Denver Day 1

After a smooth 4 hour flight, I landed in Denver. I have only been outside of the southeastern US one time to go to Chicago so I was quite amazed at how flat the land is out west. Then I saw the Rockies! How beautiful! I started taking pictures from the plane. I explored a little in downtown Denver and went to the bar at the top of the Hyatt. They have a beautiful view. I thought I would share a few pictures.

Thoughts of the Week

This is another hectic week. I worked as usual yesterday. Today is a teacher workday (end of the first nine weeks). Tomorrow I leave for Denver, CO to present at the National Middle School Association's Annual Conference. I'm so excited about going to Denver because I've never been, but I'm stressed at all that needs to be done here before I leave!

My daughter is doing quite well. She seems so much happier now that her pain is gone...what a relief! I'm going to miss her tremendously while I'm gone. I captured a great video of her dancing to Barney (her favorite) that I'm sure I will watch several times while I'm gone. She's such a ham and the video makes me laugh. I thought I'd share the video with you as well.

My Week

It has been a stressful week to say the least. My daughter has been sick for a better part of the last month. Her pediatrician has been working to find the right combination of medicines to help her feel better. Finally, I decided it was time to take her to a specialist who decided that she needed minor surgery. Her surgery was on Tuesday and went well. Olivia went home that afternoon. She was doing great Tuesday night only to wake up Wednesday vomiting and her eyes were matted shut. I called the doctor back and after a couple of blood samples and a chest x-ray doctors decided she had an upper respiratory infection and pink eye...in both eyes. Long story short, she's much better now and has graciously given me her respiratory infection and pink eye...in both eyes. Oh the joys of motherhood! I'm just super glad she is feeling better. I cannot even describe how helpless you feel when your child is sick and you can't make her feel better.

I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of the little princess.

Funny Video

I recently assigned a mini-math project to my students. I wanted to allow the students to research something relating to math that interested them and create a way to share with the class how their topic relates. The idea was for me to give as little direction as possible because I didn't want to limit them with examples. Well, most of my students decided to do a simple powerpoint or written essay. I really wanted the kids to think outside of the box (for lack of a better expression.) When I realized that most of my students were doing the same ol' thing, I decided to search for an entertaining example of communicating mathematical ideas. This video is one I found on teachertube. I showed my students and they could not stop laughing. It is set to the tune of Fergalicious.

A Couple of Helpful Sites

I have several things rushing through my head now. So I thought I'd share them.

I have found the site http://www.teachnology.com/ is a very useful tool for finding lesson plans, printables, and worksheets for all grade levels. I discovered this site a couple of years ago and use it quite often when I find myself in a teaching rut.

Speaking of ruts, what do you do when you find yourself in one?

Another site I recently found was http://izzit.org/. It contains current events and has a daily new updates and ideas for the classroom. One of the social studies teachers I know uses it in her class and I started finding ideas to use it in my math class.

I'd love to know of any other sites that you have found useful in your classes.

My First Blog Experience

This is just an opportunity to get my blogspace going. I hope to update regularly.