Good-bye 2017!

This is my 2017 picture blog. So for those of you interested, read on!

We've had a super busy family year...

  

First, we added a new son to our family - Seth! Our daughter married into an amazing family. We love the Tottens! And...

...my son attempted to teach me to dance. Yes, I never learned. I attended private schools most of my life where dancing was not allowed. Thankfully, he is patient and is a great swing dancer!

In May our son graduated with a Physics degree from UC Berkeley. Huge accomplishment! He is now working as a Device Test Engineer for TSI in Rocklin.

I moved buildings at school. That was a lot of work! I have #toomuchteacherstuff. 

My husband continued to build onto our house for my mom. He hopes to be done in 5 more months...or so. 

Next, we added a new daughter to our family!

Our son married a beautiful woman of God named Naomi. We are so blessed by her.

Two weddings and a graduation! So this is what we did next!...

We went on a much needed vacation for our 30th ANNIVERSARY!! We went to Venice and Paris. Oh. So. Fun.

Venice is just too cool.

And in Paris I got to visit the huge Nespresso store and buy tons of Nespresso pods!

Of course, there was amazing coffee...

...walks to the Eiffel Tower. ..

...amazing food...

...and a train ride to Fontainebleau Castle. 

Back in the US:

Reality set in with a return to work. But...I have amazing students so it's all good!

Lauren and Seth ran CIM together and set the US record for the fastest marathon time, combined, of a married couple. Yep. They are pretty fast! Read the article here. 

They live in Santa Barbara but hey...it's a great place to visit!

Thanksgiving vacation is a time when we always go cut down our Christmas tree. It's our tradition. 

I finished my school year 2017 by making 60 scarves for my students. Wow. Now that was a job! I thought it would be quick but... hmmmm... I think I will have to come up with something else next year!

My final week of 2017 has been spent with family at home and lots of MTB riding and trail runs! 

...and a little bit of creating with my essential oils:

2017 was a busy, fun, productive year! I am one blessed teacher!

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Getting Lost - and the Growth Mindset

How do you get lost in your own hometown? Let me say - it is possible. I did this. Just yesterday. Yep. Plumb lost! I went out on a new mountain bike trail and saw a "single track" to the left and decided to take it.

It split into multiple single tracks and before I knew it, I had worked my way into a pickle. The single track disappeared and I found myself with my bike on the side of a mountain trying to figure out where to go.

Isn't life like this? Decisions all around. We are on one path, and all of a sudden find ourselves on another. And...sometimes...we find that the path isn't clear --or that it's down-right gone. How do you handle those difficult times in life? In class, we teach about the growth mindset. We realize that challenges can be good. In fact, some challenges - like my ride - are beautiful if you just look around and focus on the good.

Perseverance.  Determination.  You can do this. 

Every mistake you make is progress.

There is a difference between not knowing, and not knowing yet. (Sheila Tobias)

Sometimes learning isn't easy. Embrace the struggle and grow. Remember to talk to your child about having a growth mindset.

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Rally !

I loved our short week! Didn't you!? Thursday was tons of fun ending the day with our first middle school rally. Jimison class theme was black and sunglasses (since our future is so bright). Paul theme was black and glow sticks. Yes - both teachers are super competitive. I must admit - I wished I had come up with that theme. I loved the glow stick idea. In the end - we won!! Woo hoo! I don't know if it was for our class theme or teacher spirit...I've heard both. But, either way, the class wins an ice cream party. Yes! So excited!

NEXT WEEK is our food drive week and ...it is a competition!! CostCo is a great place to buy in bulk it you want. Each item is one point. Buy 12 cans = 12 points! The food goes to Placer County Food Bank so know you will be blessing someone with your donation. 

Monday- Canned Corn/ Canned Green Beans - Crazy ‘Bout Corn -Crazy hair day

Tuesday- Canned Pumpkin/ Canned Sweet Potatoes- Neon colors or tie dye colors

Wednesday- Salad Dressing- Mismatch outfit

Thursday- Stuffing mix/ Instant Mashed Potatoes - Bring in stuffed animal

Friday- Frozen Turkeys (not in barrel; Friday morning only at drop off) - PJ day

Other needed items:

Canned Ham
Boxed Scalloped Potatoes
Peanut Butter
Canned Cranberry Sauce

Next week is also parent conference time! I look forward to meeting with you. Remember that we have half day all week - school out an noon. 

We've been studying Ancient Egypt and it's such an interesting topic! Students did a great job sharing what they learned about the class system. 

The students always amaze me with their awesome work! 

Finally, I'll share my past weekend with you! Our daughter was married in February and we were able to travel to Santa Barbara to visit them. It was a super short - but sweet - visit. 

Awesome coffee at Handlebar.

Visit to Santa Barbara Mission

Great food at Vegetarian Restaurant - Mesa Verde

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Happy Fall, Y'all!

Look at this plate of gooey-ness! Thank you to our parents who came and helped with our classroom party Friday. We had apples with caramel, chocolate, and toppings. You can see, some chose a little bit of apples and a lot of toppings!  Then, we played charades with Core Knowledge topics over the years! A special thank you to Mrs. Waters for planning it all for us. 

This week we took a field trip. Ooops! You didn't know we went out of country to Egypt? Yep. We took a virtual field trip to Egypt! Using Nearpod, we explored the outside of pyramids and went into the tomb of Ramesses VI!

Photo credit: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesvit.htm

It was so fun watching the students turn their iPads 360 degrees to look around! 

We are looking forward to fun adventures next week as we travel down the Nile River! Don't worry, parents...I'll cover the cost for you. (smile) 

During our e-block times we have been working on putting together our 4 foot robot, coding Osmo and Dash, researching careers via Classcraft, and working on skills in language and reading. MobyMax is a GREAT tool that I use to help reinforce skills. MobyMax works at filling in gaps and giving students that are ready to move on to the next level. All students may also use MobyMax from home! They have their own personal log in. SO - if you want your child to have extra practice in any subject (not just ELA and history) have your child log in to MobyMax. Students are also working on standards re-takes through MobyMax for ELA standards in which a 3 has not yet been achieved. I have assigned these students specific standards to practice. 

We cleaned out and collected our Lightning Thief books. Get a load of the evidence flags collected out of one book! I just had to snap a photo of it!!

This week students will finish their "hero" stories and turn them into mini-movies using Toon-tastic! I can't wait to share these with you. Toon-tastic has turned 3D which should be really fun!

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Keep The Quote

One of my favorite things in our room is "Keep the Quote."  At the beginning of the year, students turned in their very favorite quote. Each week, I choose a new one to write on our Keep the Quote paper that hangs up at the front of the room. At the end of the week, I cut it off and give it to the student and place a new one up! I love all the quotes they chose!

This week students will work on their end of module assessment - an analytical essay comparing a common theme found in The Lightning Thief and the myth of Cronus. Wow. Sounds impressive, doesn't it?  I know they will do a wonderful job! We are using many graphic organizers, rough drafts, peer editing, and typing up the final paper. 

We will also have tons of fun with building a Ziggurat and an activity with Hammurabi's Code! These activities will culminate our study of Ancient Mesopotamia before we move on to Ancient Egypt. I can't wait to see their Ziggurats and will be posting pictures next week!

Enjoy the journey!

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Love Our 6th Graders!

 Parents - you have done an amazing job. Really. Our students continue to be respectful, responsible, and resourceful! They take pride in their work and are ready to learn new things.

Our e-block time has been fun this week! We are rotating centers and were able to begin our robotics and coding with items donated from Donor's Choose! We are having fun with ClassCraft and students are writing about their favorite career choice. They are researching colleges, wages, and important information to present in a poster, Keynote, or essay. If we finish in time, we can get $200 on Donor's Choose to purchase more items for our class!

I am super proud of our students for doing a wonderful job this past week on their essays and flip books! We finished our Judaism and Christianity unit with an informational flip book. They were so fun to read!! I wish I could share them all with you but here are a few highlights:

Our mid-unit assessment was writing a mini analytical essay about the theme and elements of mythology in Prometheus. Again - great work!

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