Back to School...Back to Reality!

Well the time has finally come...the welcome letters from my kids' teachers arrived today!  Being a teacher, I love back to school time.  I got so excited when the stores started stocking all the great supply items...I love the look...I love the smell...I love the idea of a new school year!  To me the year begins in August...not January.  I am looking forward to my school year starting up again next week...even with a week's worth of meetings it is an exciting time.

Here are my highlights for the semester:

1. I am teaching my favorite classes--FCS 390 Interacting with Children and FCS 490 Developmental Planning!  I also have interns, student teachers, and senior applied learning students.  I am also teaching FCS 571 Directed Readings--it isn't that I don't like this class but it is online and I don't get the real interaction with my students.
2. I am mentoring a new faculty member.  This means that I get to go to the new faculty orientation sessions next week--stuff I have already heard before but I still like attending because it gets you excited about the new year...and sometimes even though I am the mentor I will meet new people and learn new things.
3. My Developmental Planning course was selected to participate in a pilot project in which all 5 of my students (small class is ideal for this project) will receive an iPad to use for the semester.  My job will be to guide them in how to use iPads in preschool/kindergarten curriculum and planning.  This will be fun...especially since the students have no idea about the iPads.
4. I am up for promotion and tenure so I get to turn in my dossier this fall--October 12 to be exact.  Butterflies...nail biting... nausea...OMG!
5. I am presenting at the NAEYC Annual Conference and Expo this November in Atlanta.  This is a first for me and I am so excited and freaked out all at the same time.

Those are my planned highlights...I am sure there will be many adventures along the way...blog worthy adventures...I hope.