Thank You SAC

Our SAC Committee sent 1 teacher per grade level to #MiamiDevice and it was so worth it!  Read about our trip here  We made a presentation to SAC with the help of some friends.  I am pretty sure they were impressed.  The Thank you sign above was signed by each student in the class of the teachers that attended #MiamiDevice  I don't know about you WOW that is a massive list of kids!

Collin is sharing his President's Day project.  Wait did you see his project?  

Mrs. Lenois is  one of the SAC chair and what a job that is! Thanks for leading our staff, school, and parents with the decisions that influence our daily schedules.

Emma is sharing her SeeSaw feed.  Check out here 100 year old ChatterKid project. 

Joshua is sharing his SeeSaw Journal as teachers and parents get to view his projects.

Ms. Clutter is sharing her take aways from MiamiDevice.  She loves the relationships she made and even presented with another teacher during a recent Early Release Day an app she learned with kid samples!

Thank you Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Lenois for taking on all the responsibilities of running CCE SAC.  Thank you for a place to seek funds to enhance our professional development so we can share and collaborate for our students and school.

Reflections on the last day of 2015...

The last day of 2015... there was so much to be #thankful for this past year.  I have a Top 10 list:

10.  #miamidevice was amazing and this time I had 7 other friends learning right along side me.  I can't wait for all of us to share and take 2016 to new levels remember #youmatter and our very own #ottersmatter My BFF at school was a part of this group and we are working along with our team to share and collaborate, even more to come in 2016...

9.  Finally made the trip to Georgia to see Aunt Alice and Uncle Gene.  They were our neighbors when I was a baby in Taiwan and helped my parents with everything and anything for a young couple.  They were there when I took my 1st steps and took me to the deep end of the pool.  They are my family.  Uncle Gene broke his leg last year so I didn't get to visit.  Aunt Alice needed back surgery so we didn't visit this summer.  It was almost 3 years since our last visit so with our Christmas break we took a few days to make the trip to Georgia.  I am so thankful I got to see them, hug them, and listen to stories about my life.  They are 83 and I don't know hoe many more years I will get to see them but I made sure to tell them how much I love them!  

8.  Twitter yes Twitter.  Anyone that knows me knows I work-A LOT and on Twitter I have found my people!  I read the best blog posts, gather the best ideas to use in my classroom, and have the best PLN to grow as a global teacher.  I am connected to teachers all over the world and share the message-use Twitter.  Still working on furthering that message. 

7.  Volusia County Schools where my daughter started Spruce Creek High School and our son is enrolled in 7th grade at Creekside Middle.  Kaile ran Cross Country and I cheered as she practiced day after day to see that mile time come down and her 1 mile PR is lower than mine.  Guess I will be working on that time in 2016.  Carson played the saxophone and right before Christmas took on the bassoon.  I am thankful for a school system that offers extra curricular activities to enhance education.

6.  Apple yes, tech Apple because I use it daily in so many ways.  YIPPEE I got an Apple watch and it is a game changer people, trust me ask and I will let you know why-I am sold!  Apple also offers schools a discount when you buy in packs of 10 and thankfully we have had grants and Parents Night Out to grow our iPad program at school.  We are changing education for students throughout Cypress Creek Elementary.

5.  Disney World-what?!? We bought annual passes last Christmas to share with our kids.  See Kaile is 14 and pretty soon she will be driving and not hanging out with us:( We went to all the Disney parks and made a total of 25 trips.  25 times I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, hug my kids a little tighter and see pure enjoyment on some faces during our trips.  We rented a camper for Spring Break and even stayed at the Boardwalk-thanks Uncle Randy.  It truly was a gift to our family that kept on giving all year long. I took more pictures than you could imagine and I will have them forever. :)

4.  Crossfit Diehard where I push myself everyday to be better than the day before.  I finally learned to do rope climbs with confidence and overcome my fear.  I can record my progress and see the results.  I choose to eat healthier, get to workout with Tim at least 3 times a week, and together talk to our kids about a healthier lifestyle.

3.  My firstie class because they keep me on my toes.  I celebrated my 23 years on December 17 and I can honestly say I enjoy going to work every day to interact with the future.  I have a class of 18 amazing kids that make me smile, challenge me to create interactive lessons, and show that I make a difference in their thinking, reading, writing and ways to see math in the real world. I just love them!

2.  My parents and Sunday night dinner.  My dad and I try to outdo one another each Sunday with a dessert war comparable to Top Chef.  It fills my heart with joy to have our children laughing and talking with the whole family over dinner.  Sunday might be the best day of the week.

1. My family because without Tim, Kaile, and Carson where would I be? Truly I am blessed beyond words to share this life with this crew. Love them more than I could ever tell them. We are thankful God has blessed us with one another.

Well that is really just the tip of the iceberg and I could go on an on but I am hoping you get a sampling of the things I find making me a better person and I can't wait for 2016 and what is in store for me.

#MiamiDevice 2015

Back from #MiamiDevice and what are my thoughts…Well I am finding it difficult to sleep through the night because the inspiration is brewing and needs to be released.  Watch out CCE because now I have seven other teachers along side me to bravely face our fears and move forward with technology because it is what is right for kids.  

We cannot teach 21^st century students with 20^th century material.  There is a passion locked inside each and everyone of us.  We need to find that passion, share it and build relationships through that passion.  We heard some of the most inspirational speakers talk about being brave because fear is the greatest barrier to our own success.  I want to encourage our teachers to find their passion and in turn find the passion of their students.  I want to help build those relationships along with some very connected educators so we can bring forth the message #ottersmatter.  

Throughout #MiamiDevice I saw our team cry, smile, and most importantly share a part of themselves they reserve for those closest to them.  Our team will need to rely on one another as we move forward and we are off to a solid start and will show our brave along the way.

Yes that is Tony Vincent! We made it to several sessions and learned how to integrate iPads into our daily instruction.  Thank you @tonyvincent

We might have been @techninjatodd stalkers but seriously we did have thoughts of moving to Texas just to teach for him!

Adam Bellow is such a fabulous storyteller and wow his Keynote presentations are amazing!  I loved the Hack the Keynote session and will start working on my story soon...

You never know who you will meet, here is Reshan Richards, co-creator of Explain Everything. One of my favorite apps and he has ideas spinning in my head of how I am going to empower teachers to use this app.

@GoNoodle is one of my all time favs and there were many, many smiles for GoNoodle.

Did somebody say Hot Dog? Yes, yes they did...

I got to be the @GoNoodle HOT DOG!! Highlight of the trip! Thanks so much Go Noodle!

Wes Fryer was so informative and even gave me a challenge.  Post coming soon.  Hope to get some time with Thanksgiving coming up.

The Volusia County group and some of our favorite speakers.  Felix, you are amazing.  This learning conference ignited a fire in all of our teachers and we are spreading the fire to our entire community.  Thank you for everything and we will be back in 2017.

Our crazy prop picture!

Stacy Simpson I love you girl and so glad to meet Dr. Tony and connecting on Twitter.  You both are amazing and goes to show I might not see you every day but you are only a tweet away.

Angela Maiers you have started a movement #ottersmatter is real and we are running with it. Thank you for helping us see your vision and making it ours. #youmatter