I'm Baaaack!

Oh my goodness! I survived my first week back to school! I have my first cold of the school year and so does poor Sullivan, he snorts and sniffles every time I feed him poor guy. We were actually early to work every day this week which has to be a record for me - but unfortunately those early mornings came with a variety of mishaps:

One day I forgot the attachment for the breastpump and had to have hubby bring it to me at work (he was very sweet and understanding).

The next day I forgot the darn bottles for the breastpump and had to have hubby bring them to me at work (he was not as sweet and understanding).

The third day I managed to remember the pump and bottles, but then forgot my cooler of pumped bottles on a bench after work! I got all the way home and then had to turn around and go all the way back to school to get them!

The fourth day I managed to bring everything I needed to school, AND I brought everything home. Except for the tiny little blue valve without which the pump is a useless piece of plastic. I searched my bags, I searched my car, and then I drove all the way to Walmart to buy another pump just for the tiny little blue valve.

I found the darn thing under my desk at school the next morning.

Sigh...

So now I am keeping one pump at work and one at home. Hopefully that will cut down on the forgetfulness. Maybe. Hey at least I haven't forgotten Sullivan, right?

So, my class this year. Hmm how to describe them...chatty? talkative? verbose? loquacious? communicative? How about: won't-be-quiet-for-more-than-2-seconds! And, that's not my girls! Nope, the girls are quiet, the girls are pretty good at following procedures and paying attention. The boys? Not so much. In fact, this group of boys is more like a group of gossipy old women talking about the latest scandal in town. Meaning, while the girls are clipping up and earning rewards, the boys are too busy talking to even notice.

Now, I want to remind you that I am the mother of 4 boys. I love boys. I'm good with boys. Normally, I'm the teacher that prefers boys over girls. Rowdy boys are welcome in my class. They crack me up.  We're active and up dancing and having brain breaks all the time. I can deal with the little boy wiggles.

But so far, these boys are a handful! They're pretty good at keeping their bodies still, just not their lips! We spent the week reviewing procedures and trying to get on track. Ideally, we'd so the same again next week. Unfortunately report cards are due on the 9th, so we're going to have to do a lot of assessments instead. Cross your fingers that I survive!

I am doing my lesson plans today. One of the things we are going to be working on is nursery rhymes. This is because our Literacy 1st Assessment changed formats on one of the skills. Before, the students had to produce a rhyme in response to a word. For example, if I said "pan" they would say "can". Now, they have to finish a couplet. "I spotted an eagle with my eye, he was soaring in the ___". Quite a different skill! I'm hoping that my Nursery Rhyme Pack will help us with that!

We're also starting blends and digraphs this week - first up is digraphs, which means I can show this video again:

Ha! Hilarious! Gotta love H!

I have the digraphs from my Blends & Digraph pack ready to go:

In math we're still working on place value and addition. I'm working on a few new things for that so keep an eye peeled for a flash freebie or giveaway here or on my Facebook page soon! Oh! And the winning commenter for my Blends & Digraph pack was Roxanne Sterling. I hope you enjoy the activities in the pack Roxanne!