Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Just today...

--I had to adjust bra straps bothering a student (yes, a third grader)
--had to deal with a child telling me she wanted to kill herself (which involves outside help, thank goodness)
--watched students struggle with an incredibly long passage on the state test, and an equally long retell question
--watched other students struggle with prefix/suffix questions that should have been easy, but were reworded this year, and I felt like the worst teacher for not preparing them adequately
--had to hold down my skirt during every recess to make sure it didn't blow up inappropriately during our gusty Kansas weather :)
--had to give the students a pep talk about how our x7 worksheet was practice and how not every student can expect to know every fact in the right amount of time the FIRST TIME! Then we talked about how slamming pencils down and going "UGH!" when we don't get everything right does not help anyone do better.
--smiled when my kids wrote "I Love Mrs. Thomason" on chalk on the playground (no, I did not pay them to do that!)
--smiled again when one of my students asked to finish his writing assignment instead of watching a video.


I really do love my students, but this week has been challenging. I am without SPED or Title I support, which affects about half of my class (and my sanity). They don't go to their science specials, which means we lose our collaboration time. They test right off in the morning, which is nice, but that also means we have to be VERY quiet all afternoon because the fifth graders are testing next door. That has made for some interesting lesson planning for the afternoons!

They are really doing great, and working hard, and I hope they know that regardless of the outcome, they have grown a lot this year. I feel like I have improved this year as far as curriculum, and I have a lot of things I want to try next year, and go back to.

I love this time of year, as its a time to think and plan for next August and beyond, and enjoy the last few weeks with my kiddos!

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