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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Surviving a Rainy Florida and planbook.com

My family and I just returned from a rainy trip to Orlando.



This was a big trip for us because a family of 6 at Disney and Universal is a lot of money, and I don't like spending a lot of money!  More importantly, it was, most likely, our last trip there as a whole family because my oldest son is going to be a senior this year.  (Wow!)  We had only been one other time as a family, and my youngest son didn't remember it.  We were very excited about it all, and had been planning for months.  We couldn't wait to get there, and we were especially excited about the Harry Potter experience at Universal.  We decided to make it a short and productive trip, visiting both parks in 3 days.

Well, Tropical Storm Debby decided to visit with us!  Thankfully, she didn't wreak to much havoc, but we were unsure of what to expect day to day so it made things a little stressful, and very wet for the first three days!  Finally, on Wednesday, we were rainfree.  We had a great day at Epcot that day and a fun final evening reriding some of our favorites at the Magic Kingdom and watching the fireworks SPECTACULAR! 

While I have found Disney to be MagICaL during both of our trips, I have to say the Harry Potter experience was more than fabulous!  As a huge HP fan, I was really caught up in it all!  The castle, the effects, the rides, and the Hogsmeade part of the park were all that I could hope for.  I have so enjoyed these books with my sons, and I was so happy to share this experience with them, too!  So, even though we were wet often, and our shoes and socks stink to high heaven, we had a great trip!  (In fact, on our first day at the Magic Kingdom, we had almost no lines or waits because of the rain.  :)) 

And now for school stuff....

Before I left, I contacted other teachers in my building about  a site that my friend (who is moving to my building this year :)) showed me earlier in the summer.  It is an online planbook.

Click on image to go to website



We have a good number of teachers who plan to give it a try, and I can't wait to put it into action!  It appears to be a useful, easy tool for us to use.  I have played with it a little and watched the videos that support it, and I think it is going to be awesome.  It even has a feature to help me mark the standards that are being addressed.  :)  Have you heard of it or used it before?  Would love to know what you think.

7 comments:

Mrs. Corbitt said...

I'm sorry that Debby tried to vacation with you but I am glad that you were able to at least have a rain free Wednesday. Having lived within an hour or two of Orlando my whole life I can only imagine how disappointing it must have been for your kiddos to visit the "sunshine state" this week. Also, that's fantastic that your friend will be joining your school next year!!!
:) Nicole
Tadpole Tidbits
www.mrscorbitt.blogspot.com

Amber @ Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher said...

I love using Planbook.org. I love that the standards are right there!

Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher

amy said...

I used another on-line planbook last year and liked it. However the last week of school I found planbook.com and quickly became a fan! I've already begun to use it (dabbling with lesson plans and the features). I like the color coding, ease of use for bumping or extending days, and the flexibility of changing times for specific classes.
Another teacher at school decided to switch too!
Amy
Where Seconds Count 2nd grade blog

Owls and Lessons, Etc. said...

Looks like you still had a fun vacay despite Debby's interference! I used planbook.com last year and I LOVE IT! I love having my state's standards where I can quickly plug them into my lesson plans, have my template set up, and adding events at the beginning of the year for the rest of the year. I can't wait to see what the new upgrades will be :) It is definitely well worth the purchase!

Haley
Following Optimism in 2nd Grade

Lisa R. said...

I live here in FL so I know exactly what you had to endure. :) I'm glad that you ended up having a great time, despite the bad weather!!
Lisa
Learning Is Something to Treasure

Unknown said...

Planbook is new, I'll have to check that out. My district uses Oncourse.. super easy! https://oncoursesystems.com/login.aspx

You get an ID number and then you can swap with your team. Plus access plans from last year. Yey copy and paste!

Always A Lesson

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