With the beginning of each new year, many of us make resolutions to better our lives. If you make resolutions, I hope each of you will make one to try something new at school this year. Whether it is teaching a new skill to your students or experimenting with assessment through a different avenue, variety helps keep each of us fresh and energetic for the children we teach.

We have a wonderful selection of workshops in the Elementary room at the In-Service workshop this year that will help us push ourselves and reexamine how we teach. Thursday, Beth Ann Hepburn will lead a sessions on differentiated instruction and curriculum. Beth Ann teaches in Ohio and is a frequent presenter both nationally and internationally.

Our Friday will begin with three workshops by Cristi Miller from Oklahoma. We have been lucky enough to have Cristi join us before, and she is always a favorite. This year she will lead the Elementary Choral Reading Session and sessions on assessment and folk music. Andrew Ellingsen from Iowa will be our Saturday headliner. I was lucky enough to see Andrew lead a session on sequencing folk dance at the National Kodály convention two years ago and knew we had to have him in Kansas. His second session is learning through play.

In addition to our headliners, we have sharing sessions by the Kodály Music Educators of Kansas chapter as well as sessions on recorder, meter, and cooperative learning. Finally, we are lucky to have three performing groups in the elementary room this year. The St. George Honor Choir, Geary County Children's Choir, and El Dorado's Oil Hill Elementary Fifth Grade will be performing throughout the workshop.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any concerns or feedback concerning the elementary room. I look forward to seeing many of you in just a few weeks!