Less than a week

It was another full (and exciting) week, and it's hard to believe that next Tuesday is the start of a new school year! Monday and Tuesday had some professional learning centered around UDL: we looked at our district's "non-negotiables" for the teaching and learning that happens in Sheboygan Falls; we had an online session with UDL guru Allison Posey, who offered us some things to ponder and focus in on for the year; we took time to dive into the UDL checkpoints for the access level of the guidelines in order to identify ways that we can apply them into our classrooms; and, probably the most beneficial for me at this time, was the opportunity to do some UDL lesson planning with colleagues. This allowed me to get a closer look at my new science standards with a UDL lens.

In addition to our UDL work, we also continued discussions with the types of things we will need to remember when it comes to students arriving on Tuesday. We went over our classroom "launch" and the types of activities we would be doing at different times of the day in order to help the students settle into the new learning environment. This is going to be a new experience for EVERYONE involved, and it's going to be an exciting time!

Speaking of exciting, Tuesday and Wednesday (but especially Tuesday) were some big days! The middle school students got to come in for a sneak peak, dropping off supplies, working their way through schedules, and meeting their new teachers. Tuesday was especially exciting because we needed to kick off the night with a tornado warning. That meant we needed to hunker down into the safe spaces of the building and test out how well they worked. Luckily we didn't have a tornado, but there were some very strong winds! After that, things settled down and the night was able to continue. Both nights were very nice, and it was great to see some of my former students!

So that brings us to these last few days of summer break. This weekend is going to bring some R&R before the hustle and bustle of next week. I'm going to get in a round of golf with friends on Friday and then go camping for the weekend. On Monday I'm going to head into school for some quiet, focused work time to dot the i's and cross the t's before Tuesday. Then the real fun begins!

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