teaching the giver + surprises

Today was such an exciting day at school- in so many ways. However, something that never happens- happened. All teachers were given the hp hybrid laptop/tablet computer – we can take it to and from school and the web isn’t restricted like in the past- where almost everything was blocked. I honestly never thought something like this would happen and so far I am in love with the device. I felt like we were shown appreciation and I was thankful- so nice. I am an apple/mac girl … but it’s pretty awesome 🙂  I can’t say that I saw this coming… in any way… but I am beyond excited. What a nice gesture by our school district. Yay! for 21st century learning.  In addition, I facilitated the first ‘art walk’  of the year in my classroom- in correlation to the novel, The Giver. It took place in my language arts class; where they were to display their version of an utopian society~  and it went so well. I was so proud of them… I love promoting creative thinking and get so excited when their projects exude effort, critical thinking, & creativity- all in one (especially for so many of my students who strongly dislike school – overall, 19 out of 22 did the project – and very well.)