10/31/2002 | 11:00 pm

Tonight I set to work on a project that I have put on the back burner for too long. Here in AZ, the wonderful public voted us "poor ol' teachers" a raise, with many strings attached. The first string, is that we must write and implement a personal goal that fits within the framework of our school goal. (for us that is language arts) The plan must have evaluators, show results, and be turned in ON TIME if we want our extra money. The other part of the marionette show is taking professional growth credit, either through the district or the university. I chose to go the university route..on line. The title of my course is " Children's Authors and Books on the web.

It requires about 15-20 hours of work, researching web sites, choosing an author on which to focus, and planning and executing lessons.I am actually having a good time at it, now that I have worked my way through the university web-site, and linked onto the Teacher line instructional module.

The author I picked is one with whom I am already familiar. She is Jan Brett, an amazingly talened writer and illustrator. The thing that was so fun tonight is, that as I explored her web-site,janbrett.com.

Halloween in the nut tree was just dandy today. Everyone dressed up after lunch and we passed out treats. We did a fun activity with little packets of candy from Brache's called "Dem bones." I put together an easy graph paper so the kids could sort and count the candy bones. They loved the sorting, and then they gobbled up their evidence! Tomorrow everyone will either be droopy and listless, or swinging from the rafters on a sugar high. But, TGIF:)))

One little boy did not get to wear a costume. His mom forgot, or couldn't find it. I felt sad for him.

This weekend should be busy, I hope hubby gets the painting done for the returning son. It would be a big relief to have that project out of the way. But, I don't think it will be stormy here in the desert, so he'll probably find outdoor things to occupy his time. *sigh* My toe hurts now, so I'll go to bed.

catsnapples~ in first grade and at life

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