Another Broke and Boring Weekend Review

It sounds weird but Friday was the first "real" day I had in my classroom.  I mentioned already that we had to wing the first week as we could do nothing curriculum related.  Then last week, my class was testing all morning Monday through Thursday. So on Friday we just dove in to what will be our regular schedule and the curriculum.  

I am finding out that there are many aspects of this school that I am not totally on board with and one of those is that all reading and math has to be done in centers and has to be ability grouped. For instance, during their 1.5 hour reading period (yep a full 1.5 hours of reading class) everyday they must do something involving the following: 1). silent reading 2). guided ability grouped reading 3) vocabulary 4). spelling 5). phonics and 6). writing.  I have nothing against centers...in fact, I actually enjoy them, but just not EVERY SINGLE DAY.  And ability grouping was done away with years ago. And finding six activities for them to do each day is daunting. But I just keep my mouth shut and do my job. 

So, we did centers in Reading and Math on Friday and the results were mixed.  Reading went excellent but Math went pretty badly.  Last year, this class had 4 different teachers and it is obvious that they have no idea what structure in the classroom is.  It's obvious they were left to their own devices as far as rules and consequences - or lack of.  I've implemented a system I call "obedience training" and I have been seeing steady improvements.  Overall, I'd say they ate are about 60% there.  

After school, I needed to stop and pick up $5.00 from my son for gas and then did my grocery shopping.  Once home, the groceries were unpacked, I took Ollie for a walk, and then I out on my comfy pj's, lit a pumpkin spice candle, and watched some Downton Abbey.  

Saturday I spent the whole day with a headache but still had to do my lesson plans.  I used to be able to do my lesson plans in about 15-20 minutes...HA! These Common Core lesson plans took me almost 4 hours!   (Oi Vey).  Because we had plans on Sunday, I made all my lunches and cooked all the meals for the week on Saturday. 

Sunday we drove over to Daytona Beach to have pizza with my parents and sister (it was her birthday).  Then it was home and mentally preparing myself for another week.