​Welcome to the 2019-20 school year!  I am very excited to start my 16th year as an educator.  During those years I have taught kindergartners at Jefferson Elementary here in Rochester, second graders in Macon, Georgia, and I have been blessed to spend more than a decade teaching unbelievable third and fifth graders here at Folwell!  After these many years I am just as excited to meet my next group of learners!!

In our classroom, you see #TeamOlson everywhere. It’s on posters, signs, and our lunch basket. It’s on pencils, worksheets, and this website. It is even on students’ wrists (see the picture!). What does it represent?
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Shared Experiences
Each year my students and I work together to team build. We do several activities, especially early in the year, that encourage us to work in groups, problem solve, and, most importantly, laugh together. These joint experiences help build the foundation of our classroom family. Everyone in the classroom shares these experiences that are unique to us.

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
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This can be a challenge in classroom, especially when the number of days left in the school year hits the teens.  Summer is right around the corner.  A countdown on the wall can act as that daily reminder of how close we are to the prize…summer!

…OR, the countdown can be a reminder of the precious time that we have left together as a group.  It can motivate us to cherish each moment and work hard to learn and grow as much as possible in the final days of the school year.