Every second counts!

I admit at the end of the year I was burned out and running off of Christmas flames. We had several exciting activities that helped me make it through the last several weeks. We have been in school for the last two weeks and I decided that I need to reevaluate every second in the classroom. Every teacher knows that we use every second for learning. We have so much to do and every day is a race. Then, you have students miss school for whatever reason that have to catch up. I don't think anyone can understand the life of a person in the education field unless you have worked, volunteered, or observed in a school setting. So, how can I make every second count? How do I keep my extremely social class from talking? My answer............ keep them engaged at every moment. There are always going to be times that you can't control the activity and we do the best we can with what we have. I do have to say that we never have a free moment to do anything extra. However, I use my center time to buckle down on engaging activities that my kids go nuts over. I am recreating the ideas that are going into my centers these last months of school. I know exactly what each student struggles with in my class and now I just need to find a way to include all of them into that 45 minute block. Stay tuned for what I decide to do in my math and literacy centers.

It's a new year!

Wow, the break went really fast. I had all of these plans and I didn't even touch the list. I had this great vision of two full weeks of planning and creating things for my students. I was thinking that my office would be turned upside down with anchor charts and markers all over the floor. Oh..... I can't forget about all of the scraps of paper from cutting neat center cards! I wished I had a picture to emphasize the idea but I think you get the idea. I was exhausted from the last week of Christmas fun at school and I had to continue that fun at home with my two precious children. They always come into my classroom gasping at what the kids have done. Their first response was, “can we do that too? “ I am a sucker for those two little ones. I knew this would happen so, the Gingerbread houses were ready for them to decorate before they ever asked. So, what actually happened was all of that fun continued at home with my kids and I was still exhausted!

I apologize now for the poor picture quality! These were taken with my phone. Do you see this mess? Ahhhhhhh................ This is what happened next.........

Finally......

I hit the couch and didn't move for several days! I think sometimes we just need to rest! I am back in the rat race and I survived the first week back from break!