Action Report from TeacherSPACE !

The hundreds of science, math, social studies, art, music, literature, and professional books have been put on their shelves.
The math manipulatives, science materials, audio-visual equipment, and class project displays have been organized and set up. We have a huge meeting-space area, cozy couches, and coffee pots galore --
In sum - WE'RE PSYCHED!
Thanks to everyone who came out today to set things up, brainstorm and work their tails off on making such a nice cozy space. The next few meetings will entail doing some minor sorting of books and supplies, and some long range action planning. We look forward to seeing anyone who can make it -- Oh, and when you come, you can also PERUSE or BORROW some teaching materials!

Thanks again to all who donated supplies and/or came out to help set up!
Kira

PS. Pictures will be coming soon!

WOOOHOO!!

Great news! We have been awarded a Sparkplug Foundation grant (see www.sparkplugfoundation.org) for TeacherSPACE!!! With the funds, we can host several workshops over the year, as well as push forward on cataloging our projects and ideas into a working curriculum resource library. We are looking forward to the great programming and resources we will be able to share with each other.

Also, we've made a schedule of days that TeacherSPACE will be open over the summer for various activities. Below is a detailed version of the schedule. A summary of the open dates is also on the side bar.

Drop off/Set up dates (when people can come by with donations, help catalog things and set up the space)
June 28th 9-11am –Christina hosts.
July 19th 4-7pm – Betsy hosts

Grant Planning meetings & Drop off/Set up: (plan for grants and set up the space)
July 26th , Time 9am-12pm– Hosts: Betsy, Lynne
August 2nd, Time 9am-12pm – Hosts: Kira, Joanne

Make & Take/ Communal Planning - Plan for classroom set-up, get/share ideas
August 30th, 4-7pm – Christina Hosts

And coming in the future....
Fall Open-Houses: Wednesday evenings, 4-8pm starting Sept. 5th.
Each time will have a “theme” i.e. art teachers, science etc, but will be open to all who want to visit, schmooze, and collaborate/talk with other teachers.
We’ll also have PTLC meetings there about once a month or so.

Next Planning Meeting Date

We will meet at Helen Lamont's apartment on Thursday, June 21st from 10:30 until 12:00 to finalize "open house" days (days when you can come to hang out/ work on things together), grant planning meetings, and other activites occuring over the summer and early fall. We will also go into more detail on current grantwritng plans. If you need Helen's address, please email ptlcteacherspace@yahoo.com . If you'd like to be there, but can't make it, please also email us, and we'll send you a copy of the meeting notes.

Hope to see you there!

The best gifts were....

Today we had a fabulous "Shower" party for TeacherSPACE.
Many PTLC'ers came with donations for the space, such as teaching materials (maps, instructional videos, classroom organizers....), furniture, and decorations. The best gifts by far, however, were the energy and ideas that people shared. We started the afternoon discussing what we brought and why, and then launched into a conversation about ideas for the future. Many ideas about partnerships, resource sharing, and use of the space emerged -- and Christina and I were so happy to hear that many of the ideas were similar to some of the grants we've been thinking about applying to. We decided that we'll probably have a few planning sessions over the summer at TeacherSPACE about these projects and grants. We'll make the date announcements over the listserv and blog. Please share comments to this post of other ways you'd like to see the space being used over the summer (book clubs, joint material-making, other get-togethers, etc.).

After our discussion, we got right into working on the space - setting up, organizing and cleaning. It's really starting to feel like a home away from home. Below are some pictures:


A cozy spot

starting to fill the book cases with materials...

Some of the great book donations we've gotten - class sets, children's literature, professional books - all so wonderful!

An appetizing collection of hors d'ouerves
Some of us at the end of the meeting (many folks who came earlier are not pictured here)

Thanks again to everyone who came - this is a great start to the summer!!!

Kira

Update & Reminder

All,

First, I would like to acknowledge the passing of a great teacher, colleague, and to many of us, friend, Marci Resnick. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.

Tomorrow is the big "TeacherSPACE Shower" Party. We invite everyone to come, generate ideas, and spiff the place up for the Summer. We also hope that visitors will bring a "shower gift" (i.e. donation) for the space. Please take a look at the wishlist for ideas. The only change in the list is that we seem to be doing okay at this point with chairs/couches.

Look forward to seeing everyone!

-Kira

A big thank you...

To all who helped by donating furniture, books and supplies and everyone who helped unload stuff today - you are the best! We've decided that since we're waiting on several grants about paints etc. that we'd set up the space as best we could to cover exposed walls etc. - and it looks GREAT! Sorry I didn't bring my camera - will have some pictures up soon though. It is cozy, useful, creative and warm - you can tell we've poured our hearts into it. I will have a more official "thank you" list up names up soon - but I wanted to get this message out asap!

-Kira

PS. mad props to Christina for renting the big uhaul and going to several pick up spots before 10:30 in the morning (it arrived FULL at TeacherSPACE).

Just a box of rain...

Well, not really.

In reality, on Saturday, May 19th we have a packed 17' UHAUL truckload of TeacherSPACE "stuff" to unload. We hope to arrive at TeacherSPACE with this grand ol' thing sometime before noon and we need a major push to help unload and set things up for temporary use.

If you are available and would like to help out, here is what you can do:

Email lapuntel@hotmail.com (christina) and leave a cell phone number or someplace we can reach you to let you know we are nearing TeacherSPACE on Saturday morning.


THANKS!