First Days of School 2018-19

We just finished Day 19 of school, but I thought I'd take a moment to post a couple pictures of Day 1 of this new school year, and also show a little of what's been keeping us busy at Brown School since the year began.

Ryan was not super excited for early mornings, but he was interested in getting back to structured learning. Evan was ready for all aspects of school! He's an early riser, so mornings are no problem for him at this point. He also missed being with friends, and enjoys learning challenges too. And so, time marches on, and we started the 2018-19 school year. Ryan is now in 5th Grade, and I am lucky to be his teacher this year!! Evan is in 3rd grade, and his teacher is a trusted colleague, and my former team member from last year when I taught 3rd grade. It's going to be an awesome year!

I got a little nostalgic and my eyes teared up as we unloaded from the car, and began walking into the school to start our first day. It hit me that this was Ryan's last first day at Brown. He's experienced 6 first days there, and he's grown so much during those years. This awareness will inform my teaching, and I feel so honored and lucky to be working with this awesome group of 5th graders this year.

Ryan, his good friend Lucas, and their super bouncy moon balls.

To kick off the year, and build community, the students brought in three items to help describe what is special to them. One of Ryan's items was Nemne. I thought this was hilarious, seeing Nemne projected under the document camera. 

I have a blog for my class that I use to communicate with parents. I take pictures of them working, and share them on our class blog, so parents can see learning in action. Here's a pic of Ryan working on a piece of our Friendship Puzzle. 

One of our colleagues is having a baby, and we recently had a luncheon in her honor. The organizers asked us to bring in books to help build baby's home library. The day before the shower, a bunch of us coincidentally showed up at the same local bookstore at the same time. A fifth Brown School teacher also showed after after we took this picture. It was fun to run into them! We had a good laugh about it. [Photo credit: Ryan]

As you may remember, Ryan was elected Student Council president for the 2018-19 school year. I am taking over as staff sponsor for this group this year! I am excited to organize the group, and get them living and learning leadership. Here is Ryan pictures with the rest of the executive board. Recently, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes had elections for class representatives, and Evan was elected as representative for his class, so I'm super happy for him too! 

So, we're off to a 98% awesome start! It's not all roses, though. I'm still trying to figure out how to set up a routine that the boys and I can live with for after school. They come to my room, and spaz out - literally climbing walls, asking for food, throwing balls around, asking to wander the hall. I know they need a release after holding it together all school day, but I also need a couple minutes to wrap up my work day, and their behaviors are so distracting. We're trying to work through that though, and I told them yesterday that even though I occasionally get frustrated and lecture about needing them to settle down so I can finish up my work which will lead to us being able to leave sooner, I know I will miss them and their noise/activity when they move on from Brown School. So, you know, life...

DE & DC

We wrapped up our summer with an excellent trip out east. The entire Ponka & Whitlock families (13 of us!) spent a week in Bethany Beach, DE. This area is a traditional, beloved vacation spot for Christine and her family, and we were happy to experience it with them!

The view from our condo!

Atlantic Ocean

We had a lot of great meals, and Burke enjoyed the seafood!

Fenwick Crab House

Emily was "baking" smashing up and stirring her unwanted food!

Cottage Cafe

Burke made pancakes for breakfast one day.

Harpoon Hanna's

 Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats

Burke grilled one evening too!

Fun Land - Rehoboth Beach

We spent quite a bit of money trying to win these hamsters. In the end, Evan won both of them. Ryan went on a couple rides - Paratrooper with Burke and the big pirate ship with me.

Mini-golf in Bethany Beach

Mini-golf in Fenwick Island

My dad won this round of mini-golf.

We spent a lot of time in the pool.

Christine & Caleb

Caleb swims away.

Emily, Christine, Ryan, Grandpa, and Evan

Cute Cousins

Soon it was time to head away from the ocean. On our way, we planned to visit Washington D.C. On our way there, we stopped in Annapolis to check out Maryland's capitol building. I have a straight on picture of the capitol, but I like this one better. Annapolis was such an interesting town, historically. I loved the little alleys. We'll have to go back, and spend more time exploring.

Washington Monument

We would have liked to go up, but it's closed until spring 2019.

WWII Memorial

A lovely place to reflect and refresh!

Vietnam Memorial

I heard that the memorial is purposely reflective so you can see the past in the present.

Lincoln Memorial

Reflection Pool from the Lincoln Memorial

[photo credit: Burke]

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

This important memorial opened in 2011, so this was my first time seeing it.

FDR Memorial

The FDR Memorial is sprawling, and commemorates his four terms as president. A portion of the memorial showcases Eleanor Roosevelt. I spent the summer reading about her, so was excited to capture a picture here.

We spent the night in Chinatown.

The next day we visited the National Archives where we viewed the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. There was also an interesting exhibit on the Vietnam War.

Before leaving DC, we spent a bit of time in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. The boys do so well with audio tours, so we use those to structure museum visits whenever possible.

Among the many highlights, Amelia Earhart's airplane.

Near the end of the our, the boys sat down to listen to the explanation of this missile.

These last pictures are from our first day in DC, but I thought it'd be a nice way to wrap up the post.

The 3 Branches of Government

Legislative

Judicial

Executive

[also know as Barak Obama's former residence]

This trip inspired some patriotism, which was rejuvenating at this time when so many true American ideals are not reflected by our current administration. We definitely need to go back to DC sometime. There is so much to see! But this was a great introduction, for sure!