"Summer Camp"

Okay I admit I've been M.I.A quite a bit. A lot has happened though, on June 8th was my class' promotion ceremony. They did a wonderful job when they presented their key to 1st grade advice tips. It was kind of a different experience for me though because it's not a have a good summer or I'll see you around the school next year at the end. Since our school is year round most of my students attend "summer camp." During the summer we get to choose the curriculum. So I have been creating a unit on Washington's National Parks and in math we focus on one particular topic each week that we covered in the 1st/2nd grade curriculum throughout the year. For example, this week we are focusing on addition and subtraction without regrouping and next week we will do regrouping. It's set up as centers some days and other days I have created different group and differentiated the worksheets for specific skill levels. I seem to like how this is working and am excited to try it next school year. In science we have been experimenting with plants and next week we will begin to learn about dinosaurs. We planted our beans after they sprouted inside their Ziploc baggies. We also have started a Diary of a plant where the students get to be a little creative and funny. One book we read this week was Plantzilla . It was my first time reading the book and boy did the students love it. I also just discovered there's a sequel so I will have to get my hands on that. On Monday, we went to see our pen pals at Kirkland's Merrill Gardens and boy were both parties excited to see each other. The activity coordinator there even gave my kiddos some Huckleberry ice cream. YUM! I admit to be a bit jealous of my other teacher friends who are on summer vacation at the moment. But I am happy none of my students will get the summer learning loss other students get. I've been working like crazy to make and find games for each math topic every week. The students seem to love them though so it makes the work worthwhile. On a personal note, I've decided to attend to start jogging. It's not going so well but I've never been able to run so I don't expect it will be easy. I'm starting with a couch to 5k program. I'm currently on week 1. My ultimate goal is hopefully to be able to run the Alki Beach 5K in August... since it's like 10 minutes from my apartment. This would also help me get back on track with my weight loss.