Summer is here!

I am so excited to start this new blog (June 2013).  I love teaching...been lovin' it for 23 years, ten of them in third grade.  A retired 3rd grade teacher once told me that to her, "third grade is the 'country club' of elementary.' "  I laughed, and then I thought about what she meant.  It's really a great place to be.  Third graders are still so sweet and little, but they can do so much.  It's like the perfect age.  (I love all the other grade levels I've taught, but I hope to stay in third grade as long as I possibly can!)

 I love to learn new tricks. (sounds like a bio for an SPCA adoption!?)  I spend my summer doing
lots of family stuff, but when I get any time at all, I spend it thinking about how I can improve something I'm already doing in the classroom or learn something new.  Don't get me wrong, I don't voluntarily spend my summer in training.  I do go to trainings, hope they are meaningful, but I spend most of my learning time reading blogs and researching how to do stuff better.  Pinterest has inspired my organizational skills.  I've got so many boards that my boards have boards.  I love it though!

I've recently been working on gathering materials for Daily 5 in my classroom.  Our school started Daily 5 this past year, the whole school, K-6.  Some people were already doing it, others of us were doing small groups and not calling it Daily 5, but we're all on the same page now.  I've got enough book boxes (thank you Target Dollar Spot).  They are "my colors," so I was thrilled.  We have a great leveled book room, so we'll be filling those right up as soon as possible when school starts. 

I just found out right before school was out that I'm getting some iPad minis!! Yea!!  So excited about that.  I chose the minis because I could get more devices.  As it turned out, I should've asked for more than I did.  I am always too conservative when it comes to asking for stuff,  I think it's something my mom taught me.  Southern manners and all that, you know.  Gotta work on that and become bolder! Anyway,  I will have to learn how to use them, but the kids will probably know more than I do, so we'll find some great apps together for math practice, "listen to reading," and probably 100 other things.