Hello, my name is Karen Arnold. I have been teaching for 11 years. I taught Kindergarten for two years before moving up to First grade. The 2012-2013 school year will be a big change for me. My school has decided to departmentalize. I will be going from teaching just about everything to only my class to teaching math and science to all the first graders. I have a reading background so this is a big challenge. Even though I am nervous I know that I will have fun. I am hoping to post ways to incorporate wonderful children's literature into both math and science. I intend to post create ideas for tackling some of the harder and maybe the easier topics from my classroom. My school district is also adopting the Common Core next year. I hope to share both my triumphs and challenges.