Highlights

Classes are back in full swing which might explain why I have been MIA for the past few days. Thankfully I am not totally swamped with work so far, but as always I have been super busy and the week just flew by! I woke up yesterday feeling awful with a bad headache and feeling really tired, but I worked anyway and made it through. I felt a little better today and worked again, but I am really glad it is the weekend and even more glad that I don't have class this weekend. Here are a few high notes on the week:

• I have been assessing my kiddos all week because I need to do report cards again and the kids have been doing table activities while I pull one kiddo at a time. I always find it really hard to complete all of the assessments I need to do because let's face it, when Kindergarten students are not entirely supervised sometimes chaos happens. I have a hard time really focusing on the child I am assessing when I am distracted by kids being too noisy, asking me to get a drink, asking me to go to the bathroom, telling on each other etc., etc., etc. I had a few parent volunteers help, but on most days, it was just me and the kiddos. Luckily, they were really into the tables activities (especially the new science materials from my donors choose proposal that just arrived!), so I was able to finish all but a few assessments. I was really pleased with the growth my kiddos have made recently!
• I had a great day with both classes because we did a lot of hands on activities that are just more developmentally appropriate than a lot of the direct instruction lessons we typically do. They did exploration with pattern blocks during math and came up with some really great, creative designs and I loved seeing their work. I know they have gained a lot of skills because of the structured programs that we use, yet I love to see them really engaged in activities that better align with their interests.
• Speaking of kids being interested, we have continued keeping up with the eagle in New Jersey whose eggs have been on the verge of hatching since last Friday. Finally, we were able to see one baby today! The kids were so excited and I was too! I put the video up and had it projecting on the white board when they came in. During the middle of our circle time, the mother eagle began to feed her baby and we just stopped everything and watched. We abandoned circle time so the kids could go back to their seats to see better and they wrote in their journals about what they saw. I absolutely loved the spontaneity and pure excitement that was evident from just going along with something that was in the moment and really interesting. 
• We have been LOVING Mo Williams this week and enjoying all of the books that I can get my hands on. One reader recommended Knuffle Bunny Free, which I borrowed from the library and we loved it. I could barely keep myself from crying because it was such a sweet ending, but I don't think the kiddos noticed. We also finally read Leonardo the Terrible Monster and reread a few of our favorite Pigeon books. They just can't get enough! I am going to incorporate his books into a writing activity next week. I think I will have my little friends write about which book they like the best. Or, maybe draw the pigeon and write something funny that he would say. 
• The science stuff from donors choose is awesome! I am so glad that it was funded because the kids were so excited to explore magnets, sound, and colors! 
• Although I didn't feel well at all, I stayed late and organized my room yesterday. I like to consider myself a neat person, yet I have a hard time keeping everything in its place at school. I did a lot of cleaning, sorting, and it felt good! I feel like I never have enough time since I have to leave school at 3:50 in order to get to class on time, so it was really great to be productive for once! 

Next week I am planning to do the experiment that shows how carnations in colored water soak up the water and turn color. I remember trying this once before and it didn't work. Does anyone have any tips for making it work? I think I will try it out tomorrow to make sure I can get it right so I would love some advice!

Happy Weekend!