After spending three days trying to get my classroom in some kind of order (moving rooms was not fun..but on the plus side, I now have my own bathroom, sink, and lots of storage space. On the negative side, I only have 1 bookshelf), I am truly exhausted. Doing the teaching thing and making sure your family is taken care of is no easy task. I work at school and come home and work some more. It never ends, but I am not complaining. I have a job that provides for all our needs, and my family is healthy and relatively happy…I can’t ask for more than that. But sometimes, I wonder if what at I am doing in the classroom is enough. I am not a long-term planner, a to-do list person, a details person. I loathe structure and do well…
read more »I’ve been reading a lot of the new 2011 CM’s blogs on this site. Reading all their posts full of apprehension, expectations and excitement reminds me of being in their shoes approximately 1 year ago. I was apprehensive and excited, and had no idea what to expect. How would I manage a classroom? Exactly how…
read more »School lets out in exactly 1 month from today (or tomorrow…I’m not really sure). I have 1 month left to continue doing right by my kids. I “lost” one student because of a family trip to Mexico (he withdrew but I sent work with him so he won’t be too far behind when he returns).…
read more »Not a day goes by that a student asks, “Miss, what does this word mean?” Sure, we could look up the definitions on the Internet, but I want my students to learn to look up words in an actual dictionary. That way, they can learn to alphabetize as well as learn exactly what “this word”…
read more »Spring fever has invaded my class. My once-very-well-behaved kids are now acting up. Non-stop talking, getting out of their seats, playing around in class. I found myself being a little snappy with them today (ok, I was hormonal and had a headache…sue me!), and at the end of the day, was just plain exhausted. My…
read more »Our principal sent a memo to all faculty, outlining the available positions for next year. Long story short, my grade (2nd) is losing the lead teacher to retirement, so that’s one vacancy. Then, because of the projected enrollment, there will have to be one mixed 1st/2nd grade bilingual class. Guess who the most likely candidate…
read more »Long story short: my class took their FMAs (benchmarks) this week: class averages: 94% in ESL, 84% in Science, and 81% in Math…they’re not too happy about science and math, but I hold them (and they hold themselves) to a very high standard, aka 90% mastery. I think I’ve created monsters…in a good way! I…
read more »So it’s my 2nd day of spring break…we didn’t go home (plane tickets to Miami are way too expensive this time of year…what else is new?) so I’m actually being a giant slug. Sleeping in until 10 or 11 in the morning, going to sleep at 1 or 2 in the morning…living a life of…
read more »Sad: one of my girls is leaving our school. Her mom’s been having problems with her family and they’re moving out of the district. She’s a great kid…smart, funny, hard-working. As she cleaned out her desk today, a few of the other students were helping her throw some papers away…it was nice to see them…
read more »The multiplication unit was a piece of cake for my 2nd graders…the lowest grade on the unit exam was an 80…2 of those….2 90s and the rest were 100s. They hit it out of the park! Today, we went outside to the hard court after breakfast to play a multiplication game where I drew all…
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