I'm Back

So I have been gone for a while, it has been pretty busy around here the last week.  We start with in-service on Monday so I have been spending quite a bit of time trying to get things ready at school so I can use our in-service days to just finish up a couple of details.

Last week I spent two days at an Institute for Healthy Kids, where I learned some good things about incorporating yoga into the classroom and how to make some healthy recipes.  I am excited to try some of these great ideas in my classroom and it also reinforced the idea that students need to MOVE throughout the school day.  I think we heard that elementary students are only able to focus for 5-7 minutes at a time and then they are unable to take in any more information or learn.  When I hear that time limit, it really makes we re-evaluate the way I teach and that I need to add more movement breaks into our schedule.  Has anyone out there used student yoga in the classroom?  It seems like a great idea and a way to teach students how to give themselves a break or rejuvenate their bodies...

Last week I also had my first class of RECESS which is a action research class that our school district participates in with UW-Madison.  It stands for Rural Educators Collaborating to Ensure Student Success.  I also participated in RECESS last year and loved it, I learned so much more about my students and my own teaching and I am thankful to be able to participate again this year.  So, we pick something that we want to work on in our classrooms and with our students and then we research it throughout the school year.  At the end of the school year we go down to UW-Madison and present our findings.  It is such a great opportunity and it is nice to present to other people what I am doing in my classrooms to help my students succeed.

Well, that is about it for right now.  I have also been really busy with a couple more DIY projects that I will post later this week and I will also be posting pictures of my finished classroom soon, I have been working hard on it and would not be even close to being done without my awesome husband and all of his hard work on Sunday (thanks)!  Only a couple more details to finish...yea!