Summeritis

So is it just me or does anyone else have summeritis? I can feel summer...it is so close, only 7 school days away for me now, but it just seems like these last few weeks are dragging along. I love all the energy the kids have for summer, I just wish they could bundle some of it up into energy focused on their school work! I must say looking at Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers I am impressed with how many teachers have already started planning for next school year, I wish I could be that proactive right now, I am just drained out. I figure I'll give myself 2 weeks after school gets out and then start to prep for next year. Last year I vacationed all summer and this year I am really looking forward to do some prep work to help me prepare for the upcoming school year. I know I'm not the only one that gets excited by the back to school sale ads, I just need a little breather from the end of the current school year first. Anyone else feel like the last few weeks of school go slowly, but then once they are gone it seems like it all flew by?

Common Core

So our district is implementing the Common Core State Standards next school year for Kindergarten and 1st grade. I was lucky enough to attend a training today all about the new standards and I have to say that I am super excited about them! It seems like the Common Core State Standards are really comprehensive and definitely will make sure that students are learning skills necessary to be successful in life. I was so excited that I came home and just spent the last hour creating a spreadsheet to keep track of student mastery of the standards. Since it's so important for all the students to learn each concept in the grade level it's taught, I thought that this would be a wonderful way to keep track of all the information. Any one who's already started implementing Common Core State Standards, how do you like them? Any tips for those of us who will be implementing them soon?

Addiction to blogs!

I have become addicted to teaching blogs thanks to Pinterest and decided to give it a shot at writing my own. Bear with me as I try to figure this all out! I am super excited to attempt this new endeavor and hopefully I will gain more ideas while I share some that I have used in my own classroom. Thanks!