....the end of the break...

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We're going back to school tomorrow :)

UH OH.....we're going on a field trip tomorrow :-D  haha  I continue to be very fickle, and "fence sitting" on how I feel about it.  It probably shouldn't be a big deal.  We're taking them twenty minutes away; we have enough chaperones; I have name tags ready and the kids are already grouped.  My camera is charged and empty so we should be good to go right?

I think I'm most nervous about their behavior.  What do I do if they don't behave?  I'm 99.9% sure they will...they're great kiddos....but what if?  Do you call them out right there or do you wait?  Do they get removed from activities and have to stand with me the rest of the day?

I figure it's practice for our bigger trip in May.  Surely I can put 19 of us on a bus and get us back safely right?!

In my other world....baby pup reached 30 lbs :-D WAHOOOOO!!!  Humble abode is pretty clean and (get this!) all the laundry is clean WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  This hasn't happened since......ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm  January?!

I am looking forward to this week.  I don't have a great reason and I'm not positive why....maybe just making some realizations over this long break?  Who knows!!!!!!!  Even so, I've got a feeling it's going to be a great week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

somewhere around 4:22am....

I found myself laying awake, for the second day in a row.  Stress?  I don't think so.  Nerves? Not that I know of.  Pure anxiety? Again, no?!  So why would a newbie exhausted teacher be wide awake at 4:22am for the second morning in a row?  Oh...the pup haha yeah.  She was dreaming and must have been talking to the rabbit she was chasing.  She woke this newbie teacher up.  Once I'm up, my brain is going......and so began my day.  Starting with the mental list of things that I need to get done today.......(insert cloud bubble).....

.....review spelling words
......read story again
.....finish class book; it needs mailed tomorrow
.....oh you didn't print those photos for the class book yet
.....oh you didn't write your stories either
.....don't forget you and partner teacher need to plan at least the begging of the Civil War unit
.....kiddos have choir this morning; no morning work time
.....G is leaving early and needs to take spelling test right away today

Got the idea?  So here I am bloggy world.  My photos are ready to be printed and my pup is sound asleep on the couch....go figure!  She has a dream and I'm the one awake! haha  BUT, seeing as I had an extra 45 minutes (and yes I realize they probably should have been spent getting ready to leave early or running on the treadmill or trying to go back to sleep) I decided to post a few more photos just because I can.  I figure the list is still mostly going to be there at 8:00am regardless of what I do at 4:30am!  Enjoy the photos!!

Happy Teaching!

State testing laws require pretty much everything to be taken down or covered up.  Partner teacher
and I each created a similar banner to cover up a large bulletin board.  It made the room look less empty!

I originally found one similar to this on Pinterest (pretty addicting!) but when
I went to create my own I morphed it!  haha This is what I ended up with.

it's been a while...

Wow!  Full time teaching makes the weeks go by quickly!  We have been through multiple four day weeks and finally a full five day week last week!  I am fully exhausted!

Our State Tests begin the middle of March and I didn't realize the pressure that is on our erh my shoulders for these tests until last week.  "Make sure you cover this"  "Review that" "Oh you'll probably want to review this too"  Goodness!! I'm not sure I have enough time.  I feel like what I do most days is shove information down the kids' throats and pray them remember it!

I've been picking the brain of one of the sixth grade teachers.  She is a "green light classroom" teacher.  It's a different style of teaching and learning which focuses on the brain.  It's amazing the results she gets from her students.  I'm slowly trying to change into this style of teaching because I see the benefits of it.  Yes, it takes about twice the planning time for me to do an excellent job of it.  But even the few things I have tried with my students, I can see how they are retaining those things!

I thought I had photos to add, but I must have been thinking "Oh, I should take a picture of that and post it on my blog" and I haven't taken the pictures! Oh well!

I did create an ActivInspire presentation for Point of View and an accompanying worksheet if anyone is interested, comment with your email and I'll send you a copy!!

Happy Teaching!!

Oh, we adopted a 10 week old puppy two weeks ago :)  She's adorable but is not helping with my exhaustion :-D