Welcome to Winter Break!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations, you have made it to Winter Break!!! Think of the next few weeks as a time to relax and rejuvenate yourself and come back ready to begin in January.

My motto was always take the first week to do nothing related to school...enjoy the holidays, spend time with loved ones, eat good food and SLEEP! During the second week I always spent a few days getting ready for school. It was time to plan and prepare and do all of those things that I never had time to do before.

Here are some sugggestions:
1. Read Children's Books: There are so many high quality children's books out there for you to expose yourself too. Go to a library, or bookstore, and spend a few hours reading great literature. See if it gives you ideas for unit planning, or intergrating subject areas. And it is still fun and relaxing!

2. Visit A Museum: This is a great time to visit great Chicago Museuems. It can help you plan upcoming field trips!!! Try the Science & Industry Museum, Field Museum, Aquarium, Art Museuem, Chicago History Museum, Planetarium, Garfield Park Conservatory, etc. The more aquainted you become with the museums, the better equipped you will be to plan a meaningful field trip for your students.

3. Write a Grant: Do you need materials for your classroom? Try to write a grant. If you work in a public school, the best website is DonorsChoose. It makes it easy to post your wishlist on line. Work in a Catholic School? Try Amazon.com's Wishlist. Enter items you need on a public wishlist. Then spread the word, tell everyone you know to check out your wishlist and see if they can purchase materials for your classrom. Many teachers find it useful to use social networking sites like Facebook.com to post your grant wishes!

4. Write a Winter Break Journal: Write down all of your adventures throughout your break, and share with your students when you return. It is a great way to model authentic writing, and students always love to learn more about what their teachers do when they are not in school.

5. Plan and Prepare: This is a great time to get ahead on those lesson and unit plans!!! Think about taking the time to map out your curriculum to the end of the year, it will keep motivated and well planned!

Have a Happy and Healthy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!