and now, the news

Ahhh, so sorry about the lack of posts! (My one reader must be very disappointed :) ). Life leading up to the vacation, and away from the fires, has been absolutely crazy. Here's a short update:
1) Am organizing a HUGE field trip (entire 8th grade) to the Museum of Tolerance. Now, we are dividing in half by "village" but I am somehow in charge of both my village and the other 8th grade one. I feel like I am single handedly dragging 500 students to LA. On skateboards. Attached to a tow-rope. At my waist. Maybe it will burn some of the T-day calories.
2) My dad and I have been accepted to speak at the CATE conference. Yay! It's in March. We've spoken at CLMS and our local "best practices" conference so far. The talk is on "Kids and Reading"--which allows us to talk about whatever we want, really. Mostly it's about how to create a classroom full of readers at any level and how to teach kids to be effective choosers of books...and lots of other stuff...
3) I am planning out the entire second trimester. I want to see how closely I can stick to the plan (it's a fairly general outline) as I have noticed that it's easier for me to "see" what I'm doing NOW if I "know" what I'm doing NEXT.
4) I love that new show "Pushing Daisies" (on ABC)and also "Life" (on NBC)--and I am NOT a TV person.
5) I have read two more books on integrating grammar without teaching it (Mechanically Inclined and it's companion volume).
6) I am helping a friend plan out her home schooling schedule for the rest of the year.
7) and, oh yeah, Thanksgiving!
I'll try and make the previous break the longest one this school year.