Summer Bloggin'

Principal ponderings...

With only two weeks until summer vacation begins, it's time to think about what you will do with all your time!  I have an idea...spend some time reading and following other educators' blogs.  The great thing about blogs is that you can sign up to follow certain ones and then anytime someone writes a new post, you will get an email sent to you letting you know there is something new to read.  So basically you don't need to go searching for professional learning, instead you can have it delivered right to your inbox.  To get you started I have compiled a list of blogs that I follow as well as some others that are popular education blogs.

http://thelatebloomersbookblog.blogspot.com/ A blog written by a reading teacher, all about books and reading, go figure!
http://www.principalj.net/  This is an elementary principal from Wisconsin that I follow.
http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/ Lots of great discussion about teaching writing!
http://pernillesripp.com/ Teacher who created the Global Read Aloud, she has a lot of great things to say!
http://www.edutopia.org/ A lot of the articles I share with all of you come from Edutopia.
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/ Another great place for thought-provoking articles and resources.
http://technicallyteamann.com/ This is an assistant principal at an elementary school who is big on technology integration.
http://www.kleinspiration.com/ Here is another teacher who loves technology integration.
http://www.nonfictiondetectives.com/ This is a blog written by two librarians who review non-fiction books
http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/ This is a great blog written by 3 different teachers who want to share their love of reading with everyone.
http://bookwhisperer.com/blog/ Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild, and a teacher who also writes a blog.

There are many other blogs out there, but at least this is a good list to get you started.  Happy summer reading!

Currently reading:
Some of you may have noticed that my reading has been greatly reduced over the last few weeks.  I still have my piles of books that I really want to read, but I just have not been able to get too much reading done lately.  There is a good reason for it.  Actually, there is one book that I have been reading:

Why have I been reading this book?  Well...because I am expecting!  Surprise!  As the school year winds down and I am entering the second trimester...it's getting a little hard to hide my growing belly.  But I am glad that I am finally starting to get my energy back so I can get back to more reading.  Growing a little reader is exhausting work! :)

Events this week:
It's the last full week of the school year!
Monday - 4th grade Enviroscape Program
Tuesday - Staff meeting with new superintendent @ 8:30, Smith and Guernsey library trip @ 1:15
Wednesday - Select staff at CPI training 11:30-2:30, Fournier and Crowley library trip @ 1:15, Report Card committee meeting @ 3:30
Thursday - FIELD DAY!!! (Cross your fingers for good weather!)
Friday - Spiczka kindergarten concert @ 11:10, Snow library trip @ 1:15

Great things I noticed last week:

• Mrs. Cragg's readers did an excellent job performing two different reader's theater readings for the kindergarteners.  All of the performers did an awesome job reading with expression and getting into character.  Plus, the kindergartners got a sneak peak of what 1st grade looks like!
  
• Two students from Mrs. Guernsey's class came to visit me to share a movie that they had made on the iPad.  It was a report about Florence Roche where they had interviewed or written about many different staff members, including me!  The girls were very proud of the work they had done.
  
• The true highlight of the week happened Friday night at the FloRo retirement party.  Florence Roche sure knows how to put on a party!  The performances and speeches were very entertaining.  My cheeks hurt from laughing so much.  The kazoo crew was certainly an unexpected surprise.  The food was delicious!  And the company was even better.  Ramona, Pam and Deb...what a special night for three very special teachers.  Hope you enjoyed your night!  Thank you for all you have done.  Happy retirement!
  
  

Check it out:
http://bookwhisperer.com/2014/06/01/what-remains/ A beautiful blog post written by Donalyn Miller...what many teachers are thinking around this time of the year.
http://www.joysticklearning.com/pedagogy/summer-reading-educators/ Some more summer reading recommendations for educators