travelteachlove

Searching for Matter One Country At A Time

October 16, 2017 No Comments

Another year, another chance to show students the world. I am lucky our social studies curriculum is the seven continents so intergrating pictures from my travels is practically a must do! This year I have taken the opportunity to weave in travel with science as I cover matter. Last year I made an iMovie on states of matter around the world as a model for students. This year I am adding to that through introductory lessons on solid, liquid and gas with PowerPoints. Each PowerPoint focuses on one state of matter and asks students to identify examples of that state […]

Classroom Connection

Why I Love Blogging with Students

September 15, 2017 No Comments

Over my seven years of teaching; despite grade changes, district moves, building moves, and classroom moves, there is one thing that I have done consistently, blogging with students. It is a resource that spans grade levels, abilities and curriculum. Strong writers, developing writers, everyone can access the blog and write to their best ability. It is also a resource that spans subjects. Reading, math, social studies, science; there is something to write about no matter what the subject. Link an educational website or article in a blog post and students have the opportunity to practice reading online material. This gives […]

Classroom Connection

Flexible Seating Year Two

September 1, 2017 39 Comments

Flexible seating was a thing in my room before I knew it was called flexible seating. Providing students with choice of where and how they sit always seemed like a no brainer to me. I mean, I don’t like to sit on a hard chair all day, in fact I spend most of my day on my feet walking around, why would I think that my students want to sit static for hours on end? In the last few years I have really ramped up my flexible seating options. Last year I wrote a DonorsChoose project that provided my students […]

Classroom Connection, Travel

Ready To Jump Into Another School Year: Or How Traveling Will Shape My School Year Again

August 21, 2017 No Comments

New school year starts next week. All I can say is Bring.It.On New group of students- check New classroom arrangement- check New flexible seating options- check New travel experiences to incorporate into my teaching- check! As many of you know, I am obsessed with traveling and sharing my experiences with students. This past summer, my trip to South Africa gave me new travel material to share and brought me one step closer to a personal goal of visiting all seven continents. I have now been to six of the seven continents. Antarctica might require a bit more planning (or saving) to […]

Travel

Cape Town’s Small Pleasures

August 8, 2017 No Comments

Now there are tons of major sights and experiences I could go on and on about from my trip to Cape Town. There’s the V&A Waterfront, a visit to Robben Island, and of course taking the funicular up Table Mountain. At some point I will blog about all of those things, but today I wanted to share some of the little moments that really stuck with me. The views! Everywhere we turned there were mountains in the distance. Sunrise, sunset or smack dab in the middle of the day, the mountains that surrounded us were impressive. In the city, countryside, […]

Travel

Winter Safari in South Africa

July 31, 2017 No Comments

We skipped the long trek to get to Kruger National Park for our safari. I know, I know, it is suppose to be the best place for safari; a huge area to self drive, breathtaking views and one of the most famous places in South Africa to see the big five, but it just wasn’t in the plans with the time we had. Having said that, we couldn’t have picked a better game reserve than Amakhala in the Eastern Cape just outside of Port Elizabeth. A chat with my aunt pointed me in their direction and I can’t thank her […]

Uncategorized

Take Off to South Africa

July 11, 2017 No Comments

I can’t believe it’s finally here! Time to get out of dodge and hit the open road. I have been patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for this trip to South Africa for almost a year, but now that it’s finally here I can’t believe it! Not only am I beyond thrilled to be spending two full weeks in South Africa, but my friend, Christine and I even snagged some bonus time in Germany. I mean, when you’re looking for the cheapest flights possible, sometimes you have to do an eleven hour layover. No complaints here, since it will give […]

Travel

Summer Travel, Countdown to South Africa

June 21, 2017 No Comments

Happy Summer! The whole summer is stretched before me and there is so much to look forward to, but by far the biggest adventure of the summer will be traveling to South Africa with friends. In fact we leave in just a few short weeks and I have to admit I am so not ready! Besides packing which I usually like to do embarrassingly early, that I haven’t done, I feel like I have so much reading to do before leaving. While all the flights are booked and places to stay are set, I feel very behind the eightball on […]

Classroom Connection

Teach Like Finland: My Summer Pick for PD Reading

June 11, 2017 No Comments

Summer is right around the corner. Exactly one week from today in fact, summer will officially start for me. And while it will be hard to pry myself from my classroom and promise not to return until at least the end of July, I am looking forward to several big events and lots of recharging for another year. One thing summer means to me is more time for reading. I have a stack of fun read books along with several “teacher” books I am looking to tackle. All I need now is the time to actually read them. Top on […]

Classroom Connection, Social Studies

Celebrating Global Learning: Continents Fair

June 5, 2017 No Comments

Last Friday was quite the day. Besides breaking out the lawn games again for math, which students love, second grade also had their big continents fair. It was the culmination of a month long research project students worked on both at school and at home. After in depth study of the seven continents, students picked a country of interest, and identifying what continent it is located on. Then, with graphic organizer in hand, students got busy researching specific information. The second grade teachers collaborated with our librarian and technology teacher to complete the research. Between books and websites, students were […]