A long weekend awaits me. I can't wait! It will be busy, but a good kind of busy, you know?
Tonight we are hosting a sleepover, tomorrow I am attending a bridal shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Sunday we have a get together with some folks from church, and Monday I hope to hook up with my best friend for some shopping. (Really need some new work pants!)
I will try my best not to think about school this weekend, except for the hour or two I am going in Saturday morning to clean my room a bit. I don't know about you, but I am always surprised at the amount of dust that accumulates on surfaces in such a short amount of time. My room's not gross, but I know it's there and I can't stand it.
I am also going to rearrange my class library by level because I've discovered that some of my kiddos have been taking the easy way out in regards to choosing their independent reading books. They are supposed to choose books on their reading level in accordance to our school-wide reading program, but some of them have been choosing the same book more than once or are choosing books below their level because they are easy reads. Never mind that I have reminded them of the five finger rule over and over again. (Although I have modified it to three fingers because I think it is more accurate.) I called the class on it today and told them that a change is a-comin'! I am also implementing a weekly tracking guide to keep them accountable.
Why on the weekend you ask? Why on a LONG weekend? Simply put, it's when I have a bit of time. I've had something after school every night this week, and I want it done by Tuesday. So there it is.
So aside from that minor inconvenience, I am going to have a good weekend and I wish the same to all of you!
Have fun!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Day 85: WhisperPhones Are Here!
Yay! My WhisperPhones have arrived! I shared with my class today what they were and how we are going to use them in class and they are just as excited as I am!
Before I can use them, however, I need to label them and put them into individual Ziplocs. I don't like the idea of the students sharing them because of sanitary reasons, so I requested enough for all students (plus a few extra to allow for new students and possible breakage). I hope to have them ready for next week.
The next step in the process is to create a Thank-You package to send back to Donors Choose. If you are not familiar with this, once a teacher's project is funded, the materials are shipped to the classroom. Once the materials are received, the teacher has about a month to create the package. This basically consists of pictures of the students using the requested materials along with a few thank-you letters written by the students. I think it's the website's way of making sure people aren't just taking materials. Whatever the reasoning, I will be using the website again.
Anyhow, I'm excited, the children are excited, and we're ready to roll!
Before I can use them, however, I need to label them and put them into individual Ziplocs. I don't like the idea of the students sharing them because of sanitary reasons, so I requested enough for all students (plus a few extra to allow for new students and possible breakage). I hope to have them ready for next week.
The next step in the process is to create a Thank-You package to send back to Donors Choose. If you are not familiar with this, once a teacher's project is funded, the materials are shipped to the classroom. Once the materials are received, the teacher has about a month to create the package. This basically consists of pictures of the students using the requested materials along with a few thank-you letters written by the students. I think it's the website's way of making sure people aren't just taking materials. Whatever the reasoning, I will be using the website again.
Anyhow, I'm excited, the children are excited, and we're ready to roll!
Day 84: Second Snow Delay
I know it's the season, but geez. We just HAD a snow delay last week! I have been trying to get caught up on my language arts, particularly the project I told you all about, well, since last week!
The schedule for second grade is set up so we have language arts first thing in the morning. We go from 9:05 to 11:00, then we have recess, and finish the block with Independent Reading until lunch. On Fridays we typically have our spelling quiz and weekly comprehension quiz and the remaining time is used to catch up on writing projects. With the delay, those had to be moved, which then squeezed the work to come for next day or so. We were almost caught up and--WHAM!--another delay! So now we are about two days behind on a project that should have been finished by Friday (the 14th). Ugh. My other subjects are fine. But you know as well as I do that language arts is one of the hardest to catch up because of all the components, especially if you are in the middle of a writing project. With a long weekend ahead of us, I'm thinking we will probably be done by the middle of next week.
Stay tuned for pics. And hope that we can get through next week without another snowstorm stopping by.
The schedule for second grade is set up so we have language arts first thing in the morning. We go from 9:05 to 11:00, then we have recess, and finish the block with Independent Reading until lunch. On Fridays we typically have our spelling quiz and weekly comprehension quiz and the remaining time is used to catch up on writing projects. With the delay, those had to be moved, which then squeezed the work to come for next day or so. We were almost caught up and--WHAM!--another delay! So now we are about two days behind on a project that should have been finished by Friday (the 14th). Ugh. My other subjects are fine. But you know as well as I do that language arts is one of the hardest to catch up because of all the components, especially if you are in the middle of a writing project. With a long weekend ahead of us, I'm thinking we will probably be done by the middle of next week.
Stay tuned for pics. And hope that we can get through next week without another snowstorm stopping by.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Day 83: An Adventure
Today was an adventure. Which is to say, it was one of those days.
My morning began with a raging migraine that nearly caused me to call off. (I used to get migraines for a while and even had a prescription to treat them for a while, but they had gotten better over the years so I haven't needed it for a long time. That's not to say, however, I'm not hit hard by one from time to time--like this morning.) I took a quick rest while my son ate breakfast and went in anyway. I took my Extra Strength Excedrin as soon as I got in the building, and the pain was dulled for most of the day. I kept the nausea under control by snacking when I could.
We were inside again today, with snow on the playground, bitter temperatures, and more snow forecasted--up to six more inches. Needless to say, it was noisy in the room today during recess time.
The students did work well today, with only two kiddos needing to move their clips for shouting out or talking when they weren't supposed to be. I usually don't have more than one move.
One of my kiddos had an accident and the custodian had to be buzzed twice before he got to my room to sanitize. (I think he was salting the walks at that time.) Meanwhile my students had to move their seats so no one would step in it before it was cleaned up. Of course, this is the time that most of the students reached the part on the math page that requires a ruler. And where are the rulers kept? Near the desk of the student that had the accident. So then I have students trying to get their rulers without stepping in the puddle. I finally handed to rulers to someone to pass out--after I put a trashcan in front of the mess so no one would step in it. The good thing is that the students didn't make a big deal out of it. I simply said "It happens" when I found out and went along with what we were doing. I figured the student was embarrassed enough without everyone making a huge deal.
My husband sent me a text to say that he was home early because he isn't feeling well--low-grade fever, stomach ache, and the blahs. I'm hoping he didn't catch what one of our students over the weekend had. That little one was sent to the health ward with a fever of 103 degrees on Saturday afternoon after waking with a fever that went down and then rose dramatically right before lunch. My son is also complaining of not feeling well, but he has no symptoms as of yet. I'm praying that he doesn't develop any.
In the midst of this I had to leave early to get to a doctor's appointment so I had to split my kids for the last 15 minutes of the day and rush to the office. I made it with three minutes to spare. Then when I got back in the car I realized I'm down to an eighth of a tank of gas and one of my tires must be low because I got a warning light. This means that when I take my daughter to dance tonight, I need to stop and take care of those things. In the snow.
I just want a nap.
My morning began with a raging migraine that nearly caused me to call off. (I used to get migraines for a while and even had a prescription to treat them for a while, but they had gotten better over the years so I haven't needed it for a long time. That's not to say, however, I'm not hit hard by one from time to time--like this morning.) I took a quick rest while my son ate breakfast and went in anyway. I took my Extra Strength Excedrin as soon as I got in the building, and the pain was dulled for most of the day. I kept the nausea under control by snacking when I could.
We were inside again today, with snow on the playground, bitter temperatures, and more snow forecasted--up to six more inches. Needless to say, it was noisy in the room today during recess time.
The students did work well today, with only two kiddos needing to move their clips for shouting out or talking when they weren't supposed to be. I usually don't have more than one move.
One of my kiddos had an accident and the custodian had to be buzzed twice before he got to my room to sanitize. (I think he was salting the walks at that time.) Meanwhile my students had to move their seats so no one would step in it before it was cleaned up. Of course, this is the time that most of the students reached the part on the math page that requires a ruler. And where are the rulers kept? Near the desk of the student that had the accident. So then I have students trying to get their rulers without stepping in the puddle. I finally handed to rulers to someone to pass out--after I put a trashcan in front of the mess so no one would step in it. The good thing is that the students didn't make a big deal out of it. I simply said "It happens" when I found out and went along with what we were doing. I figured the student was embarrassed enough without everyone making a huge deal.
My husband sent me a text to say that he was home early because he isn't feeling well--low-grade fever, stomach ache, and the blahs. I'm hoping he didn't catch what one of our students over the weekend had. That little one was sent to the health ward with a fever of 103 degrees on Saturday afternoon after waking with a fever that went down and then rose dramatically right before lunch. My son is also complaining of not feeling well, but he has no symptoms as of yet. I'm praying that he doesn't develop any.
In the midst of this I had to leave early to get to a doctor's appointment so I had to split my kids for the last 15 minutes of the day and rush to the office. I made it with three minutes to spare. Then when I got back in the car I realized I'm down to an eighth of a tank of gas and one of my tires must be low because I got a warning light. This means that when I take my daughter to dance tonight, I need to stop and take care of those things. In the snow.
I just want a nap.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Day 82: Old Man Winter
Today was so COLD! We didn't have outdoor recess, which meant I was in with the children for both recesses today. I had duty for the first recess, but not the second. I was there anyway, because our recess aides were short staffed and had to split times between two classrooms. I also had computer today. (We don't have a computer teacher, so on computer days, the homeroom teachers are the computer teachers.) My only break was the time I had to eat lunch. Needless to say, I had a massive headache by the end of the day. I'm still waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in.
On a high note, I had my meeting with my principal regarding my formal observation. He was impressed with my student's behavior and engagement in the lesson, my classroom organization, and delivery of the material to be taught. Overall, I had very high marks. The only place he had a recommendation was to have more writing during the lesson instead of doing a workbook sheet, but we were doing a review lesson to prepare for our comprehension quiz. My children usually write quite a bit during the day, between daily journal, reading response, and throughout each subject, even math. We are in the middle of a project for our current story; I will post that information this week so you can use it if you wish.
Tonight my daughter has a concert, so we have to venture back out into the cold. Brrr. Send warm thoughts our way!
On a high note, I had my meeting with my principal regarding my formal observation. He was impressed with my student's behavior and engagement in the lesson, my classroom organization, and delivery of the material to be taught. Overall, I had very high marks. The only place he had a recommendation was to have more writing during the lesson instead of doing a workbook sheet, but we were doing a review lesson to prepare for our comprehension quiz. My children usually write quite a bit during the day, between daily journal, reading response, and throughout each subject, even math. We are in the middle of a project for our current story; I will post that information this week so you can use it if you wish.
Tonight my daughter has a concert, so we have to venture back out into the cold. Brrr. Send warm thoughts our way!
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