The Sun, The Sun, The Beautiful Sun

The sun came for a vist this weekend and it was welcomed with open arms.

The hubby did a crazy Vertical Climb Challenge up the North Face Trail.  He did 9 laps which equates to 19.8 miles uphill, which is just amazing to me.  I on the other hand hiked the same trail with the little guy and our good friend.  It took us a few hours because the little guy wanted to hike much of it on his own.  I see a future in long distance climbing.

It was a beautiful day.

A weekend of sunshine puts me right back on track.  Thank you sun.

Rebuilding

I spent 7 years teaching the multiage K-3 class in the school I work in.  Just like any teacher I dropped a lot of cash creating a creative environment.  I had plants I loved, cute baskets, special books, and lots of resources.  When I left the classroom last year I thought I would be out of the classroom for a few years so I left many things there to stay with the class.  Good bye Amaryllis that blooms an amazing amount of times in one year.

Now I am back in a huge room without all my old comfort items.  It is kind of nice for someone like me who has a gift of "inquiry".  Seriously I took a strength finder test and that was one of my strenghts.  People who have a strenght in inquiry like to collect things that might be used in the future.  The exact translation for this might be "clutter".  Goodbye clutter.

Our classroom is pretty sparce this year.  It will slowly become more comfortable, but for now it is big and sparce.  I am kind of liking it.  All the cool  items I ordered in the past now sit in the 3rd grade room (my old room).  Darn those were some good resources.  As we rebuild our classroom I am loving watching what the students are coming up with.  Oh by the way... did I mention I only have 4 students right now... soon to grow to the huge size of 6.

American flag built out of City Blocks.

So Much to Do So Little Time To Do It

Oh the times they are changing....

I have been missing in action due to lots of fun travel.  We went to a wedding celebration, to our land in Homer, and then to teaching inservice.    I found out the last week of August that I was heading back into the classroom.  We had to hustle to recreate our family schedule.  Now I have the funny combination of teaching part time in a classroom and part time as a homeschool coordinator.  I thought it would be an odd mix, but after 1 week I am really liking the combination.  They both fit well together and the in classroom time keeps me fresh and excited about how young children learn.

Our school was renovated this summer, well I should say, it is still under construction.  I was able to get into my classroom the day before school started, and had to hustle to get things moved back in.

Here is a photo of my clean slate.  The windows were not even installed yet.

The room used to be a highschool room and now it is my multiage K-2 room.  All the bulletin boards and white boards are too high for the kids to reach.  That is a bummer, and even more so since the construction crew rehung everything without asking for our opinions as to height etc... I am going to make some stepping stools so the kiddos can reach.

We are kicking off the year with a David Shannon Author Study. I love incorporating author studies into our day.  It is such a great way to learn how to analyze books.  I am amazed at the level of analysis that even the youngest child can do when they compare books by the same author.  David Shannon has some hysterical (well K-3 hysterical) books.  My students are loving them already.

This is one of my favorite books to use for author studies.