Another busy and fast week

It's Thursday, but the school week is already over for us in Sheboygan Falls. We have off tomorrow, which is nice, as I am traveling to Minnesota to celebrate the long life of my grandfather and bid him farewell. I will be good to spend some time with family that I haven't seen in awhile and put aside some of the busy times that have been happening at school. But they can't be put aside for very long because there is always a lot to do.
I would say my brain was a jumble of this and that over the course of this week, which checklists running through my head constantly. My colleagues in 3rd grade and I had a curriculum day on Monday to work with one of the high school teachers and delve into some of the science standards that we felt like needed to be beefed up. I really appreciate having these days because it gives us an opportunity to really focus in on one particular topic and dig into it. Being out of the classroom, of course, makes for extra work to get ready for a sub, so that's how I spent a good deal of Sunday.
Wednesday, of course, brought the excitement of Valentines Day for the kids. We focused on the importance of friendship and kindness throughout the day and had a Valentine exchange at the end of the day. I'd like to say that the day was one full of joy and happy feelings, but then I would be lying. We had some rather unfortunate examples of unkindness that popped up. I had one student who tried to steal a classmate's bracelet and then lie about it, followed by a different student getting into a fight during recess. It was a tiring day...
And that brings us to today. We had our Winter Songfest today. I am happy to say that it went very well! The students did a really nice job of being respectful up on the stage and showed all the great work they have been putting into their practice. It was a nice way to finish out the week.
I had some other school-related happenings, but I am not quite ready to share just yet. I'll keep you posted...

Mindfulness thought of the week: It's not what happens that matters. It's how you react.

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