Back to School Time

It's that time of the year again...back to school time. School starts in two weeks but I have to start getting the room ready and get my lesson plans in order. This year is a bit different because we changed from year round to traditional schedule. I am not happy about it but what can I do. The silver lining in this schedule is that I have two extra weeks of vacation. I am going to try to enjoy them. Usually, when I am on vacation, I spend a lot of time in my classroom getting things ready or cleaning or prepping etc. This time, I was away from my room for 24 days straight! That is an all time record for me....WOW! I went in for a few hours last week to asses the damage and work a bit. Today I went back with Sabi and she helped me to get the desks ready and work in my library. I will have to go back again but I will wait a few more days. I am enjoying being away from school.

I am planning to do something new this year before school starts. I want to have a "Meet and Greet" hour on the day before school starts in my room. I will send out postcards to the families of kids who will be in my room. This will allow me the chance to get to know the families and will allow the students a chance to get to meet me and check out their new room. I asked the secretary for a sheet of address labels with the addresses of my new students so I could send out the postcards. My heart almost sank to my knees when I saw one of the names on the list. I have D.E.! D.E. is one of those kids that everyone in the whole entire school knows by the end of the first trimester of kindergarten, a kid who has quite a reputation at an early age. I am quite familiar with him as each time it was my week to do yard duty, I ended up escorting him to the principal's office. His first grade teacher sent a note to me saying that "he is ok as long as his parents remember to give him meds...if not...watch out." YIKES!!! I am going to have my work cut out for me this year.

I REALLY need to enjoy these last two weeks. This year may turn out to be a long one.

Back to School

Today Sabi and I went back to school. Yesterday, we didn't want to even think about going back to school. Today was another story.

Me:
I woke up happy thinking about my students. I was eager to see their bright little faces. The day was fabulous. I had to be a little bit on the strict side with two students to remind them of our rules but it was really a super day. My student teacher took over more planning and she was fabulous too. She is a natural born teacher.

Sabina: We arrived at my school and as soon as we pulled up Sabina got very wide eyed and excited and asked if she could go straight to her bus stop and not wait for a while in my room. I asked why and she said "I just can't wait to hear my friends' voices! I want to hear them as soon as possible!" How cute! When she returned from school she was so excited telling me all about her friends and how they caught up.

Today was a good day!