I'm glad October is over. Too many things to cover, too many special
events, too many holidays! November has the election and Veterans' Day
right at the beginning, but then not much other than Thanksgiving.
One of my co-workers does amateur radio in his classroom. He rallied a team to write an application to NASA for the ARISS program,
which gave our school the chance to contact the International Space
Station and let our students talk LIVE to an astronaut. They were even
able to pair us up with an astronaut from our home state! Such a cool
experience.
I am tutoring an hour a day Monday-Thursday
evenings. Maybe it's just because I'm doing conferences this week, but
it feels like a lot. Do any of you tutor? Oh well- I can't complain,
because I could really use the extra income, but especially on top of
parent-teacher conferences right now, it is wearing me OUT!
As someone who is very
not into politics, I didn't expect to enjoy my election/ government
unit this much. But the thing that bothers me the most about political
season is how many people make uninformed decisions based on arbitrary
factors or without logical reasons, and I feel like I'm getting the
chance to teach these kids to be better citizens than that. It makes me
happy. I'm not sure I can get in everything I want to before election
day, though!
As for music in the classroom... well, I'm
a huge fan of Josh Groban and his violinist Lucia Micarelli. But I also
use Pandora to listen to soundtracks (with caution) and SoloPiano.com
(very calming).
Happy November (and weekend!) Link up for Currently here.
Oh my--I know what you mean about needing more time when it comes to teaching the election! We lost 3 days of school to Sandy this week, so I'm so behind and the election is almost here! Glad I found your blog--I'm your newest follower!
ReplyDeleteI am a fellow Josh Groban fan! His voice send me to a very calm place, which I often need!
ReplyDeleteI teach third grade, too, so I am happy to find you! Have a great weekend!
Diane
Teaching with Moxie
What an incredible experience to talk with the astronauts! That is a once in a lifetime opportunity. So cool! I also loved to play piano music... so calming in the classroom. Found you through the latest Currently linkup! I am your newest follower. :)
ReplyDeleteLeah
Learning 4 Keeps
That's so cool that your class got to talk to an astronaut. What an awesome opportunity!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offer to let me guest post on your blog! Just let me know when you'd like a guest poster and what you'd like me to talk about!!
http://beyondthegradebook.blogspot.com
That's amazing about the Space Station! So cool:) I don't tutor anymore, it does really take up time, but I have my own daughters to help with these days. Hope you have a calmer November:)
ReplyDeleteAloha,
Corinna
Surfin' Through Second
HA! HA! Love the comment about the disaster area after report cards.so true!! Mine will be coming up in about a month. Hope your weekend is great!
ReplyDeleteVicky
Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After
The ISS??!! SOOO cool!
ReplyDeleteGrowing Firsties is having a Pete the Cat Giveaway that also donates to Hurricane Sandy Relief!