Learning About Daily 5... and Learning to Relax...

My summer adventures began with a trip on an airplane. I hate flying. I really, REALLY hate flying!
I thought I was being quite smart when I tried the same approach suggested last winter to take my fear out of air travel...

I limited my carry-on luggage. I waited until the last minute to board. Then I practically lunged at the flight attendant and screamed (as nicely as I could under the circumstances), "BEVERAGE, please!" Unfortunately, I was so exhausted from the sleepless night before that my plan seems to have back-fired.

Aaaah... if only the beverage had looked more like this...

I did receive my beverage, but it seems that drinking it may have happened concurrently with a much-needed nap. Somehow I ended up wearing most of my orange-juice-and-other beverage all over my shirt. I'm still not sure if I tipped the cup into my lap or simply snoozed head-first into the fortified juice. Either way, when I woke up fifteen minutes later, my white shirt was less than dry... and it was newly-patterned. And I was orange-scented. And that cup was EMP-TY.

My travels began in Tacoma, Washington 

where I was stopped by

for a little professional development...

   
                        YEP! I spent two days with
                               THESE Two Sisters!





I attended both the Daily 5 and CAFE workshops and I learned a LOT. (I really tried to hide the recent "issues" behind a brain cell for the duration of the workshop.) Initially, I was worried that there wouldn't be enough content applicable to sixth grade. However, with a little encouragement from Sweet Katie at The Adventures of a Sixth Grade Teacher, I decided to give it a try. And I am so glad I did. There were goodie bags! And hand-outs! And cookies! (Golly, I love all that stuff. I MUST be a teacher!) Best of all, I feel like I have a better understanding of the whole process and it made me look forward to the Upper Grade Daily 5 Book Study even more!

Want to know more about the Daily 5/CAFE Book Study? There's a new blog in town! Check out the information about this exciting BlogEvent by clicking on the picture below...

And there are even more Book Studies going on... Just click on the Book Study tab in the right hand column at TBA!

Currently, I am sitting in a "Cyber Cafe." My friends have a beach house on the Oregon coast and they don't have Internet access. And they don't have TV. I am going though some serious withdrawals.

This morning, I snuck out of the house and found a funny little mildewed building with the words, "Wi Fi Hot Spot Here!" scrawled on a faded piece of paper taped to the window. YEE HAW!  Happy dance in the street! (Did I mention the entire--adorable--town is only six blocks long?!)

At the moment, I am paying in half hour increments to pound away on my computer. I want to blog about Guided Math, and share some of my thinking about Daily 5, and talk more about my plans for September. But I think they might start missing me soon and the ticking timer is telling me I almost out of minutes.

I know I am supposed to learn how to relax... I am just not sure that is part of who or how I am.

So... I am going to walk down the street in search of ice cream or a mocha (or both!). Obviously, there is no Starbucks here! (Thump Thump ____ Thump. That was my heart skipping a beat.)

Then I am going to hurry back to the house and try to fit in with the "vacation-minded crowd."

Any guesses on how that is going to go?

I miss you, BloggyPals! I hope you are enjoying your summer!