Had you asked me on Thursday how school was going, I would have given a much different answer than the one I would have given if you asked me on Friday.
Why is that? Hah, well, let's just say the students were a little squirrely, and I couldn't for the life of me get them to really settle down. It's not that they were terrible - we got things done - but transitions and other little things here or there ended up wasting so much time. It got me thinking about a few things, some simple and some more drastic:
A) Assign student seats on the carpet - and try to fit those seats in a circle so they are all facing each other. (The whole sit in rows thing just doesn't work for them because, let's face it, they aren't really rows.)
B) Change up some of the seating of their desks. Although, with a class pretty much full of talkers, someone is going to find someone else to talk to at any given point. Hmm...
C) Have students sit in their desks during independent work time instead of around the room - this will avoid having to constantly remind them not to lay down. I will keep them like this until they have earned the privilege to find a quiet spot in the classroom without talking to their neighbor or goofing off.
D) Rethink some of my lesson plans - I admit that I have fallen into the trap in some subjects (well, in Math for one) to settle for what I already have - in this case, Saxon's scripted lessons. It has just made planning that much easier in the past because I review what they provide and go from there without having to think up my own stuff. But, let's face it, it's boring! There must be something I could do if I take a little extra time to put some thought into mixing a few things up in those lessons without losing the lesson itself. I'm going to try it this week and see how it goes.
Well, that list should get me started anyways...
I ended up staying at school until after 5pm yesterday, as I had a meeting with a volunteer reading specialist who has agreed to come in and work with one of my struggling readers. We got to talking and before we realize it, time had just flown by. But I think getting this student started back up again with Diane (the reading specialist) will really give this young girl a boost.
I also got a package in the mail from my mom yesterday - among other things there were cocoa almonds (yum!) and rice krispie treats (half of which I ate when I got home Friday evening and the other half - minus a little bit that George ate - of which I had before my run this morning - sugar!).
When I arrived home, I made myself dinner and pretty much kept snacking all night. Grading spelling tests and social studies quizzes took quite a bit longer than last year, but such is life. Now I know why Francisco was always grading and I was usually not - it's very different with about twice as many students! Then, I picked up with "Eat. Pray. Love." but fell asleep with it on the couch - not that it's a boring book, I was just apparently plum exhausted. Soooooo, it was off to bed so I could get up pre-5am to do my long run.
And, as you could very well guess, I did survive that long run - all close to 17 miles (I believe) of it - but as I finished up, I felt pretty darn beat up. A scorching 90 degrees and brutally clear sunny skies did not make for a good combination. But the sunrise sure was pretty.
As for the rest of the day, I'm betting on a nap at some point, more reading of "Eat. Pray. Love.", and some grading of summer book packets. I still don't think all of them followed directions, but we shall see...
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