I Am Still Alive

It has been a while since the last time I blogged.  In that time I was able to do something I had always wanted to do, go skydiving.

How many people say they would love to do something like this, and then how many actually do it?  When I was given the opportunity I had to take it.  My brother sent me a message saying he knew some people that were going, and wondered if I was interested.  I sat there for about five seconds, and then I said yes and never looked back.  In those five seconds I discovered that it is a lot easier to say you want to do something, than to actually do it.

I was so excited, but it never quite felt real.  I figured the second I stepped out on to the edge of the plane I would get freaked out, but even that didn't scare me.  It was the thrill of a lifetime!  The closest way I can describe it would be sticking your head out a car window driving 120 mph.  Except it's your whole body, and instead of cars passing by you get to see the earth get closer and closer.

It was a free-fall for about a minute.  Then we pulled the parachute and got to float around for a couple of minutes.  I would do it again in a second.  Just getting to fly around in the little plane and see the beautiful Utah landscape and mountains was beautiful.

We didn't get any good pictures of us actually in the air, but here is a picture of four of us pre-jump.

Since then I have also done a few other things I have always wanted to do.  I bought my very own bowling ball, and look forward to getting it this week!  In my excitement I bowled my first over 200 game on Friday.  I got six strikes in a row to start, and ended up with a score of 215.

Who knows what I will do next?

Best of Utah on Twitter

Several people have asked me what I do during the summer when school is out.  Well first of all, I've been to school 4 out of 5 days this week.  I have also done a much better job of exercising, and plan to finally get some work done in my yard.

Besides all of these things, and some good old fashioned time wasting, I started a new blog.  This blog began with a hunger, I wanted a burger.  So I thought I would use Twitter to help me decide the best burger around. The only requirements was they had to be on Twitter, and they had to be within driving distance.  It ended up being a lot of fun and I got a really good response.  So I posted my results on a blog, and I want to make it a weekly thing.

It would really help me out if you would go there, comment, and click follow.  I would like it to look more official, I kind of threw it together really quickly today, but it has possibilities.  In less then 12 hours I have already had over 50 views.  Now if I can get follows, +1's and comments I may be in business.

The website is http://bestofutahontwitter.blogspot.com/

Thank you!

Last Days

The last week of school is always bittersweet.  Having time off is never a bad thing, but you have gotten so close, and care so much about your students.  Several of my students didn't want to leave the last two days, many told me I was their favorite teacher.  I know they say that every year, and they should, your current teacher should always be your favorite, but it still feels really good to hear it.  Here are a few of the notes I got today:

Dear Mr. Horan, Thank you for always being there for me.  Thank you for helping me understand my math.  I will miss you.  You were my favorite teacher.  When I'm in 5th grade I'll try to come and visit you every day.  You are the best!

Dear Mr. Horan you are a really great teacher I hope you had a good year, I did.  You really made me feel special.  I hope (my sister) gets you.  (Then her mom gave me a phone number of a girl she wants me to ask out)

Mr. Horan You are the best teacher I have had, besause all my other teachers did not make sense.  You made me feel welcome, you helped me with math so I would get it, and you are AWESOME!!  Go Jazz!

Thank U for being my 4th Grade teacher!  U were the best teacher I've ever had!

Dear Mr. Horan Thank you for being such a nice Teacher.  You the best teacher I've had yet.  I will miss you dureing the summer.  I hope I'm one of your fav. students I tryed to be the best.

Dear Mr. Horan - Thanks for making 4th grade the best at freedom.  You are a fun teacher.  I hope you find a lovely women to hang out with.  Your the best!

Thanks for a GREAT PERFECT year!  Your the Best teacher EVER!  Mr. Horan, You are a great teacher!  You have been my favorite!  I am going to miss you!  The journal I gave you is for you to record what you did this summer!  Thanks for a GREAT year!  (She then gave me this awesome notebook that she had decorated the cover and labeled for me to write about the things I did this summer. They even gave me a list of some fun ideas, very clever and thoughtful!)

I did try really hard to make every child feel special and that they were one of my favorites.  Hopefully they felt that, because I really did care about them.  I started and ended the year reading a book called You Are Special, and these wonderful children will always have a special place in my heart.  I had a lot of favorites, and it's good to see that they not only saw that I cared about them, but they cared about me.  Hopefully I find that lovely women to hang out with this summer!

If I Was the Computer Teacher

As a teacher who uses and loves technology, I have been blessed with a really great opportunity to have a positive impact on not only my class, but my entire school.  Our computer teacher is retiring and our principal wants my help, along with two others from my school, to create yearlong outlines for the new teacher.  These plans will be for each of the grades at our school, K-6.

I know there are some things I would love, as a 4th grade teacher, for my students to learn in computers, then I can take it, run with it, and apply it to my curriculum.  I also know that I do not know everything, or what other teachers may want.  (I will ask the teachers at my school this as well) The new computer teacher will obviously have the freedom to do their job, and not be imprisoned by our general guidelines and ideas.

Because I want to do this right, and because I have such a knowledgeable PLN, I want your help!  Are you a technology specialist, teacher, administrator, who has seen anything specific work really well?  What are some of the crucial aspects you would include?

A little info on our school:  We have 1,200 students.  They each get to go to computers, in our computer lab, for half an hour once a week.  Besides our computer lab, our 6th grade classes are 1:1 with laptops, 4th and 5th are 2:1, and 1st-3rd each have one class set of laptops between the 5-6 classes in their grade.  We have the iLife programs in our computer lab as well as all of the classroom sets.

Another side issue, we got an amazing grant to get all of these laptops several years ago.  They are now 3-4 years old, the batteries won't hold charges, and many teachers have decided it is not worth the hassle to use them often.  We are looking into this as well, but really this is just for ideas for our computer teacher to use in the computer lab, that has nice brand new computers.

So if you were able to make a positive technological impact for 1,200 students, what are some of the things you would include?  If you know somebody who could help, please send them this link.