Saturday, June 29, 2013

BlogLovin

I have joined BlogLovin' to keep up with my blog stalking! Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Presenting at a "Mini-Conference" and Post-Tornado woes

I am soooo nervous! I got asked to present at a Mini-Conference at our Regional Service Center in about a month! I am super excited, but I do not have access to some of my school stuff right now. You see 3.5 days before school let out, we experienced an F1 tornado after school. We had some people on campus for the annual sports banquet, but everyone was safe. 3 of our 4 instructional buildings sustained quite a bit of damage, mostly water, but 1 building has some structural issues. My classroom is in one of the damaged buildings, and we have been asked to stay away unless just absolutely necessary, so here I am unable to get to my resources. To top it off, I am presenting on something that I was not able to work into my first year of teaching in my current school and assignment, but it is something that I have missed terribly! My topic: Math Stations in Upper Elementary! Math Stations are my love in the Mathematics classroom, and I am passionate about figuring out how to get them back in my classroom this upcoming school year. Math Stations were the best thing I ever did for my 4th graders, and I never structured them the same way because as you well know students are different and different classes have different dynamics. It is all about doing what is best for you and your students. I saw my students own concepts that they struggled with and become familiar with vocabulary in a whole new way. Wish me luck as I prepare, and if there is anyone reading out there, I will be working the next few weeks on my presentation and will share out some of my favorite resources and structures.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Confessions of a Long Time Blog Stalker

For years I have stalked blogs or tried to blog. Confession: I have been so overwhelmed with my daily tasks of teaching that I have not gotten very far and have often given up quick, but I am not a quitter, and as I start the second year of teaching 6 grade levels, I find myself needing to organize my finds and thoughts, and if someone find that useful, then thank goodness. I know you are thinking holy cow 6 grade levels, well I somehow survive each day teaching 1 grade level each period of the Junior High bell schedule. I teach 3rd grade Math and 4th-8th grade Science. It keeps me hopping, but I love a challenge. So as I start this blogging adventure, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Mrs. Juliane Sullivan. I am very happily married to my husband of almost 2 years Chris. We have no children, and the only pets in my house are the fish that are usually in my classroom. Chris and I are very active with our local bowling association acting as the league manager. It keeps us very busy. Chris is an avid bowler and bowls as much as I will let him and even works there 3 days a week. I hope some of you will join me for this ride, and if not, I will be working like crazy over here to organize my units and thoughts.