge priority, and I feel very fortunate that over the last six years I have have been able to see/hear some of the most amazing minds in our field speak on what's best for kids. I honestly feel if my district is going to be generous enough to bring in these incredible speakers, I should be humble enough to listen and learn. The day I stop learning is the day I need to pack it up and move on! I can't wait to start using all the knowledge I gained this summer!

So, having said all that, let's see if I can keep this blog going once the craziness of school starts...Wish me luck!