Welcome!

 “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” 
- Albert Einstein

This is perhaps one of my favorite quotes, although, as you will soon discover, I enjoy a good many quotes attributed to Mr. Einstein. Our class pet is named Einstein after the scientist, and our blog is named after our little hedgehog (shown in the profile picture)!

Our classroom is one of creative expression, curiosity and understanding. We are able to accomplish this, all while maintaining Common Core Standards, by utilizing project based learning. Each month our class takes on one or two projects (depending upon the number of days in a month and upon the difficulty of our task). Some of our projects are individual, others are collective, and others are a little bit of both. All of our projects have elements of research and presentation. While I have some projects in mind at the beginning of the year, I try to leave room for curiosity and creativity. If our class is curious about ants, for example, we might take a couple of weeks to learn about ants by bringing in an ant farm and doing some research and experiments to learn about what they eat, how they live, and what effects they may have on our ecosystem. In learning this way, students are able to use hands-on activities to gain the Language Arts, Mathematics and Critical Thinking skills required by Common Core State Standards, and still have the opportunity to learn about Science and Social Studies, as well as Art and Music.

The purpose of this blog is to not only inform our parents about what we are doing in class, but to serve as a reminder to myself on even the most exhausting days that I truly believe that the best part of my job is to "awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge" in my students. My day may not always go smoothly, but the end result is definitely worth the effort.