Teaching is Full of Surprises!

Sunday:
After returning from a relaxing Fall Break trip, I stay up into wee hours of the morning entering grades for first quarter report cards that are due the following day.

Monday:
Surprise! The instructions on how to enter assignments into the grade book software were not given correctly. All grades are entered wrong and must be fixed (aka redo) by midnight!
Surprise! We're giving first quarter cumulative benchmark assessments this week!!
Surprise! Your below-level third graders (aka 80%) will likely freak out when they see the length of the passages which they are expected to read!

Tuesday:
Surprise! The scoring software is not compatible! Teachers will be hand-scoring all benchmark tests! As well as doing our own test item analysis!
Surprise! Student has an emotional breakdown!
Surprise! You have to teach specials during your plan time because there is a sub and, although nice, she's a total goon and your class is about to overtake her!
Surprise! Only 5 show up for Open House!

Wednesday:
Surprise! The sub for Ms. R didn't show up! Her class is being split between the other third grade teachers!
Surprise! Third grade is switching to a different, older, supposedly better reading curriculum! We don't have any complete sets, but hey, resourcefulness is what we're good at! Right?


Best of all: There are still two full school days left in this week for even more surprises! YAY!!

Fall Break in Photographs

Bieber Fever

When assigning the spiral notebooks my students brought with their school supplies, I came across one with a very supermodel-looking Justin Bieber printed all over it. I collectively asked my class who it belonged to so that I could be sure to write the correct name inside. As I was looking across the room at each of my girls, waiting for a response, I heard a voice say, "That's mine!" I turned to see who the voice belonged to and, to my suprise, it came from one of my little boys. And he was claiming that Bieber book with pride!
I had to remind myself in that moment (as I was trying my best not to chuckle) that when you're a third grader, you're totally allowed to be a boy and have Bieber fever.

Grading Blitz 2010

400 papers.
3 people.
2 hours.

A tremendous thank you to my friend Ra and her momma for their willingness to spend a Saturday morning helping me to conquer what, otherwise, would have been an insurmountable amount of work.

You are wonderful. You are incredible. You are amazing. I could go on... Words can't describe how seriously grateful I am! I am indebted to you forever.
Love you both!

As I'm now entering assignments in the grade book, I'm realizing it would have been a MUCH better decision to grade along the way… Maybe then I would have realized how many of my students weren't turning in their work… or completing their work... or that one of my students has a 23% in math (not including missing assignments)…

Live and learn.

From now on, I'm grading papers at least once a week.


Before I sign off, I'd like to add one more thing to this post…
BOOMER SOONER!!

That's better. :)