In between the state standards, required curriculum, and day to day events that happen at any and all schools, it is important to find those pockets of time where we are making connections and have fun as a "family".   I love what I do for a living, but I come alive when I have those moments where I can engage my students with each other in an energetic and cooperative way.   Who doesn't want to play with a gigantic ball from our school fundraiser?   What was I suppose to do with that enormous beach ball that we "won" anyway?  Pulling out my old trusty parachute seemed like the perfect solution.   Smiles were all around as we worked together and played made up games, created a mountain, and best of all crawled underneath and made a tent!   When we returned to class, students were eager to write about our "play" time.   They took photos of their journals for Seesaw.   Parents enjoy seeing and hearing stories from their child's day.  Gone are the days of parents asking what happened at school and the child saying "nothing".   Parents are connected daily by either Remind, Class Dojo, and /or Seesaw.  The connections are powerful in my class this year and it has changed how we (student, parent, and teacher) operate and communicate, all for the better.

Looking at this photograph from the Reagan Library- Interactive! The Exhibition brings me back to my childhood.   Except for the iron and ironing board, everything in this room can fit onto a smartphone today!   Technology continues to race by.  It is every changing and growing.   Students today don't know any different.   They are the new generation that will always think that the world was filled with technology in their pockets.  In so many ways technology is a gift, a miracle, a game changer in learning/teaching.   I do see that some skills are going away and that raises some concerns for me.  Today in class I had given students construction paper stockings and thick yarn with a needle made from painter's tape wrapped around one end of the yarn.  This is an activity that I haven't done for years, but it used to be a good old stand by years ago.   I was really amazed how difficult it was for students to guide the fluffy yarn into the holes.   Their little hands were shaking as their fine motor skills were not the same as students in the past.   I notice the same issues when it comes to cutting with scissors and penmanship- forming the letters, letters sitting on the line, placement, and size.   All of these skills have become more difficult with each new batch of students.  All I know is that I have to continue to make sure I offer a balance for my firsties.   I need to keep one foot in the past (pencil to paper) and one foot in the now/future (technology).  Education is always changing and moving, just as it should be!