Very exciting news- my obsession with organization has finally paid off!  I am now doing freelancing work for Education World magazine!  Over the summer, they contacted me about submitting tips about organization in the classroom for an ongoing column.  Well, technically you could call it a 'column', but that kind of implies that the article is long enough to form an actual column.  It's more of a feature: a photo showing an organizational tip along with a short blurb about the picture.  At any rate, it's a regular feature that will run for the next 32 weeks and old articles will be archived online for easy reference.  They're calling it, "Ms. Powell's Organization Tips".  The first day it was published, I had a girl who I had not talked to since high school email me saying she just happened across the article and wanted to contact me!  How cool is that?  

Education World and other publications have contacted me a handful of times over the years (to feature the token economy system, behavior management strategies, etc.) but it was always just to interview me- this is the first time I've actually written the material myself (and the first time I've gotten paid for it!).  I'm really happy about having the opportunity to freelance because I love to write and eventually I'd like to do it full-time- hopefully by the time I'm a mom.   So this could be the beginning of something really incredible!

Everything is still going amazingly well at work.  I'm thrilled with the progress my kids are making and the classroom dynamic continues to be really positive.  I just had 2 kids move away so I've only got 17 now, and with all the pull-out classes, I often have 12 during my reading block!  I feel like I understand where these kids are at so much better because of the small class size.  I'm sure I'll get new kids soon but the theme of this year seems to be, appreciate what you've got for as long as you've got it, so I'm gonna stick with that!!  I'll take as many days of peace and productivity as I can. 

Here's the link to the Education World article archive: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/archives/organization.shtml.  I hope you all find the tips helpful- most of them are from the website but some I wrote just for the feature.  I'd love to hear your feedback!!

Wow congrats to you. I love your sight. I would love your class too. I have 27. I wish Utah would get on board with low class size. My sis is in Nashville and her son always had between 17 and 20 kids. That would be nice.

Angela,

It's great to hear about your new endavor into the publishing world. I'm glad that you have a new opportunity to share your wonderful gifts and talents with others. :)

Angela,
Thanks for creating such a wonderful website! It has helped me in such an amazing way that I cannot explain. I wanted to let you know that I have just achieved National Boards!! Again, this site helped me in ways you cannot imagine.

Rahsaan:)