Etch 'n Sketch Reflections

So, this has been somewhat of a traveling summer for me! We had our big family trip to Disney World a month ago, and on Sunday I leave for a school trip. I will be attending the CAST Annual UDL Symposium at Harvard Law School. CAST is the Center for Applied Special Technology, and the symposium is focusing on empowering learners. http://www.cast.org/ I will be joining a colleague, Mark Thompson, on this journey. What's really cool about this trip is that I won't just get to learn more about UDL, but we are also presenting! We will be showcasing some of the great work that the teachers in our school district have been doing to empower learners through the use of Canvas Learning Management System. I am honored to be representing our district along with Mark, but the credit really has to go to the teachers who developed the Canvas learning opportunities for their students. I am really excited about this trip! I've gone to conferences before, but never at this level! Thi...

I don't want to really point this out, but it just kind of dawned on me that summer is already halfway over (I know, I'm sorry if I just ruined your day). But, like every summer, it has just flown by! A couple getaway weekends, a trip to Disney, some curriculum development (which isn't as useful now that I made my recent switch to 7/8 science, but still worthwhile to get in the middle-school mindset), time at the gym and on the treadmill, working in the concession stands at the ball diamond, going to Olivia's sporting events, a binge session or two (or three or four) on Netflix; all of these and more have helped to fill my days. I can say that I have enjoyed my summer thus far, and I will continue to work hard to make sure the second half is just as good as the first! So, I mentioned that switch to 7/8 science. I have some additional information I can share now that it seems to have settled in. I will be teaching a block of 7th grade science and two blocks of 8th grad...

If you have been following my blog journey, then you know that next year will be an adventure due to my move to the new middle school. However, that adventure just went though some changes. I was slated to teach 6th grade math and science next year. However, as of Wednesday, my new adventure will now consist of 7th and 8th grade science! I'll be honest, I was taken aback when I first received the invitation from the middle school principal to make the switch, and it was an email that I needed to read through a few times and really ponder. My teaching partner and I had already done some of our prep work for next year, and I've been familiarizing myself with the 6th grade standards and curriculum on my own. However, the email explained that filling this open position would be beneficial to the school and students, so I took another leap! I was really looking forward to working with my new teaching partner and putting into practice the prep work that we had prepared. But, when re...

Seeing as how much of the work that I'm doing this summer is simply built around acclimating myself to the work sixth graders will be doing, I've been using some of my at-home time to explore a website that I periodically used when I was teaching 3rd grade. The website is betterlesson.com and I recommend it for anyone looking for interesting and engaging lessons. All the lessons are correlated to the standards, and, in many cases, they are part of larger units. The site offers lessons across the grade levels, and are organized by the CCSS for math and language arts as well as NGSS. I have found it to be beneficial for my teaching, and I think you will too! Earlier this week, I learned of the passing of a former colleague of mine. Dave Berlowski and I started teaching in Sheboygan Falls the same year. While we didn't teach the same grade, we did have the opportunity to work together while we got our master's degrees. The passion and energy that Dave had for teaching wa...