ADD: Accomplishments, Donations, and Details

It's been a while since I've posted. The kids have posted more than I have and they have another one coming out tomorrow!  While it seems like the year is already taken off to a fast start, I have to remind myself that we have only been in school 11 days. Isn't it strange how something can seem to be both fast and slow?

Since my last post a lot of exciting things have happened!

I finally got my official invitation for the Kansas Teacher of the Year Luncheon! I can't tell you how wonderful this made me feel. The initial shock is gone but it still brings a huge smile to my face any time someone brings it up. This is a huge honor to be both nominated and recognized by my colleagues. My mother and friends will be joining me in Salina. It is sure to be a grand celebration!

Official Invitation!

Another huge piece of excitement came Sunday morning. After getting up and around I jumped on Facebook and noticed that there was a post from my account about a project I had put on DonorsChoose. (Jump back to the end of last school year......I created a project to get new materials for our centers. This project included cd players, headphones, addition games, and math puzzles. I put the project on DonorsChoose.org and hoped to get enough donors to fund the project.) So Sunday, after seeing this notification, I checked my email. I was afraid the project had been dropped. Earlier I had received an email saying that time was running out and if the project didn't get enough donors it would be canceled. Miraculously I got 5 donors Sunday! The project is now fully funded! We will be getting new materials! I haven't told the students yet. I think I'm just going to wait until the materials arrive and use it as a jumping point for a meeting. I can't wait to see their faces!

Over the summer I taught an older group during summer camp. While we had a fabulous time the students were a little rough on our paper trays. These are the same trays that I use with my first graders during science. Solid paper trays seem to work better than the wired ones. Our experiments can get messy and we need containers that will keep the mess contained! Since they had taken some serious wear-and-tear I went ahead and bought some new ones. Well yesterday they came in! When our fabulous secretary brought them in I nearly giggled with excitement. This in turn got the students excited. Needless to say, we will be completely prepared for science!

With all of this excitement happening in the last couple of weeks I am sure that the school year will be full of many more adventures and accomplishments.

Here's to organization, excitement, and projects!

P.S.
Teachers: What are you adding to your room this year?
Parents: What materials stood out to you in your student's classroom?