Marsh Madness: August 2008

Thursday, August 21

1 (day) down . . . 179 to go.

Well, the much anticipated first day of school has finally arrived.

I must say, I'm most pleased! It seems I have a really great bunch of kids this year! And to top it off, 20% less! (. . . today, that is.)

As with every year, today was a fun filled day of overly animated conversations (and practice) of rules and procedures. This, of course, is quite possibly one of the hardest things for a kindergartner to endure . . . sitting and listening.

But, that's simply how it goes. And although it's so very tough (sometimes even for the teacher), it couldn't have been too terribly bad . . . I did end up with one, "I love you." And you can't help but feel pretty good about that.

Thursday, August 14

School. Yes. Really.

Well, there’s no stopping it.

It’s certainly here.

My classroom is pretty much done . . . just paper work from here on out. So, I thought it was appropriate to have a few visitors!

. . . after which, Alex is now fully convinced he is ready for kindergarten.

The unfortunate part is that he just might be more prepared than many that enter my room the first day . . .

Friday, August 8

School? What? Really?

Well . . . here we go again.

My classroom is slowly but surely coming back together again . . . after what I heard was summer. Seems a little strange since I don’t believe SUMMER ever really hit me. Of course, this isn’t all that surprising since I spent ¾ of my summer working on a district project.

Honored I was asked . . . yes.

Feeling a little pissed I was jipped out of a summer . . . double yes. (I see this even more clearly right NOW.)

Well, apparently now it’s on to my next challenge.

This past week I was asked to take on yet another project . . . our state superintendent’s newest pilot program on “looping.”

For those non-teachers out there, “looping” basically means (in my particular situation) I would teach kindergarten this year and follow my students to 1^st grade next year, where I would continue to teach them. I would then go back to kindergarten the following year and start with a new crop.

Here again, honored I was asked . . . most definitely.

A little nervous to step outside my comfort zone and teach 1^st grade . . . yeah.

I literally sat down will a pen and paper and wrote all the pluses and all the minuses.

Turns out my positives out-weighed my negatives and . . . it looks like next year I’ll be teaching 1^st grade.