October 22 2012

More time has passed than I would care to admit. I have been swallowed into the social media abyss. Checking Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and Instagram can be done in a matter of seconds on my phone, but add up those little bits of time and they turn into chunks that steal away my productivity and blog posting. My new phone makes it easier to check anywhere, anytime, which isn't good. My husband and I were discussing blogs. He suggested I create one about my history teaching with project ideas, topics I find fascinating, and teaching resources. I don't sit down to post enough, here, so would I post there? I'm not sure, but it would be fun to try. There are resources out there for middle school teachers, but it usually takes some digging to find them. Elementary sites pop up like crazy when searched for, however. I'd love to be creating an ongoing resource where other teachers could come find what they are looking for. My teaching is going well, still part time in the middle school social studies room. Currently, the sixth grade is learning about the Ancient Israelites, the seventh grade is learning about the Romans and the eighth grade is learning about the French and Indian War. We also will be having discussions about the elections (the process, etc, not who we would choose to have win the election, that would have everyone up in arms and disputing). We have an enrichment period at the end of the day for thirty minutes where all of the middle schoolers get together most days. Mondays are not set in stone, days like today when we have good weather we have fresh air fun, since those days are few and far between as we head into Midwestern winter. Tuesdays are study hall, Wednesdays are Newsbowl. Newsbowl is a variety of questions from current events and we play in our own classrooms as a competition, with each question assigned points. Thursday is a social savvy lesson as we are teaching teenages and most could learn a thing or two. ;) Fridays we meet with our "buddies" from younger grades and do an activity or we have a critical thinking project. Some Mondays or Fridays I have chosen a history topic to talk about, like November 12 we will have a Veteran in to talk about Veteran's Day and their military experiences. As for our family, both of our daughters are done with their cross country running seasons. Our oldest finished up her senior season on Saturday. I did fine throughout the season, but on the way home on Saturday I began to cry. My husband was unnerved, not recognizing the cause of my tears at first. We've been chasing her around cross country courses for six years! And now we are one quarter through with her senior school year. It's gone so fast. Our youngest had her last meet on Sunday. This was her first year running, so there weren't tears, but it is her last year in middle school, so that is also unnerving! I hope you are well. What is happening with you, Reader?