Tuxpi

This is a fun app, too!  Here's another look at Henry (who is sleeping at my feet right now).

Playing with images

I had no idea how many fun apps are out there for using images. I played with Image Chef tonight. I couldn't resist using my dog, Henry, as my subject.

avatar

I played with one of the avatar tools tonight. I need to figure out how to use this. I'm trying to change my profile picture on google+ to this one. That's me - and one of my dogs...fun(ny)!

Wordle

I have always wondered how people make really cool "pictures" with words. Little did I know they have a name - a word cloud. This is my first attempt at using Wordle. First, I had to download Java to my laptop. Success! Then, I created a Wordle doc with a focus on my first graders. I hope I can figure out how to save it and post it to my blog.

Yay! It worked. Oh wow - I love Wordle.

Jumping right in

I have been in education for 24 years. TWENTY-FOUR years. How did that happen? When I first started my teaching career, I hadn't even been alive for 24 years. And yet here I am, jumping into a new (fingers crossed) chapter in my career. Currently, I teach first grade. I love 6 and 7 year old children. They are a funny combination of sweetness, curiosity, impulsiveness, and stickiness. They are slobs and can be so disorganized. They don't seem to notice the literal trail of paper they leave behind. They also have endless amounts of energy and creativity. I just love them. I especially love working in small reading groups with them.

And yet, despite my complete love of teaching the youngsters, I like change. I don't like to do the same thing over and over again (well...that's not entirely true. I never seem to tire of a great glass of red wine).  I have also always loved books. I loved going to the library as a little girl and checking out books. I kept a list of the Newbery Award winners on my desk - and made it my goal to read them all (I have not succeeded yet). My first graders share this love. They can not wait to visit our school library during our regular Friday morning time. Watching them sparked an idea. Perhaps it was time for me to shift my career focus from a single classroom to a much larger classroom - the school library.

And so here I am....taking my first step towards earning my endorsement in library science.