It's been a few years since I actually blogged for my students, and this morning when I woke up, anticipating the time that would come when I would sit down and read your blogs, I realized that I could do more than just write about what's happening in the introductory paragraph to science each week. Now, if all you truly care about is who won Blog Spot of the Week, you may want to scroll through my ramblings and go straight to the final paragraph to read the reviews. But if you want to humor me, you'll likely read this all the way through (no pressure, really!).Sunday mornings are a coveted time for me. It's the one day I stay in bed and read the paper. My husband runs to Starbucks (at 5:30 a.m.!) and gets us each a special coffee, and the dog jumps up on the bed for lots of loving. Through the rainy weather that we were having, I had a reason to stay indoors and do LOTS of school work and usually got to your blogs by about 10 a.m. Now that the weather has changed, I can't wait to get outside and get some sun, work in the yard, and toss the frisbee around with my hairy beast (this is a picture of him before he gets his summer haircut).
So today was the first day that we put up the big umbrella - the one that allows me to stay outside longer and not get too much sun, as well as bring out the laptop and do some work - and after reading about 50 pages in a new book, I started reading your blogs. Now, I should digress and tell you that when I woke up this morning it felt like the first day of spring (yes, I know, last Saturday was officially the first day of spring) and I was in what I call my Monty Python mood. The one where I want to wear my sweatshirt inside out, eat fresh strawberries, listen to my ipod so loud I can't hear my own terrible sing-along, and avoid any obligations at all costs. So starting a new book, one that has nothing to do with grants, school, technology, and is just plain funny reading, was tops on my list. I like to laugh when I'm in my Monty Python mood. And I'm sure the neighbors wondered what the laughter was about, as well as the "You should see this," that I kept shouting out to my husband. Yep, it was your blogs. They wow'd me. They left me wanting more. And I have to say, I am so very proud and impressed with the work and efforts that you all are putting into the blogs, lms, and your science learning. Your efforts inspire me, and make me want to be a better teacher for you. I was taking a chance with the Planetary Challenge, and I feel like I hit a homerun out of the park. You are writing and reflecting, learning and extending your learning through the extra articles that you read and include in your blogs and stories that you share (if you are still reading, consider this the easter egg. Send me a message about what you are doing for spring break and I'll pass onto you a raffle ticket!). And the people who are my grant directors are soooooo impressed with all you do; they know how hard you work, about the technology you use, and the way you motivate me. I want to shout for all the world about how wonderful it is to be your teacher! I also want to shout to the world that I am done with the grant work! DONE!! Yippeee! After a year and a half with CyberTeam and two years before that with NASA! Not that my learning or teaching or working with the other 6th grade teachers around the county is done, but hey, I don't have any more official work to do!
Okay, enough. Big shout outs to the people who blogged this week. Your humor, your honesty, your reflections were specta-coooolar! Some of you really should consider starting your own blogs. You are writers and story-tellers and I can tell you are looking for your own audience. I wish I could give you all Blog Spot of the Week. In fact, very few teams did not meet their obligations with the blogs, and this is an impressive feat in and of itself. But really, to be Blog Spot of the Week - get on over to the SpiderPigs and P.S.N. to see what they've done this week to make me laugh, make me do my own reflections on the week (yes, I love the idea to make the note-taking we did for session 3 more of a team challenge, and I am especially thrilled that you all liked grading each other's projects - maybe not the grading part so much as the viewing each other's projects part), and make me want to come back tomorrow for more! Have a terrific week, and I hope you can share with me a lot about what you are learning on Science Discovery Day (I'm teaching 5th graders - checking them out for next year!).
~ylt
