Saturday, January 4, 2014

Celebrate Good Times, Come On! - 1/1


Each Saturday  Ruth Ayres invites us to share and celebrate events from our week. Looking for small celebrations has certainly improved my outlook on my week. For that, I am certainly grateful to Ruth and to all of you who choose to celebrate with us.

First celebration of the new year!  My celebrations are usually connected in some way or have a theme.  This week is a mish-mash of small things.  Maybe if I number them, they will be a celebration of numbers!

1.  Celebrating an end to a great two week break.  It has been filled with food, family, books, writing, and a new addiction.  I seriously think I have become addicted to Twitter.  I am still scared of it, but wow it is so filled with learning opportunities.  Although it has been nice having two weeks off, I am ready to get back to a normal routine...just in time for snow days.  (Snow hits tonight followed by sub-zero temps)

2.  Celebrating a new small group table.  Before Christmas I received a new table for my classroom.  I have not used it yet because the last two weeks of school were filled with assessment and holiday activities.  I am super excited about this because it is so much bigger than what I had before.  Can't wait!





3.  Celebrating a new mounted projector.  This year I have gone from my cart in the middle of my room (where no students can sit behind me) to the projector on a small desk and the cart off to the side, to the projector mounted on the celling.  I can't believe how much more room I have now!

4.  Celebrating heroes.  My daughter has been a HUGE University of Tennessee fan since she a little girl.  She hopes to coach basketball, and Pat Summitt is her hero and role model.  She has attended many games and even met Pat in person.  This week she returned to UT and snapped a picture next to the new statue of Pat which was dedicated this past fall. Everyone has to have a hero!



5.  Celebrating professional development.  This is actually a pre-celebration.  I have been asked to give a PD for teachers in our corporation this Tuesday. My presentation is Blogging in the Classroom.  A little nervous but also excited because I think many teachers and students would enjoy using this in their classrooms.

Have a great week and may you be blessed with many things to celebrate!

16 comments:

  1. Reading your post makes me a little trepid about going back to school. I don't have a new table or projector waiting. I need to find something to make me excited about going back. Your daughter looks great next to her hero. Hope your week is productive, rewarding, and warm.

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  2. Ooh, great new items for the classroom! How exciting about your presentation, Leigh Anne, you'll have to blog about it...naturally:)

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  3. A celebration of numbers made me smile, lol! I had three days away from work and felt out of my element the first day back but got into the groove pretty quickly. It doesn't hurt that I love my job!

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  4. SOunds like you are ready to head back to school after this unprecedented break! Me too!

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  5. Leigh Anne,
    Having a mounted projector is huge! I can identify with that excitement! Also having a kidney, half circle table is also huge when it comes to small group time!
    Good luck on your presentation! One thing that's always helped me is to have 3 or so go-to stories that people can connect with on your topic of presentation! But you probably already do that! ;)
    Twitter rocks!

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  6. Projector is a gift! I love mine. You will do very well giving a presentation on blogging. I love reading your posts and your comments! Wishing you all the best in the coming weej!

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  7. Hi Leigh Anne, I too am reading to get back to school. We have 2 snow days on Thurs. and Fri which were nice but that's enough for me. I love my mounted projector and wonder now how I ever managed without it before. Good luck with your presentation.

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  8. Leigh Anne,
    (Ok NOW I think I got spelling right!) I am terrible. Love your celebrations. Twitter is amazing, glad to see you've caught the bug. New classroom tools are worth celebrating too. What a great way to go back to school.
    Julieanne

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  9. New tools are always exciting. Love that table too. Perhaps you can be my twitter tutor if we meet up at All Write conference :-). Good luck with your presentation, I know you will inspire a few to jump into blogging.

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  10. Twitter can be addicting! I don't tweet much, but I follow on the outskirts and get many wonderful ideas.

    I love your table. I have a similar one in my classroom. We use it for everything. I'm actually buying some vinyl circles I found on pinterest to keep on the table (sort of like placemats). They will serve as individual dry erase boards. I'm excited. I'll let you know how they go and where I get them if they work out.

    Good luck with your professional development. You will do great.

    Thank you for including me on the getting to know you blog questionnaire thing. I don't know 11 other bloggers, but I will at least fill it out this weekend :).

    Enjoying your posts.
    Jen

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  11. Good luck on your PD Tuesday. Nothing like a presentation to keep you focused and get you ready to go. Me? It's Sunday morning and I haven't opened my school bags...yet.

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  12. I love that new table! Can't wait to hear about your blogging PD. I had to step away from Twitter for the school year...never enough time. So I love hearing about good things from the Twitter world on blogs. I'm hoping to listen in on the conversation about Reading in the Wild, even though I still haven't read the copy I got for Christmas.

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  13. Lots of good things going on for you! I'm an on again and off again Twitter user. Extended time like winter break gives me more opportunities to get on Twitter and you're right, there is so much to learn on there. Good luck on your PD...hopefully, the snow and cold temps will have passed through by then. I'll be anxious to hear what you think about God-Sized Dreams. I've been on Holley's blog too. :) Have a great week! Julie

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  14. Have fun with Twitter. I love it. I learn so much there and make connections with fantastic educators and book lovers.

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  15. What great things to celebrate! I would love a new table AND a mounted projector. Small things can make a big difference! I love your daughter's passion for coaching basketball. Happy start to the next part of the school year.

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  16. How exciting about the PD!

    Great table!

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