Moving on to a Bigger Space and Let the Summer Begin!

Most of my posts are about Common Core resources and presentations that I lead for teachers, but one of my goals this summer and upcoming year is to blog more about personal and classroom experiences. I want to be able to demonstrate what the CCSS look like in my classroom.

So here is a rewind on the school year, 

this was my second grade classroom at the beginning of the school year:

It was a tiny classroom and I always felt so cramped in there. So when a bigger classroom opened up at the end of this school year, I jumped at the opportunity to move to a bigger room. I spent a week boxing a getting rid of stuff that I haven’t used in a while. If you are a teacher, then you know the amount of unnecessary things we collect. I found myself with Q-tips, cotton balls, and more googly eyes anyone can imagine. I have a problem… I confess to buying these things and then forgetting that I did, and buy more. Hence, another one of my goals this upcoming year is to be better organized with all my arts and crafts items and not to hoard as many things.

It has been a momentous year of professional and personal growth and changes. Moving appears to be the theme of the year. Last year, we moved into a bigger home and did a huge remodel on our home. We had remodeled our previous home in stages, but this time around we decided to do it all before we moved in. It was quite the adventure and task! There isn’t an inch of the house we didn’t touch. We gutted the bathrooms, kitchen, floors, rooms, molding… really, everything was transformed and renovated into what I call my new sanctuary. I love remodeling and designing, I think if I hadn’t been a teacher, architecture and design would have been second interest.

Here are a few pics of the remodel:

This is my son, helping mud the kitchen walls:

These are some pics of the bathroom remodel, garage and kitchen:

I also finished my fifteen year teaching! It was quite a year! This summer, I am looking forward to the first ever, California Teachers Summit. On Friday, July 31, 2015, more than 20,000 California teachers will gather at 33 locations across the state for Better Together: California Teachers Summit, an opportunity to connect with other teachers, share what’s working in classrooms throughout the state and learn cutting-edge strategies to implement the California Standards, including the Common Core. The program will include nationally renowned speakers; educational presentations titled “EdTalks,” and facilitated discussions led by teachers and for teachers. You will walk away with access to resources and concrete tools you can immediately use in your classroom. The event is FREE to all California PreK-12 teachers and teacher candidates. The event also offers a .5 unit continuing education credit for teachers who attend and pay a minimal enrollment fee. This event is a cooperative project of the New Teacher Center, the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) and California State University (CSU).   

Lastly, the NEA GPS Network has changed. It is now called the NEA Professional Practice Communities. I will post all Common Core K-5th Grade resources. I love the new format and it is very user friendly! I like to compare it to Facebook, as it feeds all the updates from groups and resources are easier to access. Try it out! 

Join the NEA Professional Practice Communities!

What is this?

The NEA Professional Practice Communities, a place where teachers, parents, school support and administration professionals, and community members share ideas and resources to improve student success. It is free and open to all!

Click on the following link to join my online community:

Common Core K-5