Saturday, September 29, 2012

The Last Friday Favourites of September

It is hard to believe that it is Friday again already. How did that happen?

Overall it was a good week.  It is always a good thing when the good outweighs the bad. Don't you think? It was a little less bumpy behavior wise but a whole lot chattier!!! So, without further ado, here are my favourite things about this week.

1. That I got an iPhone in June so I am able to start this post while waiting for the non-existent Dunbar bus!!! Most days I don't mind the bus but today after watching 4 (count 'em, 4!!!) "Sorry Not In Service" buses pass me by, I am heartily sick of transit. Especially since it is almost 6 o'clock and I am ready to be home!

(Sorry for not posting this last night. The bus arrived right after I wrote number 1. FINALLY!!! I got home and then was out for the evening and exhausted when I got home at 9:30. How sad is that? In bed by 10 on a Friday night. And then, to add insult to injury, I wanted to sleep in today and woke up at 6:15. Wow! I slept in for a whole 50 minutes longer than normal!)

2. Holy Pattern Makers Batman!!! This group can ALL do patterns with 3 colours. Colour me impressed. I started teaching the patterning unit only to discover that my first lesson was beyond easy, peasy, lemon squeezy for this group. I gave them a quiz the next day and each and every one of them got 100%!!!! On to more challenging sorting and patterning lessons...

3. Getting to 5 minutes of independent, quiet (almost silent) reading!!! This may not seem like a big deal but it has taken us TWO weeks to get here. The first day we did not even get to 30 seconds before someone failed to meet expectations and we had to stop and go over the criteria again. We are building our reading stamina. Eventually, we will get to 20 minutes and I will be able to run small reading groups while the class is actively involved in reading and writing activities. (Also, this just goes to show that the students can control their talking. They are just choosing not to at carpet time!!!!)

4. I survived teaching gym! I enjoy going to the gym but do not really like teaching gym. And I have managed to not teach it for a number of years. I have traded off with other teachers and taught a subject for them in exchange for them teaching my gym. Unfortunately for me, schedules don't allow for that this year. But, apparently, it is like riding a bicycle. You don't really forget how to do it. And it was actually kind of fun. Who knew?

5. And probably my most favourite thing that happened this week is getting to go in and see the new school and our new learning community space. It was so exciting and I am so looking forward to setting up in the new space. It is going to be awesome. I love the space and I really enjoy working with my teaching team. The students are going to benefit so much from having the expertise of three enthusiastic teachers. How can it get better than that?

Have a happy weekend!

Ms. Hughes

No comments:

Post a Comment