DitLife Post #Returning from a Break

It's 3:53 am and I am wide awake. I shouldn't be, since I had trouble falling asleep. Let's call this return from the break nerves. Will I remember all that I need to do in the morning to make the return to school a smooth one? I don't know.... but I'm not going to get any more sleep in before school starts because I am too worried about it. So I start making a list of the things I forgot about over the Thanksgiving break. The main thing: SNACK. I must prepare snack for the kiddos that depend on me for it.

The kids come off the bus at 7 am and are offered breakfast. Some eat it, some don't. But we don't eat lunch until 12:45 so, they are mighty hungry by 10 am so we allow the students to have snack in our classrooms. Not all can bring it in, so I keep a stash behind my desk for a few students who need it but can't bring it in. And crap, I forgot to go to the store and pick up some items, so off to my pantry I go..... what can I pull together last minute? Ritz crackers, cheez-its, and fig newtons it is.

OH! and then there's Infinity, the Elf on the Shelf!!! OH MY!! How could I forget that he MUST make his return to the classroom today. Crap. Must get up and go find him. STAT. But.... where is he?? and the questions of the day he will provide for the students???

Found him. Thankfully, with the laminated question of the day cards. He will move around the room and provide a question for the students to solve each day. Students that solve the question correctly will be entered into to a drawing at the end of each week (one student per class period) for a prize. Today, he will make his grand entrance by hanging upside down on my SMART board projector.... This should get the kids attention.

Next on my worry list, is the copies to make. I should make a list of the things I need to make a copy of:

1. Homework (and don't forget about the specialized homework for target group on integers)
2. Quizzes for Thursday
3. Solving proportions foldable
4. Sugar packet task recording sheet
5. Sugar packet task extension sheet (just a few copies)
6. Target group pre-test (adding unlike denominators)
7. Volume foldable.
8. Volume Questions for pocket on Interactive notebook
9. Volume review sheet for Interactive notebook
10. Sub plans for tomorrow
11. Student work for tomorrow. 

Next, worry about being out on Tuesday. Ugh. I hate going to the doctors, and I hate being away from my students. Combine the two... I want to cry. 

5:30, How did it become 5:30 already? I guess I better get dressed. 

5:45, Make a quick protein shake, grab the stuff I packed last night, and head out the door. 

6:09. I'm the first one here, besides Micheal, our awesome morning Building Service Worker. Good thing I know where my classroom keys are, since I know he probably hasn't gotten to my room. 

6:12. I'm unpacked and headed to the copier. Three copies in, and the copier jams. Really? 

6:45. Copies made. Saaweeett... Time to put up Infinity, the Elf, then sort the copies, unpack for the day, start the SMART board, put the chairs back in order (they always get moved when they clean), put the trash cans back where they belong and pull out the class work folders to see who I need to see during homeroom. 

7:05 the kids come off the bus and the day begins. As they come in, they see Infinity and the excitement builds. I can't help but feel giddy inside. Hahaha... you're doing math... you're doing math... is being repeating in my head. 

Homeroom lasts from 7:20 to 7:37 and it's a hustle and bustle time of the day. In addition to the 33 students in my room, 7 more from other class periods come in a see me about make up work and missing assignments. Morning announcements go on and we pause to listen and say the Pledge of Allegiance. One student starts the CNN Student News as soon as the school morning announcements are over, and a teacher comes in to make an announcement about her field trip today. 

7:37 the bell rings and first period begins. We go over the work we didn't get to finish before break and begin the items I had planned for today. Before I know it, the 8:22 bell is dismissing them to specials. 

8:22 - It's my planning period. I enter in attendance, check my email and write absent slips for the 7 kids that are missing from my first period class. I sit down at my desk and get working on the sub plans for tomorrow. Ugh. I dread this. 

9:13 - Planning is over. I managed to get quite a bit done, but the students are returning. It's time to teach more volume. 

10:00 - Classes change, and I switch gears. It's time for my on grade level classes to start. Today we are working on proportions so after our warm-ups we will do a foldable about solving proportions. Then we will solve a three-act task on the amount of sugar in soda and take it a step further to investigate other food and drink items. We work right through the bell between the classes of the double blocks. 

11:37 - One class leaves and another comes in. Repeat. This time, it's a broken class. Not broken... split would be a better word. I have to watch the time with this class a little more carefully, because I want to break when the bell rings at a natural instructional place. 

12:22 - Bell rings. Good thing I was watching the clock, because it's recess. When that bell rings, I've all but lost them. They know it's time to be free and play outside in the bus loops. We don't have a "playground" but we do let them run and socialize for 15 minutes with kickballs, soccer balls, frisbees, footballs, and jump ropes. 

12:41 - Time to line up and go in to lunch. This is hearding cats at it's best. We ask that students line up with their teachers that brought them out to recess, but in reality, we are happy if they are lined up and go into the building in some sort of fashion that resembles a peaceful movement. Its now time for our lunch. Several students want to come work in my classroom, and I open my door for them to do so. This gives students a place to be away from the crowded cafeteria noise as well as a place to work on items that they can't do at home. They let me work on my sub plans, and even help me staple a few things together. 

1:15 - Oh no! The bell is going to ring. I better use the restroom. 

1:18 - Time to get started again. Successfully finish the day with the Sugar Packet Task and was even able to extend the task a bit. 

2:05 - Time for students to go home. Bus dismissal. 

2:10 - They're gone. Time to get stuff done. Check in with my PLC (Professional Learning Community), finish up my sub plans, up date my classroom website, load the videos taken from the SMART board for student reference on to the website, get MathCounts things ready, plan interventions for fractions to start on Wednesday, make the copies I discovered that I didn't make this morning, and straighten up my classroom. 

5:00 - leave the school. It's time to go home..... 

5:20- arrive home. It's time to prep dinner, throw in a load of laundry and fold the laundry from yesterday and clean up from the guests from the holiday weekend (we had 12 people in our house this weekend!!!).  Check in with my son on his homework and his make-up work (he had surgery to repair his ACL a week prior to Thanksgiving and missed 5 days of school, today was his first day back).  Then it's off to walk the dog and clean up from dinner. 

8:30 pm - I'm exhausted. I gather the items I need for my doctor's appointment and check my email one last time before turning off my computer. 

9:00 pm - I'm officially done. It's time for bed. Today took a lot out of me. It's hard to return from a break for so many reasons. But to prep for a sub the very next day, I think makes it that much worse.

#DitLife Post 11/11

When I agreed to participate in the DiTLife project and was asked what specific day of the month I would choose, I chose the 11th. The 11th is a special day for my family because of numerous birthdays and anniversaries that occur on the 11th of various months of the year.. However, I perhaps, should have looked at the teaching calendar first.... because this is my 4th post and it's another non- school day.... making my posts 75% on non- teaching days. 

Having said this, however, I'm very excited about this post and 11/11. Veterans Day. My day started, I guess at midnight since I was still awake. On 11/10/1775 the United States Marine Corps was born and to celebrate this occasion my husband and I attended a USMC Birthday Ball, which marks the 241st Birthday of the Corps. It was amazing to see the camaraderie of these fine group of humans just two days after the most decisive election of our time.

I carefully chose the word humans instead of men and women because this election seems to have pointed out every single difference we have with one another and make us angry about it. But when you truly boil us down into our day to day life, we are all in the together as one. Last night, as I got my fanciest clothes on and watched my husband and our friends celebrate the Marine Corps birth, I was filled with pride to be there. We were all humans, celebrating a honorable branch of the United States Armed Forces. 

Even though the Ball ended at 11, our very bestest friends ever (can you tell I work with teenagers?), had ride arrangements for 11:30. We were at the Ball because of them, as they are entering in their last year as an active duty USMC family and this was their last active duty Ball. Their ride was late, and they carpooled with several others who all needed to be dropped off, their kids were tired, so my husband and I took the two kids and their fabulous mom home while their Marine rode in the big van making sure everyone got home safely. 

Dropping them off gave us a chance to change out of our fancy clothes and into something more comfortable for the rest of the ride home. When we entered into our house it was 2:43 am. I have not see that time of day in a looooong time! And this was after I spent the full day teaching, so I have been up for approximately 22 hours!

My husband and I were quickly off to dream land, both very thankful that we had the 11th off. But, no time to sleep in! My husband and son were off for a college visit, so the alarm sounded off at 5:45 sharp. They're off to Rose Hulman Institute of Technology for the weekend. 

I, on the other could sneak in a few more winks, as my day didn't have to really get started (again) until about 8. 

Up, showered and packed - I'm ready for a road trip with a teacher friend and her boyfriend (yup, I'm a third wheel... this was supposed to be a couples getaway, until the college visit came up) to go to Ocean City, Maryland. 

My school bag packed, I grade papers (sorry kids, my handwriting in the car is not super awesome) as that is four and a half hours I can sneak in. I plan to do the same on the way back, but with planning my lessons. 

Traffic was bad (Myth: traffic is only bad going to the beach in the summer....) so it took longer to get to our destination but I was able to grade a ton of papers! Did you know that head rests can make for an excellent place to prop up your grading rubric so you can reference it? 

We arrive safe and sound and now it's time to relax at our host's house while we wait for everyone else to arrive. The conversation turns volunteer with Relay for Life and Bark for Life - two events that raise money for cancer research.  Most of the people I'm with are the heads of their local committees so it's really great to participate in such an invigorating conversation about doing things to help others.  They have been working on committees together for years, and are sharing new experiences since one couple has moved. 

I sneak off and grade a few papers and catch up on a little bit more school work like entering grades and checking email.  I'm hidden away for about an hour and half before resurfacing.  As I enter grades in the grade book, I start a to-do list of tasks that I need to think about for next week when I formalize my plans. Things I include on this list are like - analyze part 3 of the performance task and make instructional groups to help reteach; need to design and print a recovery option to offer; think about incorporating similar questions in December's homework as recursive review. 

Then it's time to go to dinner.  We head to a quaint little town and do some retail therapy.  They have some really cute shops in a town called Berlin, Maryland. Shop Local. I managed to pick up 4 Christmas presents! After retail therapy we head to a local restaurant for some fresh and creative meals. We ended up at a place called Blacksmith and they had one of the best cheeseburgers I've had in a while and hands down the best fries. 

After dinner we head back to the shops only to discover that most of them are closed. Bark for Life was having a bake sale, and we thought we'd hit that up for dessert. They were just cleaning it up when we got there, and you know what? Teachers are brave people. We walked right up to the man in charge as he was closing his trunk lid after putting his goodies away and asked if we could make a purchase. I've got to say, that's the first time I've ever purchased a bag of snickerdoodles out of the back of a car trunk. In a dark parking lot. From a stranger. But it was all for a good cause. 

We head back to our hostess's house for fellowship and end up watching a few HGTV shows. Most of the shows were about buying a farm, something I can't imagine doing.... cleaning up after animals? EEEWWWW. But, see, there's a difference I have with other humans. I totally get that some people dig that and love that life style. And I can't see ever holding that against them. 

We keep looking at the clock only to realize it is not even 9 pm. 'Falling back' to standard time has really got us thinking it super late. I'm tired, and we're headed for a big day of retail shopping again tomorrow so we decide it's time to call lights out. I head up stairs to bed, only to finish grading the one set of papers I left in the middle of earlier ('cause I knew I would be fretting about them in the middle of the night if I didn't!) and finish up this blog post. 

But before signing off for tonight, I decide to check what day of the week the 11th of December falls on..... Sunday. Another non-teaching day. I am thinking I may turn this into a probability question for my math students to figure out when we do our probability unit in the spring. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would pick a random numerical day to blog about a day in the life of a teacher and have so many be outside of the teaching days!

~Until next month.....