Here are my five random things for this week!
1. I have spent all week testing, testing, testing, except for Monday when I was home with a sick little girl. She was about as sick as my big toe, dancing and singing all day! I so wish I was that resilient when I am sick!
2. This year our school is trying something new for summer school. Instead of just the few weeks with 12 days, we are spreading it out over the course of six weeks over the summer, with two days each week. Since it is so different, I am writing the curriculum for summer school. Here is my workplace for that! Yes, it looks a little crazy, but it works!
3. Our summer school is going to have a very different approach. Like I said before, we will have six weeks of summer school with two days each. We are hoping this will prevent that "summer slide". One of the other really cool things we are going to try is to have 1:1 and small group sessions for reading with students who are really struggling. We are using various books and activities to fill up those 45 minute tutoring sessions. Kindergarteners will each have 20 minutes each because of their focusing abilities. I wanted something super fun for them to do for tracking the alphabet, so I made some summer themed ABC order puzzles. They are half price through the weekend! You can grab a sampling of them as a FREEBIE by clicking here or on the seahorses puzzle picture. The cover page takes you to the paid item in my TPT store, which also has the freebie as the preview file.
4. Back to testing! I had read an interesting article in Parents magazine about how children's brains work, especially during testing. It talked a lot about taking "brain breaks", which I have heard a lot about recently. In the article, it mentioned that for students to actually be more successful on tests, they should do exercise at least 10 minutes before the test. I told the staff about it, and some of them took it to heart! Today as I was getting ready to test, I saw that fourth grade was doing Zumba. I stopped by and did Zumba right there with them. Here I am doing Zumba! Don't you love my friend's face in the background?
5. I spent last night watching one of my favorite shows for its finale ~ The Office. I spent countless hours "catching up" while on the treadmill. I sure am going to miss the show and "Jim Halpert". Love that Angela came down the aisle to "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N Roses!
So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and link up! Then see what everyone else did this week!
That's what my table looks like! ;). Fun blog!
ReplyDeleteIt makes me feel better that I am not the only one with a table like that! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteAndrea
Sounds like your summer school program is going to be great! I love the exercise before testing. I can appreciate some good Zumba!
ReplyDeleteAmy
Eclectic Educating
At my school, we have summer school the three weeks before school starts. Summer slide is the worst! Good luck with everything!
ReplyDeleteJennifer
Mrs. Laffin's Laughings
We haven't offered summer school for years! So many of our at-risk kids need a safe place to be and to work on skills all summer so they don't lose ground. I like your schools plan. Your desk doesn't scare me! And I love what you wrote about your little girl. Sounds like she just needed a day with mom! Sweet! Thanks for making me laugh. I'm a new follower-a good sense of humor wins me over every time!
ReplyDeleteLOVED The Office finale. I cried and laughed my way through it! I like your schools new plan for summer school!
ReplyDeleteAmelia
wherethewildthingslearn
Haha! I love that they did Zumba to get ready for the test! I'm sure your summer school curriculum will be adorable.
ReplyDeleteDon't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late
Cute blog. Thanks for the freebie!
ReplyDeleteNicki
Mrs. Thigpen's Kindergarten