The Keene Family

I found out last week that I got a recognition and a certification. First, I was selected as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert for 2015. Some of you may remember this as the reason we got to go to Barcelona in March. This year, the Global Forum is in Redmond, Washington. :P The participants from all over the world are super excited to come to the US. The people from the US are not as thrilled! Also, I also found out that I passed my National Board Teaching Certificate . I am now a National Board Certified Teacher in English Language Arts for Early Adolescence... although don't get me started on teaching math to elementary kids. :) I worked on it from October to May last year and put in about 200 hours. It's a major ordeal, including four 20-page papers, two 15-minute videos, and a six question, three hour exam. There is a 40% pass rate on one's first try. I am so blessed to have had great support from my paper readers! The certification is good anywhere in th...

In the past eleven days, I have traveled to Palm Springs, Anaheim, Great Falls, Billings, Missoula, and Portland. Not in that order. I went to Palm Springs for Kent School District for the iNACOL conference. It was 89 degrees. At the Hard Rock Hotel with my work teammate, Laurie Friday morning by the pool The following Tuesday, I flew into Missoula, Montana to present for Microsoft. It was 4 degrees. The two other team members and I drove to Great Falls that night. It was -2 in the car on the pass, snowing and windy and icy. I wondered why I didn't upgrade from the Impala at the rental counter! Great Falls was cold, too. I had a little bit of time to drive around, put air in the rental car tires that were registering low, get lunch, and get out of town before the next big freeze that night. And then I drove to Billings. Totally clear which road I am on right now.   Soooo glad my audio book downloaded before I left town!   ...

UW has this great Daddy-Daughter program, and this year Haley and Jim got tickets. They get to attend women's sporting events and sit in the special "dads and daughters" section. It comes with a t-shirt for each person and lots of other little giveaways. Last night was the first event and they had a great time. I was really impressed with how much Haley told me about volleyball when she got home. We could tell she paid attention and had fun. While they were gone, JT and I had our own plans. We went shopping for our Operation Christmas Child boxes and got them ready to drop off at church. Then we made pita pizzas (a favorite!) and watched Turbo for the first time while snuggling and eating popcorn. It was fun night for everyone.