Step 1: Planning MY Summer

Synopsis: "Who but Rick Steves can tell travelers the best way to visit Etruscan caves in Central Italy's hill towns, shop for cheeses in Avignon's open-air market, or catch an accordion performance on Amsterdam's city streets? Travelers can experience the best of everything Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland have to offer — economically and hassle-free. This guide includes opinionated coverage of both famous and lesser-known sights, friendly places to eat and sleep, suggested day plans, walking tours and trip itineraries, and clear instructions for smooth travel anywhere by car, train, or foot."

One of my life's goals is to one day travel to Italy. Is that day closer than I think? Anyone I've talked to has always told me that to really visit Italy you must plan for a trip longer than the -one week wonder- so as a teacher I am already looking forward to my summer vacation this year. I have a friend who is applying to spend a term abroad in England. Now this term would be for May and June 2008; which works beautifully into my school year ending the beginning of June. I've told this friend that if she wanted to, I could meet up with her at the end of her course in England and we could spend the month traveling throughout Europe. Now England sounds incredible to me, but I am attempting to spread the love to include Italy :) Enough to offer the use of a "family home" in the Black Forest of Germany as a home base as we become travel bums this summer.

To avoid the grandiose planning of plans previous, I have taken my 1st step of researching and planning my trip... buying a travel guide that comes highly recommended. As I sat in Barnes and Noble this evening, reading about suggested packing lists and trip costs, I could almost hear Italian men shouting Ciao Bella. Either that or I was just day-dreaming again.

Does anyone have traveling tips to offer?

Plan for Step 2: Fill out Passport documents, have acceptable photo taken, and send in packet to apply for my passport. Is that actually three plans?

Miss HPLuvr in the News

Museum on the move:

Program takes fossils, rocks to Utah schoolsBy Laura Hancock Deseret Morning News
Published: Friday, Oct. 26, 2007 7:32 a.m. MDT

SANTAQUIN — The eyes of the four fourth-graders were fixed on the gigantic fossil of the dinosaur jaw. On desks before them were pictures of jaws of nonextinct animals.

"How would looking at the picture of the black bear, the coyote or the elk help us learn about dinosaurs?" teacher Miss HPLuvr asked.

"Maybe it has the same teeth," student Michael said.

"Maybe it has a bigger jaw," student Taylor said.

Through observation and data-recording, the young scientists concluded that the dinosaur jaw was most similar to the elk's jaw. And so they inferred that the dinosaur must have had a similar diet as an elk, grazing on plants.

The 50 fourth-graders at Santaquin Elementary on Tuesday played with fossils, thanks to the Utah Museum of Natural History's Museum on the Move, which has been operating for 12 years.
The Museum on the Move is made up of two minivans loaded with rocks, fossils and assignments — all to get students across the state inquiring like a scientist.

Landon, left, and other students study items from the traveling Museum on the Move.

(Stuart Johnson)

Museum staff will travel this year to all 40 school districts to give fourth-graders in more than 200 schools a hands-on learning experience. The staff is on the road five days a week during the school year, said Lorie Millward, the museum's manager of education and outreach programs.

"We listen to what teachers ask us to do and respond to the curriculum needs," said Sarah George, executive director of the Museum of Natural History.

Teachers told the Utah Science Core Curriculum Informal Science Education Enhancement — also called iSee and made up of museum officials — that they need more science materials to help make textbook learning feel more like the "real world" to students.

Money to get those materials, of course, was a problem.

In the spring, lawmakers gave the program $56,000 in new funds, of a total budget of about $300,000, for a second minivan and part of the salary of a teacher. The program will also provide each school district this year with $2,000 in fossils for classroom instruction. Curiosity and passion will take would-be scientists much further than brains, said Diamond Fork Junior High teacher Sharon Miya. Miya was named by the Natural History Museum as one of the state's three junior high science teachers of the year.

"Right now, as I look at you, you are the scientists, the engineers and the Nobel Peace prize winners of the future," Miya said to students.

The world faces challenges such as traveling to Mars, global warming and a fuel crisis. "We need you to solve these problems and take us into the future," she said.

**Note**

The kids in the pictures are my kiddos!! We were in our classroom, and they absolutely LOVED this opportunity. Definately exciting that my kiddos are once again recognized for the opportunities they have. My first year of teaching we were on the radio to start the morning with the Pledge of Allegience and spotlighted for our art exhibitis in "Sound of Color". (ps all the 2nd graders mentioned in this article were my kiddos!)