Where have I been and where did the last year go? I honestly think I blinked an eye and the last school
year happened. It has been almost an
entire year since I touched my blog and did nearly anything on the TPT
front. It wasn’t entirely intentional
and I didn’t mean to stay away for so long, but it happened and I’m ready to
get back in the game and get the ball rolling again with an entire year worth
of interactive notebook pages in social studies! I will get to that in just a little bit, but
I first wanted to touch base on what has been going on in my corner of the
world.
I knew that I wanted to incorporate interactive notebooks
into my classroom last year and had even purchased a few wonderful sets from CreateDream Explore, Heather Harris, Live Laugh Teach First Grade, and BrightConcepts 4 Teachers. (This doesn’t
include new ones I’ve bought for this school year!) I wanted to try and tackle interactive
notebooks with all of my subjects. It’s
not something we do every single day, but normally 2-3 times each week. Using a five-subject notebook makes it
extremely easy to keep everything in one place!
There is a section and tab for each subject – that gives us plenty of
space to add in side notes or practice work within our interactive notebooks! In the beginning of the year it was a little
tricky and bumpy. There was a trial and
error process to getting everything done correctly, but thanks to document
cameras, our interactive notebook time sailed along smoothly before November even had time to say hello!
It was around that time that we began planning surgery for
my youngest niece. I say “we” because I
am extremely close to all three of my nieces and love them as if they were my
own. The youngest, Lillian (4), and the
oldest, Kloie (7), both have epilepsy.
Lillian also had Chiari malformation – a condition in which brain tissue
extends into your spinal canal due to an abnormal growth of the skull that
pushes the brain downward. When you look
at these beautiful children, you think to yourself, “How can you be anything
but perfect?” Kloie briefly had a scare with this same condition when she was around 2, but luckily surgery wasn't needed. Lillian, however, did and was going to have
surgery in the beginning of February to correct the issue. The process of doctor visits until then was
intense and stressful on everyone. On
one hand, I was facing the most demanding school year of my career thus far,
but on the other I had so much going on with my family at home that taking a
step back from my TPT life was an absolute must. In the end, Lillian’s surgery went well (although
terrifying while waiting) and despite a few bumps in the road, she’s recovered
fine. We still aren’t seizure free, but
we’ll find out more after her six-month check up next month.
 |
| Cliffs of Moher |
Shortly after Lillian’s surgery, my school had a weeklong
winter break - HALLELUJAH! I had never traveled
overseas before, so my girlfriend and I decided to take a week long trip to
Dublin, Ireland! The weather was perfect
– sunny every day (very odd for them) and in the low to mid 60’s. It was perfect for a sweater and exploring
the city. We did take a day trip to the
other side of the country to see the Cliff’s of Moher and I can honestly say,
it was a life changing view. I want to
go back and spend days there exploring.
A few hours just wasn’t enough. I've debated briefly with tossing some of the pictures I took (like the one above) up for people to use if they wish. They turned out wonderful, but I don't know if the interest would be there. Taking pictures is just a fun thing right now.
During the school year I worked on these interactive
notebook pages as we went along. As much
as I wanted to chug them all out, I wanted to try them out first and take time
to tweak anything that might not have gone over well. My class really enjoyed doing them and I
found that it only sparked their interest in what we were learning about. Anytime they can use scissors and glue, they
are excited and ready to go! These
turned out so great! Despite taking the
year off of TPT and a year to get these done, I am really happy with how they
turned out and I hope you will be, too! I’m
so happy with how it turned out that I made a little freebie to go along with
it! It includes 2 of my personal
favorite interactive notebook activities from the set so you can try before you
buy! Follow the link, download, and
enjoy!!!
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