Yikes! Blogging is Hard!

Hi!

Okay...

Yes. I am not the best blogger out there. No, I have not posted since September. Yes, that is bad. However...here's a bit of why!

Well, I think any teachers reading this know just how hard the start of the school year is. And when you aren't a solid blogger to begin with, it's one of the first things to fly out the window. Added to the start of the year crazy was the whole finishing-my-practicum for my masters thing. That took me until Christmas, and holy cow, was it a LOT of work!

Well, a month after Christmas, and here I am, back to give blogging another go! Here is what I am up to lately...

Lots and lots of SNOW. Yep, I live in Michigan, and we've gotten lots of the frozen white stuff this year. It's meant lots of days off from school (today included, and tomorrow highly likely).

Sewing :) I started sewing rather unexpectedly about two years ago, when I dove in head first making a doll for my niece. Two years later, my three daughters all now have new dolls (which 2/3 of them requested two years ago). I am finishing up the quilt for my youngest daughter's doll, as well as handsewing three little inchworms for my girls. I am finding it really relaxing!

Being a dance/tumbling mom. It's not much compared to many parents, but two nights a week at the dance studio is a lot for me.

Spending time with my family. This has been the nicest side effect of being done with "school"...I can close my computer, and BE with my family. My husband and I have been watching movies, Sherlock, Doctor Who, etc. So nice to spend time together.

But wait...this is a teaching blog, not a personal life blog! So...what have I been up to as a teacher?

Trying to adjust to our new method of providing interventions to our at-risk students. This has been hugely challenging for me. Not that I don't know how to reach them, but making the groupings work, managing the rest of class while I (and my assistant) are working with groups. This has been HUGELY challenging for me, and I have been brainstorming ways to improve what I am doing. It helps that my practicum is over, and now I can try to address student needs in the ways *I* think are appropriate, rather than to fit into a pre-outlined plan of intervention.

I am super excited because I have been asked to speak for TWO sessions at the MACUL conference here in Michigan. MACUL is the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning, and I have gone to the conference for the past five years. I LOVE it, and always come back SO fired up for teaching with and learning from technology. I get to give the two presentations I have posted in my last post, and I can't wait! I am going to be busy over the next month polishing those presentations up, adding information, removing unnecessary "stuff" and so on. Very excited, but also very, very nervous to present! Plus, Erin Klein (who is amazing) is presenting at the conference as well, and ALSO speaking on Pinterest in Education...no pressure there!!! Yikes!

We also just found out that our district has been selected to pilot the new K-2 Common Core assessment. We are all working to keep a positive attitude about this (more assessment?), and keeping the point of view that we get to give honest, brutal feedback about how the whole process goes. It's a little overwhelming, but we'll figure it out!

Our principal softened the blow by sharing the news that our building is FINALLY catching up with others in the district in terms of technology! We are going to get more netbooks for our students to use, new (refurbished) computers for staff, and 2 iPads for every classroom! WOW!!! (May I just say...the teachers in my building have NEVER had "new" computers...we have always gotten hand-me-downs from other buildings, with Do Not Resuscitate notices attached (well, not really, but the tech guys all know...if a computer in our building breaks, don't waste your time fixing it), so this is a HUGE deal!!! We thought we were hot stuff finally getting upgraded from Microsoft Office 2003 earlier this year!).

Hmmm...Have I blathered on enough? I am excited to be blogging again, to be able to use this blog as a place to reflect, share, and build my PLN. Thanks for stopping by to read, I'm off to catch up on some blog reading of my own!

Becca