Under Construction

"Your teaching assignment for next year is 4th grade at Martin."

Those words have echoed in my brain since April 19th. My jaw literally dropped that day when my principal shared the news with me. Due to lower enrollment at our building, three sections of first grade were being cut. My principal explained that I was "chosen" to make the move because I am a strong teacher with experience in using the Daily 5 and technology, both of which are being used at my new building..

I'm not going to lie. I cried. A lot. I spent a weekend feeling like it was time to update my resume and move on. I got angry. I was bitter. I just couldn't understand why. Why didn't he move her? She causes all of the drama. Why didn't he move that one? She is on her phone all day long. Why not her? I've been here way longer than her.

And then I stopped.

I had no choice in the matter. Strike that. I do have a choice. I can choose how I react to this unexpected change. And I CHOOSE to step up and rock this!  

In retrospect, I am feeling like this is a blessing in disguise. I'm already finding that my new teammates are challenging my thinking and pushing me to grow. While I enjoyed my first grade teammates, we were at very different places in our educational philosophy and practices. Maybe I do belong in this new place after all.

I have a lot to learn. 1:1 Kuno tablets. New technology. New curriculum. New team. New possibilities for books to read. 

And I know I'll fail. That's ok. I expect to make mistakes alongside my 4th grade learners. I expect them to make mistakes, too.

Like my new learning space, my teaching is still under construction... as it should be.

My Juice Pack Saves Me!

My friend Jacquie busted out her portable charger (juice pack) one night when we were all hanging out in the city as everyone's phones had started to die out. It didn't need to be connected to an outlet. It quickly added some juice to each person's phone so they were no longer in the "red" battery zone. I was intrigued, so I added it to my Christmas wish list.

My Mophie Juice Pack rocks!!!

I love this thing. It has saved me on so many occasions since I got it in December! I can charge up my Droid phone and then switch out the cord to give some life to my iPad. This has been especially handy at workshops and conferences when I'm sitting in the middle of the room, in the front row... and am nowhere near an outlet. I don't have to miss a thing! Just plug the juice pack into my device, and I'm back in action. When I get to an outlet, I just make sure I get my Mophie charged up so it's always ready.

There are many different versions, sizes, and capabilities of a portable charger. I've seen them at Best Buy, Office Depot, and on Amazon. Mine is about the same size as my phone and fits nicely into my satchel.

I won't lie and say I can recommend the best or fastest or cheapest device, but I will tell you that it's worth investigating and purchasing one!

Pinterest and a Confession

This post was inspired by #Kinderchat's call for confessions on their summer blog challenge. I love the idea of a blog challenge! We'll see if I can keep up with it. In the meantime...

Actually, this topic has been on my mind for a LONG time, but the fine folks over at #Kinderchat gave me the perfect opportunity to write about my Pinterest confession. I'm not going to write about how it irks me when people only share worksheets on Pinterest. I won't tell you how many times I've cringed when I've seen reward systems that pay kids to be good. *clears throat*

It makes me a tiny bit (okay, a lot) crazy when people have a ton of Pinterest boards that aren't in alphabetical order.

Below are the directions I used to follow.... but I just noticed that with the "new look" on Pinterest, you can just drag your boards to arrange them. So, all you have to do is go to the page where you see all of your boards and drag away!

Old Directions
Ahhhh. I feel so much better. Before you panic and think that I'm judging your boards, I'm here to help. It  has made my life SO much easier to have my boards in order so I can locate them quickly. And it's actually really easy to move your boards around! Here we go...

Step One

Click on your picture in the upper right-hand corner to bring up the drop-down menu. You'll want to choose "Boards."

Step Two

When this screen comes up, click on the little icon that looks like a computer (right next to where it says "Edit Profile.") 

Step Three

Now it will give you the option to "Rearrange Boards." They're your boards, so arrange them in a way that makes sense to you... but just know that for some of us, it's easier to peruse your pins if you have them arranged alphabetically. (Or maybe I'm the only one who is weird enough to need that order!!) Be sure to "Save" before you exit that screen.

That's it. Three steps. And it will (hopefully) make your Pinterest life easier to manage! Thanks again to #kinderchat for pushing me to write this quick post that's been brewing in my mind for some time now.

Island Life

What would it be like to live on an island that was only accessible by boat? And what if the only "transportation" on that island came in the form of horses, buggies, and bicycles? I had a chance to ponder these questions (among others) when my mom and I visited Michigan's Mackinac Island recently. 

The island is surrounded by beautiful lighthouses, trees, and lots and lots of water. ;) Visitors take the ferry across from Mackinaw City. After chatting with some of the locals, we came to find out that many of them take the ferry across daily to get to and from work. There are some people who live on the island year-round, but the majority of people and shops are only there for 3 seasons each year. I love referring to it as "Mack-in-ack" Island but have learned the correct pronunciation is "Mack-in-aw." According to people at the Visitor's Center, Mackinac gets its name from the Native name, Michilimackinac. Interesting, right?

What would it be like to travel daily by horse-drawn buggy, by bicycle, or by my own two feet? We opted to walk for most of our time on the island. Watching people stop at the small grocery store on the island proved to be quite interesting. They'd load up the basket on their bicycle to transport their items home, sometimes by way of the large hills found on the island. Most locals appeared to walk or use bicycles, while many of the tourists enjoyed traveling via the buggies. Listening to the horses as they clopped down the main street was music to my ears! And, my... there were some absolutely beautiful, big horses!

Although I sometimes complain about the 10 minutes I have to drive to get to "town," what would it be like to live on an island where I couldn't get everything I needed? Locals take the ferry across to Mackinaw City and stock up on supplies to help last them through the long winter. At some point during the winter, there may be an "ice bridge" across the Straits of Mackinac which assists people in getting to/from the island. When I think about how many times I have to run to the store because I've run out of something, I cannot imagine having to plan that far in advance!

Views like this one can be found around the perimeter of the 8-mile island. Staying on the island is a bit pricey (be prepared to spend $200 or more per night for a room,) but waking up to views like this make it worthwhile! I should also mention that there are some delicious restaurants and fabulous fudge shops on the island. (And all of the fudge shops give out free samples. Just sayin'!)

Taking the horse-drawn carriage tour was enjoyable and educational! It's worth it to be able to ride through the beautiful forests of the island, learn about different places on the island, see Fort Mackinac and visit the Arch Rock. Perhaps my favorite stop was Wings of Mackinac - the butterfly conservatory. I'm not a big fan of bugs, but I did surprisingly well as these amazing creatures flew about freely around us. I appreciated the soothing music being played as we wandered around, admiring the beautiful flowers and pausing to take it all in. I recently bought a new, fancier type of camera and had a fantastic time trying to capture great shots while we were there!

And, finally... the school. What would it be like to teach in a school on this island? I did sneak a peek in some of the windows and wasn't surprised to see tables, computers, and lots of books. I'm sure the population is much different than where I teach. I mean, they have 500-600 residents of the island. My K-2 school had almost 1,000 students! 

As we travel, my mom and I rely on the Trip Advisor site to help us decide where to stay, where to eat, and what to do. We've also signed up and reviewed many of the places we've visited recently to help other travelers. You can find us by clicking HERE!

Visiting new places and imagining life there always makes me stop and think. It also makes me appreciate what I have and where I live! Off to my next adventure...