2016: A Year in Review

Happy New Year friends and family!  I'm sitting here with my coffee cup in my quiet new kitchen doing a little reflecting about 2016 and all that it has had to offer.  At first I was majorly beating myself up because I haven't blogged in... I don't know... FOREVER!! Even after Megan created this beautiful new design for me in the summer, but then I thought... STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP.. put in the past what is in the past and start being in the here and now.  SO.... for here and now, here I am with a little bit of year in review.. both educationally and personally... well, if you've stopped by with your coffee cup before, you already know that about me.

2016: was a Year of Interactive Math:



I worked hard in the early part of 2016 to come up with ways to make mathematics more interesting and fun for my sixth graders.  They were NOT keen on having to learn fractions, and algebra and distance on the coordinate grid, and we had some major intervention to do.  I started a bi-monthly blog post called Mid-Week Math Motivation, (which I'm hoping to kick start again) which helped me think out and share some of the ideas I had to keep math engaging.  One of my favorite activities was creating a gigantic coordinate grid on the cafeteria wall.  We rolled foam dice for creating the integers on the grid, and I had candy prizes at different coordinates.  The kids had to tell me the integer and it's quadrant to keep the prize.  You can read more about it in this post {HERE}.  My class loved this activity.  It was engaging, fast, and fun.

2016 was a year of a BIG MOVE:
In the summer this year I moved with my kids to be closer to my family in Florida. I also found an amazing house for us to live in, and I'm proud that I have managed to buy it and run it all on my own.  I love the area where I live.

I have a pond in the back of my house that is filled with Cypress trees.  There are literally hundreds of birds that live there.  I love sitting with my coffee cup on the deck in the morning watching and listening to them chatter. We also have a gator we've named George.

What better way is there than with perfect Rae Dunn mug... yes I've become a collector of these,  and Fiesta dishes.. I need more quirky and color in my life!

2106 was a Change in Grade Levels:
Along with the BIG MOVE I also changed from teaching sixth grade to teaching fourth grade in a new state.  Learning new curriculum has kept me VERY busy this first semester of the school year, and I will definitely blame my lack of blogging on treading water at school.  I do really love my class, and the staff there, and we are working hard at improving our school report card.  We are a D school right now, and we want off that list! My smarties are working hard, and they have ME working hard.  That has its pluses and minuses as I've totally gone off of my taking care of myself regime, and I'm spending WAAAAYYYY more time at work and doing school related planning than I should be, but I'm hoping things will even out in 2017.  New Year... New Hope... <Yep.. that's me, putting in the whole Star Wars reference... You know I shed some tears over the loss of the Princess, but I digress>

I mean how can you not love that THIS is the type of place you get to go to on a FIELD TRIP!




Gorgeous right!


So that my friends in a nutshell is why I've been MIA for the past few months.  I'm hoping to get back to blogging and catching up with my peeps in 2017.  I have always enjoyed connecting with teachers and sharing ideas.  Let me know what was amazing about your 2016!




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