PJ & Madness!

I'm pretty sure my kiddos have jumped off the deep end! Last week, I "conveniently" missed Valentine's Day to be at a global education conference hosted by TGC (Teachers for Global Classrooms). I must say I'm happy to have missed the sugar highs & lows of 130 sixth graders!
A lot of the craziness comes from the beginning of our PJ unit (Percy Jackson). My team has developed a huge interdisciplinary unit centered around the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Our kids love it and so do we!
Last week, we started studying ancient Greece in my class. So far we've discussed geography and reviewed the major gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. In writing class, students wrote acrostic poems about an assigned god or goddess. Here's a sneak peek:

While I was out, we started our door decorating contest. Each teacher is assigned to be a Greek god or goddess. Students are to decorate the door with symbols. I'm Athena, goddess of wisdom. Our door won 2nd place! I guess my kids can do things without me! A few other doors are pictured as well (Poseidon won 1st place).

Soon we'll be gearing up for our song parody contest. Last year, my class won with Athena Rocks (Party Rock Anthem)! Cannot wait! :)

Let the Fun Begin!

Oi, Brazil! Ready or not, here I come!
IREX is an international nonprofit organization providing leadership and educational programs to promote positive lasting change globally. Teachers for Global Education (TGC), part of their education branch, provides professional development opportunities for middle and high school teachers from the United States to participate in a program focused on globalizing teaching and learning in their classrooms. Currently participants from all over the United States will be traveling over the next few months to Morocco, Ghana, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, India, Indonesia and Brazil.
The symposium in D.C. welcomed TGC fellows and their administrators. The focus for the symposium was to emphasize the importance of global education. The teachers spent time meeting with their traveling cohorts, learning about the culture of their host country and planning sessions for the Essential Question ( Essential Questions Graphic Organizer) and  Capstone Project.
The weekend was wonderful! It was great to finally meet everyone after participating in a two month online course earlier this year.
I'm sure this will be the first of many posts. I'll also link the website I'm developing for my Capstone Project that will detail my travel experience and provide resources for educators.
If you're interested in applying, the application for the next cycle is due March 4th!

Currently February...

 

 

 

Happy Sunday! I'll keep today's explanations brief since I'm on the way out of the door.

 

Listening:  I <3 Coldplay. I play instrumental covers of their songs all the time in class.

 

Loving: I <3 FOOTBALL!!! Today is bittersweet. I love the party, food and football! I loathe waiting months until the next season starts! Seriously....GO RAVENS!

 

Thinking: The day's BIG dilema!

 



Wanting: I'm starving! I have zero food in this house! How in the world did I allow that to happen?!!?

 

Needing: I don't dream much. If I do, I never remember them. Three of the past four nights, I've not slept because my dreams have been uber disturbing. At least I can wake up and realize that they aren't true! At this point, I'd much rather not dream and sleep all night. Hope this trend doesn't continue!

 

Pet Peeves: I've had a sinus infection I've been fighting this past week. Luckily, my kids were researching in the library so I didn't have to try to learn sign language since I bascially couldn't talk. Thank God for librarians that teach research lessons!

Repeat offenders...I really need people to learn from their mistakes. I'd prefer if they learned the lesson the first time. When you get down to the thirty-second time...my patience has run out. Don't come to me for sympathy because at this point...it's your own fault. <stepping off soap box>

 

Wheew....I'm done. It's the month of love so I'm gonna try to give it all day, every day!

I think that'll be a post-it mirror mantra! :)

Time For a Pep Talk.

This lil' dude totally made my morning! I just think this is so precious!
I’ll definitely be using when the going gets tough later in the year.
Hopefully, it will inspire my kids to keep on keepin’ on!

#kidpresident #spacejam #frost #dance