Smiles and Sunshine: Freedom!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Freedom!

Freedom!

I made it through Parent-Teacher Conferences, and two workshops today to see the light at the end of the tunnel...freedom for 5 days! I love my kids dearly, but sometimes a girl just needs a break :)

The workshops today were actually very good. The first one was on using assessment in our literacy program, and I learned some new things that hadn't been mentioned previously or I had figured out earlier (for example, I learned that the end of theme test had open response questions...they were in a different place in the assessment book and not anywhere close to the actual test which is why I hadn't found them before now)

The next workshop I had was supposed to be on RTI/Inclusion, but wound up focusing almost exclusively on inclusion, and presumed competence of students, along with the use of assistive technologies and how to help the non-verbal students. I was VERY interesting, and the presenter had a lot of videos to share, as well as being a funny guy who kept us all awake :)

While he was talking, to keep myself busy, I was working on I can statements for Common Core Writing for my 4th graders (I know, I know...bad teacher! But there were other people knitting in the audience so I didn't feel as bad). I'm working on typing them up now and hope to have them ready for you soon.

I hope to get a lot accomplished this break, and maybe by putting it on here, I'll get some of it accomplished :)

Besides lots of sleep, I hope to finish all my 4th grade I can statements with the Common Core. I want to put together a unit on Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief for my two friends who will be reading after break. I would like to type up Math vocabulary for my Word Wall (a suggestion from my principal), as well as work on my Math block and how to make the teaching more rigorous. I also need to work on States of Matter, which I am teaching come Monday.

A pretty hefty list! We'll see how much of it I actually get done :)

Today's Outfit: