8.29.2012

Rant: Start of the School Year Ramble

As the school starts I always find myself a jumbled bit of a bunch of things - excited for the adventure that will be the school year, slightly overwhelmed attempting to learn and connect with 130 new students, and a little out of whack with my former summer daily routine.

This year has been no different. My workout routine has been a near causality of the start of the year - I work out at 5am and while my Twitter accountability has helped continue these workouts five to six times a week my body is adjusting - in addition the constant walking of the classroom makes me feel all of my age.

My classes have started surprisingly well. My classroom adopted 1:1 iPads and thanks to my students 6th grade teacher the start of the year has been seamless. Students are utilizing the Google Blogger format to investigate and practice vocabulary and take notes - they are able to take pictures of posters in my room while explaining how the inspirational quotes sparked their thoughts - draw their example of a juggernaut - instantly poll and answer questions via Socrative and that is all within the first 3 full days of school. I am my own harshest critique but I am just beyond excited for the possibilities. The future use of iBooks Author, the students investigation of tailored curriculum - AND the ability for students to contribute from their perspective in their own words, pictures, and analogies to the textbook for future students just screams potential.


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