Thursday, August 27, 2009

I'm slacking on the blog, but not on much else.

Thanks (?) to my daily photo blog, I feel that there is nothing really worth blogging about without photos to accompany my words. I assume that the readers of The Bets Week Ever are also tuning into The View Across Town ... so I don't want to double up on photos. That has led to a long delay between posts here. While I do take photos EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. sometimes I'm taking pics just to get a post up & there isn't really a story to match.


Today there is a story, but no pictures to match.

I've been overwhelmed with beginning of school. At this time tomorrow night I will have made it through 2 full weeks that included:
26 new names to learn
1 Early Release day
1 Fantastic Friday
1 Back to School Night (2 sessions)
3 strikes given to students
1 broken shelf from a student making it a chair
5 days of recess duty
1 video clip played (about the Iditarod)
6ish times I've really raised my voice
2 students crying
1 fire drill
1 indoor recess
1 game played on the SMARTboard
8 chapters read of our class Read Aloud, Raymond & Graham Rule the School
2 library check outs
1 tornado drill
3 students with birthdays
8 homework assignments
3 sets of papers I've actually graded
30ish feet of laminating that I've cut out
6 nights of staying until at least 5:15pm
260 high fives given at the end of the day
300ish emails
100s of copies
437 times I've said "My turn! Turn off your voices. Listen to me." (Okay, it only seems like I've said it that many times).

Do you see why I haven't sat down to post lately?

The good news is that things ARE getting better. We are always scared at the beginning of the year when the kids don't know anything & don't know how to follow the 4th grade rules. It's easy to forget when the last time we had kids in our classrooms, they were doing so well & we had prepared them to move on to 5th grade. Every year it gets better ... and with a few more weeks of training, we will be like a well-oiled machine!

I'm still here ... I'm just a busier, more exhausted version of me being "here"!


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5 comments:

Marie Hooker said...

I hear you, girl. Feeling the same here. Add a tornado drill, all school safety assembly, ice cream social, two run-ins with angry parents, DIBELS, and MAP testing to that list for me. Ahh, the joys of teaching! I like that you give high-fives at the end of the day. I need to start making that a tradition in my room- I only do it occasionally.

Bets said...

Thanks for reminding me about both fire & tornado drill. Thankfully there is no DIBELS for us in 4th grade & our MAP tests don't start until mid-September.
There are some days when I don't have the time or energy for my high-fives ... but I do because I remember on some days, that is the only time I individually talk to kids. That seems impossible that I could go a whole day without talking to a child, but it happens all the time!

34th Stater said...

TGYA

Thank goodness You're Alive!

Laura said...

Oh, the life of a teacher!! How crazy and hectic it is...and I miss it everyday!! Even though I love being home with my little "student" I do miss the classroom environment!! Hope you have a great year!! :)

Anonymous said...

What a busy 2 weeks...you are doing great, though! I just survived week one and it wasn't bad. To add to your comments about "high 5's" ... in 2nd grade it is so nice b/c they really WANT to give you high 5's or hugs at the end of the day and will wait in line for them as we head out to the buses. I think it makes my day more than theirs! :) J :)