How to Leave a Comment

To leave a comment, click on the "__ comments" link at the bottom of the post, then after you write your response go down under "Choose an Identity" and click on the "Name/URL" choice. Type in your name and leave the URL blank, then press the "Publish your comment" orange button. Your comment will not appear until I approve it.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Happy summer break! Thanks for following!
Wow it has been rocky! Yesterday we really pushed ourselves and hiked
from about 7am through about 10:30pm. We crossed the Bear Mountain
Bridge over the Hudson River in the dark. Today we hiked about 19
miles and my feet are really killing me. I'm being careful with my
knee this time though! The weather has been pretty nice so far...
Sometimes pretty hot but there's been a nice breeze! More later!

New York

Yesterday we did 22 miles and we're shooting for 18 today. This is me
going through the "lemon squeeze" in New York.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Back on the AT

Hi! Now that school's out I'm back hiking for a little over a week.
I joined them last night in the southeast corner of New York state!
Today we hiked only about 10 miles because yesterday they did 35! It
rained for a bit but then cleared up enough for us to dry off. There
were some difficult rock climbs today! Here I am in front of a
beautiful waterfall called Fitzgerald Falls. Tomorrow we're shooting
for over 20. It's nice to be back!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Last Day



Thank you all for such a great year! Each one of you are very special people with your own unique talents. These are the things I'm going to miss:
Sophie: I can tell that you have such a creative mind. You were able to see things in a way I could never picture them and then display them in an awesome way!
Austin: You have ambition. I'll never forget when you got a B+ on a 4th grade math test and got upset that this would affect your chances at going to Harvard! I also like that I saw you give up things so that others could have them.
Grace: You always tried your best. Though you were crazy a lot of the time, you have a very sweet side to you (that we all saw today as you cried all day long!)
Alanna: You love learning. You're the only student I've seen this year take their own notes in a notebook! This is a skill you'll use in high school and college!
Celia: You are such a great reader! This will really help your vocabulary and knowledge. Keep at it!
Cody: You are extremely bright. I think you have little gears turning around in your head making everything work well!
Andrew: People already told you this, but I love how you're always smiling. You are very carefree and cheerful and such a good sport by cheering for people when we played games. You have a great personality!
Sophia: I love how thoughtful you are about things. You always take your time in explaining yourself or telling someone something. Also I could trust you to work responsibly all year.
Hunter: Though you're quiet, I think you have a lot going on in your brain. You worked really hard this year and it shows!
Ev: You are extremely polite and responsible. I'll never forget the first day of school when you told me that you have a pretty good idea about how the school runs and that you could help me out with getting used to it!
Tristan: You are nice to everyone and you just wanna have fun and make friends! You're curious and interested.
Jaquan: You are always trying to make people happy! You are a very sweet boy.
Xander: Xander, you have overcome a lot this year. You are a strong boy and when you're on, you're really on! You were one of my best listeners and rule-followers. (AND PS YOU OWE ME MY END OF THE YEAR HUG!!!)
Ben: You are an amazing leader. You are respectful, caring, and thoughtful and can work independently on things. Nice job with all the little extra assignments you did this year too!
Ethan: What a great year for you buddy. I loved having you in class, and I'm going to miss your smile and the way you keep me on schedule!
Nick: You have made me laugh or smile almost every day this year. You are a sweetheart and you'll have no trouble making friends next year! Good luck to you!
Ruth: You are very bright. You were good at working with others and trustworthy.
Miss Amber: What an amazing help you were this year. You always know the right way to handle a situation and I am grateful to have had you in my class this year!

Parents and guardians: I have truly enjoyed working with you! What a great bunch of generous and caring people. It was fun interacting with you. Thank you for sharing your child with me!

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE!!!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Summer is Upon Us

Check out this poem Ruth and Sophia wrote about summer!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Ending off the year...

Today we did a nice activity in which we passed papers around the room and wrote a compliment on each one for that specific person.  When we got the papers back, they were filled with meaningful comments for us to keep forever.  Afterwards, we completed a crossword puzzle in which the words we had to find were all of our class members' names!




Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Hangar Theatre Field Trip

Today as a school Caroline attended the Hangar Theatre performance of Really Rosie! We had a lot of fun and Miss Coffey's class displayed their best behavior!  Who was your favorite character?

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Literature Circles

Well here we are in our temporary classroom... the art room!  Renovations are being done at most Ithaca schools this summer and to ensure they're done by the time school starts in September they're working on some of the rooms a little early!

Here a group reads The Secret School together.  One member of the group is the Discussion Director, another member is the Summarizer, another the Word Finder, another the Connector, another the Illustrator, another the Predictor, and the last is the Character Analyzer.  Students will rotate through these roles as they read through the chapters!





Thursday, June 4, 2009

Pastor Bruce


Today Pastor Bruce came in and spoke to us about their efforts in New Orleans.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

How Strong is a Bess Beetle?

Today, after discussing the importance of not harming our beetles, we conducted a safe experiment to see how strong our bess beetles are.  Watch the video below to see Ben's beetle!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Band and Orchestra Concert

Today we got to see the band and orchestra play for us at an assembly at the end of the day. Tonight's concert is in the Caroline Elementary gym at 6:30pm. I am impressed with how far both band and orchestra students have come from the beginning of the school-year! Stick with your music, it is a healthy and rewarding hobby!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Calculations

Here's a breakdown of my mileage on the trail:
Saturday- 20 miles
Sunday- 10 miles
Monday- 11 miles
Tuesday- 13.5 miles
Wednesday- 1 mile
Thursday 15.5 miles
Friday- 15 miles
Saturday- 5 miles

So I hiked a total of 91 miles!

After not hiking Sunday (my drive back) and Monday (first day back to school) I am finding myself still limping so I think I might need to go to a doctor about my knee. Thanks for following along and stay tuned for updates from back in the classroom!

Video from the Trail