Welcome Back!

Wow! What a fabulous first week back at school. It flew by so quickly. Now that all those diagnostics are out of the way, I can't wait to launch our exploration of space. I'm so excited about our alien tog gorbs (pen pals) that we will be writing to on Monday. I'm glad we took a critical look at our solar system diagrams; I'm sure we'll draw much better ones this time. Hopefully our planet mind trick will help us remember to put the planets in the right order. Just remember (My Very Enthusiastic Mother Just Served Us Nachos.) Thanks to Lalo, we'll never have trouble remembering the order again.

If you're still a little nervous about getting your diagram just right, or you're still a little confused about how the planets move on their orbital paths around the sun, then take a look at this diagram. It actually shows the planets in motion! How cool is that? You can also click on your favorite planet and explore it inside and out! This morning I went on a trip to the rocky core of Jupiter (483 million miles away), without ever leaving my living room!

I can't wait to see you again on Monday. You are a really great group of students. I know you're already hearing the music, and I can't wait to sing along with you this year! :)

Dog Days of Summer

Well, it's happened once again. The time of year when school supplies begin creeping into giant display cases that eventually overtake the aisles. As a child this sent me into a complete sense of panic. Who would be my teacher? Would any of my friends be in my class? What if I didn't have time to eat my lunch because the line was too long? What if aliens invaded the school and took me away to live on planet Nebula? These were just some of my many concerns.

I was often torn between wishing away the days of summer, so I could get to my mid-August birthday party, and wishing my birthday would never come, so I could be trapped in an endless abyss of summer fun (swimming pools, ice cream cones, bike riding, ice cream cones, backyard camping, and more ice cream cones).
As an adult, I love school, but I'll let you in on a little secret. I still get a little sense of panic this time of year. I didn't want my worries to get out of hand, so I went into school to start getting things ready. Getting back into the swing of things was a great idea. Each moment I spend in our new classroom preparing for our first day of school, gets me a little more "jazzed" up for this year. I hope you spent plenty of time relaxing this summer because I have so many awesome things to share with you this year. I just can't wait for that first day back, and hopefully we'll even get a chance to say hello at Orientation Day. See you then!

Miss P