And the Award for Worst Blogger Goes To:

ME! Sorry I've been MIA recently!

I have finally learned what "summer vacation" truly means. After spending a couple of days at a workshop in Charlotte, I flew home for some quality family time. The first night at home, I slept in until 12! What a beautiful thing! Then, my friend Rachel came to visit me and her friend Holden the turtle. Go check her blog out, I'm sure she'll be telling all about little Holden Undercover Diva: A Sitcom.

Part I: All Work and No (okay, a little) Play

The workshop in Charlotte I attended was fantastic! I and another member of my team were chosen to pilot a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program for the next 2 years. It was overwhelming the first 2 days. We were busy worrying about when the heck we would teach an additional Science unit in our already packed schedule. I absolutely cannot wait to see the kids work together on these projects! I really think that we can use this to push our students to the higher levels of thinking.

We were quite challenged by some of our projects. We had to test and rebuild A LOT. Perhaps I should have taken up engineering earlier in my life. Unfortunately, I upgraded to a new phone and can't get my picture off of my first one. I'm stealing a couple from my teammate:

Environmental Engineering: Here we learned about oil spills. We had to create a boom in order to contain the oil spill. The next project in the sequence is creating a boom and then cleaning up the spill. Very cool to see the progression in learning.

Package Engineering: Our task was to create a package for a living flower to stay in overnight. We had to create a water source for our flower to survive in.
I cannot wait to see my students work together and be challenged by these projects! It will be great!

Part II: All Play and No Work

I got to hang out with my gorgeous niece and nephew! They're getting ready to start 1st grade, I can't believe it! I loved being home and surrounded by family. Nothing's better than Momma's home cooking.

Goofballs!
Part III: All Play and a Little Work

With Rachel here, I got to pretend like I was still on vacation! We spent a day on the beach and a day shopping. What could be better?

Now that my supercharged vacation is over, I guess it's time for me to start preparing for school! Monday is coming fast and so is a panic attack!


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