Five for Friday!

Hi Friends! I feel like I've been so out of the loop this week. Since I've started blogging and creating for TpT back in September, I've worked on something every night. This past week I've barely touched my laptop after school. Life just took over! (I think I needed a little break, too.)

I have to link up with Doodle Bugs tonight and get myself back on track! (Disclaimer: it was such a crazy week that I didn't even take one picture...so no photos today!)

The beginning of the week was great fun! On Sunday we celebrated my niece's graduation from high school. She is off to Boston University in the fall. Memorial Day was spent with our besties swimming and grilling out. It was nice to spend time with friends and I love summer when we can get together more often!

Tuesday was my 6th grade son's awards ceremony. We were beaming when he took home a straight A trophy, a medal for 2nd place in the science fair, and a trophy for best in his (advanced) math class. Middle school is such a different experience and it has taken some getting used to! My baby boy is not my baby boy anymore!

Wednesday morning my room was packed with my parents and students as we held student-led conferences. It was an amazing morning. I was so very proud to see them take control of their conference. Parents were equally impressed! I had met with each student the day before and I asked them to tell me about themselves as students. I asked them to share their strengths and weaknesses. Can I just tell you they were right on with everything! Please take time to chat with your students. It makes them feel so "big"!

If you are looking for some guidelines and a resource for conducting these types of conferences, check out the post from Lesson Plan SOS HERE. 

During the conference time, I played an end of year slide show. Later, I was able to VERY easily email it to my families using Dropbox. No CDs needed! Saved me hours!

Thursday and Friday I was out of the classroom at a workshop. I'll be training teachers in my county this summer in reading. We are adopting a new series, but our training will be mainly about changes to the literacy block and new expectations from the county. YIKES! There are many teachers that I'm SURE will freak out. My county is starting to roll out CCSS in the upper grades and along with this, and a more interdisciplinary approach to the curriculum is what the county is looking for. I LOVE it and can't wait to dig in! For about the last 10 years, the county has provided the teachers with a curriculum map, along with daily lesson plans to follow in all subjects. This year those plans are going BYE BYE! I'm anticipating some resistance from participants during the training. Wish me luck! I'll keep you all posted!

Only 3 1/2 days left and then it's SUMMER time! Even though I'll be working the majority of the time, I look forward to the time away from school to re energize and prepare for a new year!