Assessments.....Ughhhh!

I feel like I am drowning in assessments right now.  I feel they have taken over and I honestly don't see the end in sight.  Today, I was fortunate to have a guest teacher for 1/2 the day while I pulled the littles into the hallway to adminster the DRA (Directed Reading Assessment).  Of course, out of the 3 hours that I had the guest teacher, 1 hour was lunch and recess!  But, I am thankful for the 2 hours I did get.  :) 

Our principal is requiring us to find each instructional level and frustration level during this round of assessments.  Normally, we give a standard benchmark and find the instructional levels.  Finding the frustration level for some of my littles is, well, at MY FRUSTRATION LEVEL!  It is torture for me to watch them struggle.  Honestly, I don't think that it is going to help my instruction one. little. bit.  Of course, that is my opinion.  Does anyone else have to find the frustration level?

Who poured that here?

Today was a lovely day.  The littles were on task most of the day and I was having one of those "Awesome teacher" days.  You know the ones that you feel like you are speaking their language.  The days where you feel that you are being a force for good.  The days that make you feel satisfied and fullfilled.  Unfortunately, that feeling did not last all day!

So, here's what happened:

Around 1:45, one of my littles asked to go to the bathroom.  I was in the middle of explaining how to complete a new activity.  Actually, I was modeling how to complete the Mystery Messages  that I bought at Christmas on TPT.  (They rock BTW!)  I didn't want Mr. Little to miss out so I asked if he could wait until I finished.  He shook his head yes and I proceeded with my modeling.  Seriously, no more than 3 minutes later I make eye contact with Mr. Little and notice a puddle!  He immediately points to the puddle and says, "  Who poured that here?"  His face so serious and intentional.  Of course I knew what had happened, but because he said what he said....I almost burst into laughter.  Inside I was dying!  I was wanting to hoot...to holler and explode.  But, I was a professional and quickly diverted attention away from him and sent him promptly to the office to get new duds. 

I felt horrible.  I should have just let him go when he asked, but I trusted that he could hold it.  I felt bad for wanting to laugh.

So, Mr. Little comes back into class carrying his bag of wet clothes and I kid you not, he was wearing the tightest little skinny jeans ever!  Mr. Little is itty.  His new dry pants were ittier....and they were a tad on the short side.  I wanted to laugh all over again!

For the rest of the afternoon, I couldn't make eye contact with him.  The sight of those crazy tight/short jeans and the fact that I kept seeing him point and ask "Who poured that here?" was almost too hard to handle.

So, I began the day feeling like super teacher and ended feeling very different.  It was HILARIOUS!!!

I survived going back!

Thursday morning when my alarm clock went off, it was iffy....didn't. want. to. get. up. at. all.  After I finally got to school, I was fine.  It's usually just the getting ready and getting there part that I don't enjoy.  I love my pajama pants so hard!  I honestly think that I would be a happier teacher if I could wear them on a regular basis to teach in.  I mean, it works for about 40% of the population on Saturdays at Target. :)  Just kidding! 

So, like I said, once I was at school, everything was fine.  I loved seeing all my coworkers again and seeing them recharged and rested.  My littles were even cuter than when they left for Christmas Vaca.  They had grown some and they were so quiet on Thursday.  It almost felt like the first day of school.  We spent LOTS of time going over procedures and expectations.  We practiced some of the more tricky ones like lining up and transitioning to and from the carpet area.  I wish I knew how many times I say the words quickly, quietly and safely in one day! Anywho, they did wonderful and I must say that I loved hearing many of them say, "I missed you soooooooo much!" 

In my last post, I mentioned the New Year's activity that goes with the printable linked there.  Here are some pictures of that project.  Normally, we do the hats out of scrapbook paper, but I forgot to grab it on my way out of the house on Thursday morning.  The littles didn't mind at all.  They loved decorating their own hat :)

I love this little guy's goal.  It truly will test him and benefit me!

This little is super precious and just wants to lrne (learn) more.  Love!

I mentioned this in an earlier post this year, but I create a gallery outside my classroom each year.  The work is changed out regularly.  I had a couple students out on Thursday and one little didn't get finished with the writing part.  Those will be added later. 

 

I hope that you all had a great start to the new year.  If you are heading back to school on Monday, good luck :)

Back to work and a New Year Freebie

It's back to school for me tomorrow.  I will be so happy to see and hug my littles, but I must admit that I will miss the lazy days of Christmas vacation.  I have been sleeping in and staying up late.  These actions will most likely prove to have been mistakes when my alarm clock goes off tomorrow morning. 

I didn't go into my classroom at all over the break.  I hope that I left things in an ok order.  I was sick right before the break and all I could think about was going HOME! 

This week has been monumental for me.........I actually have a few followers out there.  It has made my heart smile :)  !!!!  I hope to learn more about TPT and sharing things that I have created on here.  I am attaching something that I plan to use tomorrow.  I always use the first few days that we return from Christmas vacation to revisit procedures, expectations and let students set goals for the new year.  It's like a blank slate for them and any thing is possible.  So, you can click here for a little writing printable if you like.  I also have students create a head and scrapbook paper hat to attach above the writing.  Pictures of finished project to come soon.  Again, use if you like :)

Cashed in a Christmas Present :)

So, my adorable hubby gave me a TPT gift certificate in my stocking and I cashed that baby in this afternoon!  Here are my purchases: 

   Filled with lots of January centers and activities :)  (this one you can click the picture)

 Lots of printables to keep friendly letter writing engaging for the littles!http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mailbox-Station-Letter-Writing

 Lots of graphic organizers! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Read-and-Write-Comprehension-Pack

Can't wait to use these even though it isn't back to school! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Mystery-Messages

These items are from 2 of my favorite bloggers.  I'm sure that you are familiar with them and their awesome work, but if not, check them out :)

http://tunstalltimes.blogspot.com/

http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/  

January Currently

 

I love Christmas Break!  It really does offer the chance to refuel and recharge.  I only wish my sweet little hubby had the same opportunity.  The time off is never taken for granted by me...I lub it SO HARD :)!!! 

I am thinking about my littles and what I can do to help them be successful when we go back.  My district begins this Thursday.  I am thrilled that we have 2 day week to ease back into the swing of things.  My sleeping schedule has been that of a carefree college student.  It's gonna be difficult getting up and being "on" so early again. 

I have The Pioneer Woman's Spicy Pulled Pork recipe slow cooking in my oven.  It cooks for 6 to 7 hours.....smells sooooo good!  Can't wait to shred it and put it in my mouth!

I really want new sneakers.  I looked at many places yesterday, but no luck.  I'm picky!

I am so BLESSED!  I have everything that I need and many things that I want.  I know not everyone is as fortunate.  I am a details oriented perfectionist in most areas of my life and sometimes that makes me miss out on the BIG picture of my life.  Truth is, I lead a BLESSED life!