2022 in Pictures

2022 in Pictures

        It's December thirty-first and I've waited until the last day to finish up this years' blog. It's because I procrastinated, but because I wanted to wait until the last possible moment to create memories. For the first time since the creation of this blog, I won't be typing out paragraphs, but rather share photos with captions. Not every memory of this year was captured in a photo, but many were. 

                          Here's to the year that was... 2022! 

2022 was my year of running. I ran 12 races in 12 months. It was a grueling circuit, but I'm happy I did; even winning 7 races in the progress. From 5ks, to bubble runs, up to a half marathon, I ran a lot! 

The Super Bowl classroom transformation is a favorite that I recreate every year! The winning team earns a trophy and bragging rights of course.

This year, I became a Universal Studios passholder. Walking the Hogwarts castle, zooming through Jurassic World on the VelociCoaster, and smashing things on the Hulk rollercoaster was a dream come true. 

This chicken doesn't look like much, but it was the first time I ate a restaurant by myself in a long time and that's something I'm proud of. The favors on this Korean chicken plate had my mouth watering.

A childhood dream came true this year. I watched the Daytona 500 in person for the first time! My dad and I made the trek up and watch cars go faster than I've ever seen. It was thrilling...and loud!

A throwback to 2017? Nope, this was this year. We hatched chicks! It was so incredible to witness the process of growing chicks. The most part not photographed was the 4th grade teachers and I watched the first egg hatch live!

                           

This is Opening Day Spring Training down at Jet Blue Stadium where the Boston Red Sox play in Fort Meyers on St. Patrick's day! The seats did fill up with loyal Red Sox fans. It was a great experience!

After years of no field trips, my class went to Wonderworks! It's a great place for kids to do STEM activities! We had so much fun!

We also hatched Butterflies in the spring! This is becoming a yearly tradition and a class favorite. 

This photo brings tears to my eyes every time I look at it. My incredible student survived a nearly fatal car crash that saw her hospitalized for weeks. So I did what any teacher would do, my class made cards, I bought all her favorite candies, and with the permission of her mom I surprised her at her home. In my class, we are family. 

I took on hiking this year! Florida has many forgotten trails that are tranquil and easy to walk. 

Running this year, brought me new friends! This guy was from Brazil and raced me to the finish line. I love meeting new people!

My student was voted anonymously by teachers to represent 4th grade at a ceremony. I was blessed to join her at the ceremony as well. She's going to do incredible things in the future!

Florida sunsets never get old!

Get Your Teach On National Conference 2022! This is the group of educators (I'm in there on the right side) that put on a conference for 2,000 teachers and administers this summer.

My room theme was Ghostbusters...so I had to wear my Ghostbusters outfit for 4 days with my light up shoes with my partner in crime. Hope and Amelia, my friends, presented in our room! 

After being part of the happiest education conference on Earth, my friends took me to the happiest place on Earth: Disney World! It was my first time at Disney World (even after living in Florida for 5 years...whoops!) and they made sure to take me to all four parks in one day! There's so many photos I could share from that day!

I finally got a picture with my grandma and mom! I love these two so much! So many great childhood memories: weekends at grandma's house to Friday's at Burger King.

I hadn't been to this airplane museum since I was kid. I appreciated much more now. 

This time for the grand opening of the library and year 7! Opening the library is always my favorite day of the year and now we get to shoot off confetti. It's a special day.

On college colors day I optimistically wear my Nebraska gear head to toe literally, and every year I'm disappointed with another year of the team finishing below .500. 2023 is our year!

Thanks to a classroom grant, our class pets are two hermit crabs named Bubble Gum and Blueberry! They're easy to take care of the students love helping. They've been a welcome addition to our class family. 

Yep, I'm still going to the beach almost monthly! It gives me so much peace and tan lines. 

This year I read 40 books! That's a jump from the 26 I read in 2021. Some of my favorites were: Two Degrees (Alan Gratz is my favorite author), The Measure, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Perfect Mile, Our Class Our Voice, and Starfish.

Mark Rober inspires me. This fall I paid for a yearly subscription to give my scientists his boxes. Science is really going well this year and it's in large part because of him.

I WAS IN A BOOK!  It's called Lights, Cameras, Teach by Kevin Bulter. You should read it! 

Appreciation post for these two. They've been a welcome addition since they joined my team in August of 2021. We become better friends daily and learn from each other often. I convinced them to join me for Rock Your School, transform our rooms differently, and teach different subjects. They did great.  and To be completely honest, these two been my rock at times. They're one of kind!

Rock Your School Day 2022! My video gamers had to propel a balloon using a string, tape, and straw. Then they leveled up on a Gimkit that pitted them against zombies!

My Space Coast half marathon! It was my first half marathon in years and wasn't easy. My game plan went out the window in the early miles and I was battling the heat and hills ever since. It was the guttiest, most mental race I've ever ran, but I finished! My time was 1 hour, 25 minutes. 

I did my first Spartan Sprint 5k Race! I was really nervous for it, but these two put my nervous at ease. My  proudest accomplishes: Not falling down from the 6 foot wall and finishing the monkey bars! I had a great time on a challenging obstacle course.

Some of my best friends all dressed up because that's what we do! 

               I just love this group! It's been a fun school year with them. 

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That's my 2022 in photos! I can't wait to see what photos I take in 2023!