State Robotics

Here are a few pictures from the state robotics competition this past weekend. Our robot finished 21st out of 32 teams. We had a rough time the first couple of rounds, and then it was hard to battle back. There was some really competition there, too! One team could lift over 18 feet!

Book Flow Chart

I was at the Half Price Book Store this weekend and I saw this flowchart. If you like one series, it tells you similar books you might like. I'm going to make some of these for the library soon--I think its a great idea!

New Bulletin Board

Scope out our new bulletin board! This has book reviews from staff & students.

Messy Desk

This week is very hectic: we have the state robotics tournament on Saturday, so we've been putting in some extra hours improving our robot. Plus, its engineering week, which we celebrated by having a robotics open house on Tuesday evening, and going into the 3rd & 5th grade classrooms to show off our robots on Wednesday and Thursday. Because of the craziness, my desk looked like this Wednesday night when I left:

Here's the cute little robot that I built:

I'll post a video of him later!

2/21

Here's the Wildcat Robotics flier that I made to hand out tonight at engineering night. It highlights our K-12 robotics program.

Engineering Night

Here's the poster I put together for our engineering night tomorrow night. I am excited for the kids to show off all their hard work!

Love what you do

Glad I can say that I do!

Crazy About Reading

Kids just drool over the book fair! And I don't blame them!

Book Fair Time!

Set up the book fair tonight after school--had some great helpers, too!

You can also order books online through February 26! They will be delivered by the first week of March. Be sure to check it out.

V-Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Our National Honor Society students do a fundraiser every year, where parents and students can send candy bars, flowers and singing telegrams to students. This was the scene during 4th grade library today, as 4 of us got serenaded!

Big Day

The KCRG news crew was here today shooting some footage for a commercial for the town of Central City. They talked with a group of kids in the library! I'll try to post the commercial once it airs.

Road Trip = Reading

Road trips are a great time to get some reading done! I read Tim Tebow's Through My Eyes & got a good chunk of Moon Over Manifest done, both of which I read on my iPad. Love(d/ing) them both!

2/11

I bought these fun color sticks at the crayola store in Kansas City this weekend. Can't wait to color my Pooh drawing with these! Fun!

2/10

I gave the kids in 2nd grade a "free day" today after they had finished their project--most of whom were almost done. They could play games on the computer or iPods. And they loved me--we never get to do this!

1/9

Went to Traer, Iowa to watch our girls district basketball game against North Tama. We didn't win, but it was fun cheering for our kids one last time this season. I'm already pumped up for next year!

2/8

I faxed in my graduation application today to finish my degree! Score! Hopefully I'll be completely done in June!

2/7

This is what happens when Mrs. Rauch is gone for a day:hundreds of books to be re-shelved.  I wouldn't survive without her!

Ah, Monday

Typically, Monday is my favorite day of the week. Everyone is rested & ready to go from the weekend...well...usually.

Luckily, the gas station in Central City has free coffee on Monday mornings. The world would be a happier place if everywhere did that.

2/5

I bought this new book at Barnes & Noble yesterday. Turns out, I bought book 3 last time I was there, not realizing I didn't have book 2. Whoops.

A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book that there simply aren't words for. You have to read it to understand.

I read the last half of it at work the other day, and I was frustrated because I wanted to be fully committed to reading, and not have to deal with anything else. I read through lunch, then had a class. One student looked at me and asked if I was okay. I told him I was reading a very emotional book, and I needed to finish it before I could disconnect from it emotionally.

You have to feel for Colin. We all know people whose lives have been touched by cancer, and this book brings that issue to life in such a way that it consumes you.

You simply have to read it.

View all my reviews

2/3

Scored these books for free from "Books Are Fun." If you hear any John Denver coming from the library next week, this is why.

2/2

Some Iowa State people were at school today to award us a Lego grant and to pump kids up about engineering. I missed the majority of the presentation, but I did score this sweet sticker. I have a yellow one just like this already, but more is better--right?

Issues

My computer had major issues today. First, the "Chinese death box," as the students call it. Then, my mouse wouldn't move. It just twitched around. Strange.