BAM!

I swear the days just keep getting faster and faster!  I think today was about the length of a blink, if that.  The combination of a routine finally settling into place and really being able to get into the meat of the content that I am teaching--along with a 3:00 pm Fire Drill (our dismissal is at 3:30--whew! cutting it close!) in the rain--is all enough to make my days go quick as lightning.

Again, I left both my camera and flash drive at school, so no pictures to post this evening (for all your visual learners).  Nothing huge to report on today: it was another rainy one with indoor recess (Magic School Bus Gets Swamped was our feature presentation in honor of Mother Nature's gift to us).

During our Language Arts block, we moved on to the "-am" family today, so after reading Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat for the "-at" family yesterday, I felt compelled to stay on that path and bring out another favorite today:  Green Eggs and Ham.  Another childhood classic :)

The cool thing--I think!--about this book is that it is from my family's personal collection.  A couple of weeks ago my mom sent me a package with about a dozen Dr. Seuss books from the bookshelves at my family's house so that I could add them to my class collection.  When I opened this book today to read it to my class, I discovered a "This Book Belongs To: _____" sticker, with my name written in the blank.  The date below it?  June 1991.  I got a good chuckle out of this one as I told my kids that this was before they were born and before any of their brothers and sisters were born.  My favorite comment: "was it before you were born, too, Ms. W??"  Sometimes you just have to giggle and move on . . .


We brainstormed some "-am" words after the book and came up with things like am, Sam, ham, ma'am, jam, ram, and bam.  When the student said this last one I must have stared at him quizzically because he said, "wait, is it a word?"  And I said, "well sure it is.  Like: 'BAM!  Getcha some of that!'"  (Any camp people reading this?? I had some flashbacks to about a dozen years ago--all from a word family!  Oh, the memories that my kiddos can trigger . . . )  I heard one of my students repeat this later in the afternoon when he completed a story problem with a partner in math; I'm telling you, if you want a reason to smile all day long, this job is the one for you!

I also have realized that I am starting to bruise on my calves because my kiddos swing their legs when they sit in their chairs, and when we sit at my horse-shoe table for guided reading, all of their little shoes kick me!  They don't really kick hard enough that I can feel it at the time, but later in the afternoon, I'll notice that my shins are tender.  Hey--if the swinging helps 'em learn to read, then I'll take all the bruising I need to!

In lesson planning news, I just got done with typing a day's worth of substitute plans.  Whew!  They take foreverrrrr.  You can bet I won't get getting sick anytime soon!  The teacher at my school are lucky enough to have a math inservice tomorrow during the day, where we get to workshop with professionals, and substitutes come into our classrooms.  I am excited for this opportunity, but trying to write for someone else how our 1st grade class runs from activity to activity and subject to subject is exhausting!  Five pages later, and my sub will have some serious reading to do tomorrow morning before hopping into things with my kiddos!  Fingers (and toes!) are crossed that all goes well while Ms. W is gone . . .

I'll report back tomorrow with what I know of the sub report!

Love from Room 106,
Allie