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.