Even though it was a short week that went by speedy fast, I am SO glad it's Friday! I had a meeting after school with a faculty member who I was asking to be on my doctoral committee and ever since I got home I have just been maxin' and relaxin'.
Mr. Sneaker is out of town until Thursday, so I have the entire weekend ahead of me to be productive. I had to make a to do list because if it's not written down, it won't happen. I feel like I have a lot to do between reworking my methodology section of my dissertation proposal (feedback from my advisers was that I needed to change the design I first created), writing thank you notes for the baby gifts from my staff, reading an article for an upcoming training that I have, and doing my reading for book club, I feel like I will be reading and/or typing for many hours this weekend.
Tomorrow I am 35 weeks, which means I officially have just about 5 weeks left of this pregnancy. How crazy is that!? I am hoping that baby Sneaker comes on time (or maybe a little bit early) but not earlier than the start of our spring break. I really want to be able to work until that natural transition point and not have to leave sooner than planned. It just makes it easier all around if Baby Sneaker cooperates with that time line. I am totally fine with going into labor once school is over on March 23rd, but that is even a whole weeks early, so I will probably be spending most of spring break just begging her to come out already.
I have been getting really tired lately so I am really looking forward to sleeping in this weekend and relaxing a lot. Even though I've got work to do, I can bring my laptop/ipad to bed and be productive from a comfortable position.
Only FOUR more weeks of work until spring break (if I make it that long) so the countdown is officially on. I feel like I have been moving at a slower pace in the classroom lately and trying to just enjoy the kiddos since my time with them is so short and there are not a lot of days left. They are getting better and better with reading and writing and sometimes I just want to sit back and enjoy seeing what they can do rather than rushing through everything. I think next week I finally have to bring up the fact that once I have a baby I won't be returning to school since I am not sure whether or not they truly understand that yet. Any tips for breaking the news to Kinders would be appreciated!!
Crank
Can I just say that I am SO happy all of the parties are over and done with for this school year. Parties are never a huge deal, but they just add this extra layer of excitement, noise, and energy that is very tiring--especially for a preggo teacher. I am exhausted. The kiddos were really excited to open their Valentine's and our party literally consisted of opening Valentine's and having a small snack.
No games.
No themed activities.
Just cards and cookies.
We are limited to 45-minute parties and because of the timing of ELD, we really only have 30 minutes that we can use if we want all the kids there the whole time. 30 minutes goes by quickly, so we can't really pack all that much in. I kind of feel like my parties are lame, but the kids like them and have fun, so I'm good with it. But, they do tire me out.
I got tons of chocolates and goodies and I am ready to put my feet up and relax tonight.
I stopped by the mall on the way home and got myself a diaper bag at Coach. Mr. Sneaker cashed in some Amex points to get me a giftcard and since he is out of town for Valentine's Day, I thought I would have a little fun shopping for myself to celebrate.
The traffic getting there and getting home was so bad, which made me just a tad bit cranky.
I. Hate. Traffic.
Being overtired and then sitting in traffic made me feel like a huge grump. Maybe I should hit up some of that chocolate I received today!
No games.
No themed activities.
Just cards and cookies.
We are limited to 45-minute parties and because of the timing of ELD, we really only have 30 minutes that we can use if we want all the kids there the whole time. 30 minutes goes by quickly, so we can't really pack all that much in. I kind of feel like my parties are lame, but the kids like them and have fun, so I'm good with it. But, they do tire me out.
I got tons of chocolates and goodies and I am ready to put my feet up and relax tonight.
I stopped by the mall on the way home and got myself a diaper bag at Coach. Mr. Sneaker cashed in some Amex points to get me a giftcard and since he is out of town for Valentine's Day, I thought I would have a little fun shopping for myself to celebrate.
The traffic getting there and getting home was so bad, which made me just a tad bit cranky.
I. Hate. Traffic.
Being overtired and then sitting in traffic made me feel like a huge grump. Maybe I should hit up some of that chocolate I received today!
fast and groovy
I can't even express how fast time is going by. With the birth of my baby on the horizon (well 7 weeks away) and only 26.5 more work days before my maternity leave (yes I just counted), I feel like time is going by at warp speed. Everyday both of my classes just seem to fly by and before I know it the kids are getting on the bus. I am not complaining...you know you love what you do when the time goes by super fast, but at the same time, I am kind of sad that my time with these two groups will be coming to an end in the very near future.
Leaving before the end of the school year is so different than watching them board the buses on the last day of school. I am leaving before it's over...before they learn everything they are supposed to learn...and I feel like it will be weird when I am at home and they are at school doing their thing without me.
That being said, the kids are so in the groove of our routines and daily activities in the classroom-I know they will do great without me. I get to leave them in the very capable hands of my good friend Jill and they are just taking off in their skills.
We recently started journal writing and I am so impressed with what I am seeing. I felt like I started journals much later this year than I did last year and I was a bit worried because our post-test writing assessment showed very little improvement among my two groups. Mostly that is because the objective changes between the fall pre-test and the winter post-test so it's more difficult for kids to be considered proficient. And also because the writing assessment we are asked to give them prompts them to write a story which is something we have never even worked on...not cool. But, since that post test, we have begun learning about writing in journals and their work is fabby.
Each time we write I model by writing in my own journal and repeat the important things I want to see:
On the one hand I am really excited for these next 7 weeks to just get over and done with so I can have my baby in my arms, but on the other hand I am cherishing the time I have left with these groups. They are really great this year and I will miss them!
Leaving before the end of the school year is so different than watching them board the buses on the last day of school. I am leaving before it's over...before they learn everything they are supposed to learn...and I feel like it will be weird when I am at home and they are at school doing their thing without me.
That being said, the kids are so in the groove of our routines and daily activities in the classroom-I know they will do great without me. I get to leave them in the very capable hands of my good friend Jill and they are just taking off in their skills.
We recently started journal writing and I am so impressed with what I am seeing. I felt like I started journals much later this year than I did last year and I was a bit worried because our post-test writing assessment showed very little improvement among my two groups. Mostly that is because the objective changes between the fall pre-test and the winter post-test so it's more difficult for kids to be considered proficient. And also because the writing assessment we are asked to give them prompts them to write a story which is something we have never even worked on...not cool. But, since that post test, we have begun learning about writing in journals and their work is fabby.
Each time we write I model by writing in my own journal and repeat the important things I want to see:
- date at the top
- sentence starting with an uppercase letter
- spaces in between the words
- sight words spelled correctly (which they can do because of all of the Heidi's songs we sing and having the words posted on the word wall)
- period at the end of the sentence
On the one hand I am really excited for these next 7 weeks to just get over and done with so I can have my baby in my arms, but on the other hand I am cherishing the time I have left with these groups. They are really great this year and I will miss them!
Super Silent Helper
Today I introduced my kiddos to the first of the "First Grade Sounds" that we cover in Kindergarten with our phonics program. Once we get through the entire alphabet and a few of the "tricky" sounds like /th/, /sh/, /ch/, /ng/, we move onto the long vowel sounds and vowel combination spelling patterns, which I call First Grade Sounds to make them extra fun and exciting.
Today was a_e (the program calls this a dash e).
I told the kids about the special job of the letter e who is affectionately referred to as
Super e
Silent e
and
Helper e
It reminded me of a video that we found last year that the kiddos liked a lot.
Anything in video form is lots of fun!
It always seems like a_e isn't that hard, but then it trips them up when it's not the total focus of their attention. Tomorrow we are doing another lesson for more practice and then Thursday I'll try to make sure my journal model includes several words with the helper e on the end.
I just love this time of year when Kinder kiddos really start taking off with reading and writing. They are just so darn cute. I am really glad that helper e has finally been revealed so they can start using it in their writing :0)
Lately
On Friday we had our report card grading day which means there wasn't school for kids and we got the day to do our grades and complete our report cards online. We are allowed to check out and work from home, so I slept in and then did my report cards in my kitchen. I did go to my classroom for a bit in the afternoon to start on some of that organizing I have been meaning to do. I am pleased that I finally got all my extra books put away and cleaned out my cabinets a bit. I am still not 100% done with my report cards because I still have to look through journals in order to assess a few items for writing, but I am nearly there. I will do that this afternoon so that all I have left tomorrow is to assess one child on counting to 30.
Yesterday my friends threw me a wonderful baby shower and my little girl got many adorable new additions to her already plentiful baby wardrobe. Baby clothes are just so darn cute and my friends have very cute taste. I also got a little baby tub to use in the sink, a Bumbo chair, and nursing cover, and a few other odds and ends. I am thinking of heading to Babies R Us today to get the car seat with the gift cards that I have accumulated from the two showers. I still have one more to go at work and I feel totally spoiled for having to many showers!! It's so fun to think about my little baby and meeting her in just about 8 weeks!
I realized that I only have 7 weeks of work left until my maternity leave and 4 of those weeks are not full work weeks (due to holiday, doctor appt., or training). The time is going to fly by! I still haven't really specifically talked to the kids about how I won't be coming back after the baby is born. Does anyone have any advice about prepping them for the long term sub? Any good books on the subject of teacher having a baby and leaving? I had plans to write a book on that topic just for this reason...oh well. I think they will adjust to me being gone and I think I will be so focused on being a new mommy that my mind won't really be focused too much on what I am missing with the kiddos at school. I am hoping to bring the baby in once and maybe do the end of the year field trip (driving separately in my own car) depending on how good of a sleeper my little Miss is.
I don't think I am going to watch the Super Bowl today. I take a mamalates pilates class on Thursdays and today is the make up class because the teacher has been out of town the past two Thursdays. I paid in advance for the series of 6 classes, so I don't really want to miss out on one....and I am not such a super fan of football anyway. Hubs is going to head to the party we were invited to and I may or may not meet him there after my class to pick him up. It's about an hour drive to get there from where my class is...
We started our annual Teddy Bear project at school, which lasts about 6 weeks. I send a note home to parents letting them know that we really can't manage the project without parent help and I am very fortunate to have lots of volunteers from each class. The problem is that it gets a bit chaotic with parents pulling kids from what I am doing so they can work on their bears, then kids coming back and shouting out that it's someone else's turn. I love that the parents are helping, but I am seriously considering moving the Teddy making operation to the table in the hallway so there is less noise and disruption in the classroom. The kids are SO excited about it and it truly is a great project, I just feel like it amps up the excitement for a full six weeks which can be hard.
I am still making progress on my dissertation proposal...not much this week, but some. I have to start emailing a few people at PSU to see about meeting up with them in order to talk about my proposal and to see if they would have interest in being on my committee. It's really important that I get that done this week!
My third niece was born on Thursday! She is healthy and adorable and weighed a little over 9 pounds. I also have a friend from work who had her twins on Monday night and another friend whose baby girl was born last week. So many babies!! Mine needs a little more cooking time, but seeing all the babies makes me want her to be here soon!
Happy Sunday!
Yesterday my friends threw me a wonderful baby shower and my little girl got many adorable new additions to her already plentiful baby wardrobe. Baby clothes are just so darn cute and my friends have very cute taste. I also got a little baby tub to use in the sink, a Bumbo chair, and nursing cover, and a few other odds and ends. I am thinking of heading to Babies R Us today to get the car seat with the gift cards that I have accumulated from the two showers. I still have one more to go at work and I feel totally spoiled for having to many showers!! It's so fun to think about my little baby and meeting her in just about 8 weeks!
I realized that I only have 7 weeks of work left until my maternity leave and 4 of those weeks are not full work weeks (due to holiday, doctor appt., or training). The time is going to fly by! I still haven't really specifically talked to the kids about how I won't be coming back after the baby is born. Does anyone have any advice about prepping them for the long term sub? Any good books on the subject of teacher having a baby and leaving? I had plans to write a book on that topic just for this reason...oh well. I think they will adjust to me being gone and I think I will be so focused on being a new mommy that my mind won't really be focused too much on what I am missing with the kiddos at school. I am hoping to bring the baby in once and maybe do the end of the year field trip (driving separately in my own car) depending on how good of a sleeper my little Miss is.
I don't think I am going to watch the Super Bowl today. I take a mamalates pilates class on Thursdays and today is the make up class because the teacher has been out of town the past two Thursdays. I paid in advance for the series of 6 classes, so I don't really want to miss out on one....and I am not such a super fan of football anyway. Hubs is going to head to the party we were invited to and I may or may not meet him there after my class to pick him up. It's about an hour drive to get there from where my class is...
We started our annual Teddy Bear project at school, which lasts about 6 weeks. I send a note home to parents letting them know that we really can't manage the project without parent help and I am very fortunate to have lots of volunteers from each class. The problem is that it gets a bit chaotic with parents pulling kids from what I am doing so they can work on their bears, then kids coming back and shouting out that it's someone else's turn. I love that the parents are helping, but I am seriously considering moving the Teddy making operation to the table in the hallway so there is less noise and disruption in the classroom. The kids are SO excited about it and it truly is a great project, I just feel like it amps up the excitement for a full six weeks which can be hard.
I am still making progress on my dissertation proposal...not much this week, but some. I have to start emailing a few people at PSU to see about meeting up with them in order to talk about my proposal and to see if they would have interest in being on my committee. It's really important that I get that done this week!
My third niece was born on Thursday! She is healthy and adorable and weighed a little over 9 pounds. I also have a friend from work who had her twins on Monday night and another friend whose baby girl was born last week. So many babies!! Mine needs a little more cooking time, but seeing all the babies makes me want her to be here soon!
Happy Sunday!
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