Goodbye, September!

It has been quite the week. First of all, I have no pictures to share with you. All the pictures I took have the kids in them and I don’t post those ones. Oh, come to think of it, there is one picture. Keep reading and you’ll get to it. 

It was a short week because we had a PA Day on Monday. We were given 150 minutes of “teacher time”, which meant that we could use that time to do what we needed to do; the rest of the day was spent in meetings and workshops. Remember in my last post I said I wrote it in the wee hours of the morning because I had a sore throat? Well on Monday morning I woke up looking forward to a day with no students so I could get a lot of work done. I also woke up with a crazy fever and the inability to swallow. Yep. I had strep throat. I couldn’t even drive myself to the doctor. My mom had to take me because I was so out of it; but once the antibiotics kicked in I knew I would feel up to getting back on Tuesday. So in I went, using my sore throat as a classroom management tool. The kids knew that it hurt to speak loudly, so they did their best to work quietly--for a little bit, anyways. On Wednesday, my genius side came out and I whispered the instructions to them. I have never (and I mean never) seen them work so quietly and independently. If I could have shouted with joy, I would have.

It was a whirlwind of a week with a lot going on. First of all, we wrapped up our September literacy and social studies units on being responsible and accepting differences. We finished our math unit on graphing and comparing data in a graph. It was all done rather frantically because we had a lot of social things going on this week, which meant a few assemblies. Sadly, our vice principal is leaving because she got promoted to be the principal at another school. I’m being selfish. It’s sad for us, but amazing for her. We are all so proud of her, but as she says, it’s not goodbye; it’s see ya soon! We made her cards and surprised her with a special delivery to her office; we joined in on a school-wide gift and made her a page for a book about why she is so important; and we had a great time at her farewell assembly. We wish her all the best!

This week felt super short because of the PA Day as well as our two assemblies and the Terry Fox run. I’m really proud of my kids for putting up with me and anxiety over trying to get it all done. We also had Meet the Teacher night on Thursday which went really well, but it also meant that my OCD was kicked into high gear. Our classroom was spotless. They did a wonderful job. I should have taken pictures to show you what I did for Meet the Teacher night, but I forgot…sorry! And don’t worry, I still intend to post the picture of the week. It might give you a laugh. For Meet the Teacher night, I set out the following on each child’s desk: October monthly calendar, the next weekly newsletter, tips for reading and writing at home, a writing sample, a piece of art work, and the October Scholastic book order. It was a nice way to make sure that all the very important things went home with the parents.

I feel like that’s pretty much it for the week. It was a whirlwind, but we got everything done. Next week I am introducing our next unit. In science we will be learning about daily and seasonal changes; literacy, we will be writing retells; and in math we will be learning about sorting and patterning. I have added some fall décor to the classroom so I hope it helps to get the kids excited for this new unit.

I leave you now with my picture of the week. A few weeks ago I went into Fabricland to buy material and Velcro to replace my poor, torn table clothes. I finally decided to put them up right before the parents arrived on Thursday and this is what I found. The employee at the store put both sides of the Velcro in one bag. Have you ever seen National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? If not, shame on you. Go watch it now. I honestly felt like Clark Griswold when he pulls out his Christmas lights, plus the frustration he feels when they won’t turn on.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!