A little R&R and a big change

Well, Easter is upon us, and for our school that means a long weekend. We have off Thursday, Friday, and Monday. This is our spring break. For me personally, I don't mind our spring break being just a long weekend (my family doesn't do the getaway vacation), but I can understand others wanting a week-long break.  Even when we do have break, I end up dedicating some of the time to school anyway, and that day was today so that I can enjoy the rest of the weekend and family time.

I like having a quiet day at school to get some long-term planning and prepping done (I'm pretty sure I probably said something similar around Christmas break). This week I gave a spelling assessment to check the students' overall progress with spelling skills, and I use the results to create leveled spelling groups. I took the time today to prep the spelling lists and tests that I will need for the rest of the year. It is a great time saver from a week-to-week standpoint. I can't take credit for the idea, though. My 3rd grade colleague Katie Webster planted that seed in my head early in the year. Along with prepping my spelling, I was also able to organize reading books for the next few weeks. All-in-all, it was a productive day. I'd like to say that I got everything done on my to-do list, but that rarely happens, and it didn't today. But I got my main goals taken care of and can enjoy the R&R.

I have a big change on the horizon. Next year I am going to be teaching 6th grade at the new middle school in Sheboygan Falls. It's going to take some readjusting from the last 12 years as a 3rd grade teacher, but I am excited for this new challenge! It's going to be strange not seeing the people I've gotten to know so well at the elementary school, but it will make our district professional development days more special when I do get to see them. One thing I'm really looking forward to with this change is the opportunity to work with some of the students I had a couple of years ago. I think they will be pretty surprised!

Mindfulness thought for the day: It would be such a better place if we were all more aware of how other people felt. 
This is another thought compliments of Tom J. Deters from the Pro You podcast.

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