What Do Students Remember Most About You?

Cancer Sucks.  There is no other way to say it.  I lost a friend an colleague today to cancer.  Kristi taught with me for the past 15 years.  She was going to retire early and spend time traveling with her husband.  She couldn't wait!  Then in March, she went in to get an injection for pain in her neck.  Chiropractic treatments hadn't helped.  When they x-rayed her neck to see where exactly to inject her steroid, they found several masses. Several.  So large, one had cracked her vertebrae.  Kristi fought, and fought hard, but today, Heaven gained an angel.  I imagine she has claimed an area for a classroom and has a small group of children gathered around her already.
Why do I bring all this up?  One, it's a way of grieving for me.  I'm sorry.  Selfish, I suppose. Secondly, an article came across my Facebook feed tonight, which melted me to my core.  I work very hard at being this kind of teacher, one students remember.  I love my job, and hope to leave as big of an impact as my dear friend Kristi has made.  Enjoy reading this article.  I hope you aspire to this article as well!
http://pursuitofajoyfullife.com/2014/01/26/what-students-remember-most-about-teachers/

Holy time warp! I am so sorry for the gap in posts!  I have been so busy, I can't even begin to explain!  I had knee surgery last December which took waaaaaaay too long to recover, in fact, I'm still having problems with it, but this too shall pass!
I am sorry for those of you who may pop on my site to see if I've updated anything.  I have exciting news!!! My colleague and and I have been awarded 21st Century Classrooms for this next year!  So, in addition to having 2 children graduate (one from college, one from high school), me taking 12 college credits for great summer learning, I have been learning a LOT about 21st Century Classrooms, Project Based Learning, not quite 1:1 devices (see what I did there ;), Periscope, Mystery Skyping, and a myriad of other wonderful learning opportunities for my firsties!

You can now also follow me on Twitter!@MrsHeikes
I haven't taken the time to make anymore games, as I've focused more of my time on moving my classroom (did I forget to mention I had to do that, too?!) and work on all new curriculum for my classroom. I am getting all new desks, including a mobile teacher desk, including a laptop, which I am using right now!

I have made connections with teachers in Columbia, Vietnam, Italy, and many states in the United States to Skype with this next year.  I am going to work with an engineer with NASA who will read to my students and answer questions they have.  How have I done this?  Ask.  Ask friends and relatives.  Ask on Twitter - there are SOOOOOOO many wonderful people out there, willing to help drop the walls on your classrooms.  Make your classroom big!  Get a world map and keep track of all the places you "visit" throughout the year like I plan to do - I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

So....if I'm not blogging for a while, you'll know why. :)