Today we were ready. The students came in, made their lunch choices, and got to work. I only had to remind a few about turning in their take-home folders. I had to remind most of them to work QUIETLY!
We buzzed through the morning, reviewing reading comprehension skills in language arts in order to apply them to a short story we are reading in parts this week. We also reviewed how to take a spelling pretest and check over the words. (My program has leveled spelling lists each week, and the pretest helps me determine which list to give each student for the week.) I had to remind students to number down the side of a page, and to not skip random lines while doing so. I can see I will need to model that a few more times this year! Tomorrow they will learn about the spelling homework policies. Took a bathroom break and reviewed those rules. By then it was time for short recess (15 minutes), where I had duty.
After recess we reviewed our Daily Edit. Some of you may call it Daily Language Practice or something similar. Ours is assigned as part of morning work (the first thing done each day), and is comprised of four pages. The first involves phonics skills and proofreading simple sentences, the second has a vocabulary word of the day and two analogies, the third had five mixed math problems, and the last is a logic problem that needs to be drawn out to be solved. It takes the kids a while before they get the hang of it, so we do them together for the first week.
Lunch follows Daily Edit, which is then followed by a short read-aloud. Today's was Ruby the Copycat by Peggy Rathman. Very cute story about being yourself.
Special today was Computer. We don't have an official computer teacher, so I went over the expectations of the lab and what types of projects we will be working on this year. Then I assigned seats and let them explore some links on the PBS Kids website. (I like WordGirl and Martha Speaks for vocabulary, Cyberchase for math, Between the Lions for phonics and reading, and SuperWHY! for problem solving. Dr. Seuss stories will be available once the show airs next week. I plan to use that link as well.
After that, we took the first half of the beginning-of-the-year inventory. It's actually the end of the year test the students took in first grade, but we give it again at the beginning of second grade to look for gaps and help us plan. Then it was on to long recess (30 minutes).
During long recess (no duty this time), I wrote out a thank you for another giraffe added to the classroom, wrote a note to another parent about snack, and checked/read the 14 e-mails that were waiting for me. Then it was time to pick the class up from recess.
We got drinks (It was another 90-plus degree day today.), copied reminders and behavior colors for the day (more on that later), got planners signed, checked mailboxes, packed up, and listened to poems from the book The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky.
I got through dismissal with no missed buses or lost children! (Woohoo!)
After school I went to the doctor for a pain I've had in my right knee for about a week. Turns out, I have a slightly torn meniscus. (I think I tore it when I stepped off the curb and landed in an awkward position. That was during a car wash for my church's youth ministry on the 21st. The same car wash where I proceeded to bend and squat drying cars for several hours. Oh, and I guess moving furniture around my classroom last week in order to get ready for this week didn't help matters. Oh well.) Thankfully, I don't have to wear a leg immobilizer--you know, one of those brace things that go from your calf to your hip. (Can you imagine chasing after 19 second graders in one of those things?!? I actually laughed when the doctor mentioned it!) I just need to elevate it at home, ice it, and take some Motrin to take the swelling away and help the healing process.
Well, well. Tomorrow's another day. Let's see what it brings.
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