Where did it go?
It seems weird to say this, but that was a crazy fast week, and it was a pretty good one on top of it all. Of course there were still the occasional misunderstandings between students and quick reactions rather than calm thinking, but they weren't major explosions. The weather, as a whole, was nice this week other than one day of inside recess (but tomorrow looks TERRIBLE! 80 degrees one day this week and 40 tomorrow? That's a load of cow manure right there...) But it doesn't matter, because tomorrow's Friday, and nothing's going to get me down on a Friday.
I had fun with some of the lessons this week. We've been working on reading poetry during literacy time for the last couple of weeks. Last month was National Poetry Month (I know, it's May...our last unit took some extra time so we started poetry a little late!) so we've been reading a variety of poetry books and identifying the thoughts and feelings the poets were trying to express. To cap it off, in honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, I had the students write poems for their moms. Most of the students went with the traditional acrostic poem, but I was also pleased that some of the students took a challenge and tried out some other poetic styles. In social studies, we started our next unit on immigration and ancestry. I'm excited about this one because we've done some updates to the unit. For the last couple of months, I've been working with my colleagues to spruce up this unit and make it more engaging for the students (beyond just reading from the textbook). We've been more purposeful with our planning to implement UDL components into the unit so that we can meet the variety of needs for the students we work without making it incredibly burdensome on ourselves. I think we created a really nice unit that the students are going to enjoy!
In other news, with less than 20 days of school left (that's tomorrow, a 5-day week next week, and three 4-day weeks for those of you who are counting), it's time for me to think about doing some hefty spring cleaning in my room due to my move for next year. I typically don't like to think about next year because there is work to focus on this year, but this is a special situation. With the construction of the new middle school right by the elementary school, it puts a limit on the access that the elementary school staff has to the building during the summer. Plus, there will be a teacher moving into my room, so I don't want to have my stuff in her way when she moves in. That doesn't really leave much choice other than to start cleaning. I think I'll probably end up being a bit nostalgic over the course of the next few weeks as I'm rummaging through the collection of materials I've accumulated over the last 12 years, deciding what I will be taking with me, leaving behind, offering to other teachers, and pitching.
Mindfulness thought for the week: Great things can come from small moments.
I had fun with some of the lessons this week. We've been working on reading poetry during literacy time for the last couple of weeks. Last month was National Poetry Month (I know, it's May...our last unit took some extra time so we started poetry a little late!) so we've been reading a variety of poetry books and identifying the thoughts and feelings the poets were trying to express. To cap it off, in honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, I had the students write poems for their moms. Most of the students went with the traditional acrostic poem, but I was also pleased that some of the students took a challenge and tried out some other poetic styles. In social studies, we started our next unit on immigration and ancestry. I'm excited about this one because we've done some updates to the unit. For the last couple of months, I've been working with my colleagues to spruce up this unit and make it more engaging for the students (beyond just reading from the textbook). We've been more purposeful with our planning to implement UDL components into the unit so that we can meet the variety of needs for the students we work without making it incredibly burdensome on ourselves. I think we created a really nice unit that the students are going to enjoy!
In other news, with less than 20 days of school left (that's tomorrow, a 5-day week next week, and three 4-day weeks for those of you who are counting), it's time for me to think about doing some hefty spring cleaning in my room due to my move for next year. I typically don't like to think about next year because there is work to focus on this year, but this is a special situation. With the construction of the new middle school right by the elementary school, it puts a limit on the access that the elementary school staff has to the building during the summer. Plus, there will be a teacher moving into my room, so I don't want to have my stuff in her way when she moves in. That doesn't really leave much choice other than to start cleaning. I think I'll probably end up being a bit nostalgic over the course of the next few weeks as I'm rummaging through the collection of materials I've accumulated over the last 12 years, deciding what I will be taking with me, leaving behind, offering to other teachers, and pitching.
Mindfulness thought for the week: Great things can come from small moments.
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