My room is thisclose to being finished, which is a good thing as I must tackle curriculum this week! I'll finish my room tomorrow morning, meet with the school's president to discuss some things, work on curriculum, conference with some parents and work on curriculum some more. Oh, yes, I need to work on the hall bulletin board and put bordette up on the cork strip.
I spent last year getting a feel for my room, figuring out how everything would be best situated. This year, I knew how I wanted my room set up and feel quite comfortable with the way it is currently organized. I moved from a HUGE room with TONS of storage to a teeny tiny room with little storage so I had to make some adjustments. I'm pretty pleased with the results.
We had our academy retreat this morning which served as a reminder of all we stand for and are about. We are a Sisters of Mercy school which is actually quite lovely so we focused on Catherine McAuley and all she worked so hard for, as well as revisiting the Mercy Core Values. It was a time of prayer, meditation and reflection as we focused on the coming school year. It's lovely to be with a group of people who share a common vision and I confess, I am finally anticipating the school year with excitement. :o)
Lola and I have grand plans for the fifth grade this year and I look forward to meeting my new kiddos and reacquainting myself with those who are returning to our school. My schedule is finally set(!!) and I'll have a wonderful block of time from 11:45-2:00 to write plans and grade papers. The big block is due to religion (I look forward to listening to Sr. Rose's lessons once again this year), lunch, recess, and then specials. I'll teach SS at the end of the day and I'm looking forward to a year during which I'm quite familiar with the curriculum and comfortable with it. :o)
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Lily is saying absolutely the most outrageously funny things these days and she says them so matter of factly it's all we can do to keep from laughing. She has also yet to have any sort of potty accident at Shari's house (knock on wood!) and seems to be fully potty trained (pee pee and poo poo) and is even going out in public in panties, no pull-ups! I'm so proud!
There were two dim spots to Lil's day today. First off, she decided she wanted the pink chair Greta was sitting in and promptly SHOVED her out of the seat!! Needless to say, Shari promptly placed her in time-out. Holy moly! Two year olds are tough!
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Getting back into the groove is tough. I'm still staing up late watching the Olympics and then it's up early in the morning. This getting up thing is rather stinky. Blah.
Today's Sparklies:
1. Retreat.
2. Being with my friends/family at work. It feels good to work with people I love and who care about me in return. I really do work in a wonderful place. :o)
3. Lil's funny, matter-of-fact conversation that is so utterly ridiculous. Ha!
4. Pandora radio Abba station. Good stuff, I tell ya!
5. My room is almost finished--woo hoo!
6. I've got plans to get back in the studio this weekend. Yay!
No milestones.
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Well, school work calls so I'm off. 'night! :o)
13 comments:
I LOVE Pandora radio! Sadly, it's blocked at my school as it uses too much bandwidth. I'm getting back into the swing of things here too. Kiddies show up on Monday--yikes! Good luck with finishing everything up.
Rachel,
It is so good to read the excitement in your words to get back to teaching. I just know this year is going to be such a blessing. Yeah, you are right, 2 year olds can be rough around the edges but by 3 years old, you can pretty much reason with them. Hey, she is potty trained so something has to take a back seat:) Can I borrow her to teach Isaac who is 3 and comes up with new excuses as to why it doesn't fit into his schedule yet? I am happy for you.
Love, Laurie in Ca.
I'm so glad your room is coming together and that you are looking forward to the year.
Yay for Lily and the potty!! Anwyn is still shwoing her independent streak as far as potty training goes.
I can fully sympathize with the getting up early malarkey - it's just grim.
I am glad you're looking forward to the school year. I am looking forward to mine, too!
Way to go Miss Lily on the potty training. That is such a huge relief to finally have them potty trained.
Glad your classroom is coming together just how you want and that you are now feeling ready and excited.
Sending hugs your way!!!
Hugs.
Yay on the room coming all together in spite of the limitations! I'm glad you are looking forward to the school year too - those kids will be SO lucky to have you as their teacher. I can still remember each and every one of my teachers that I ever had.
Big hugs!
I'm glad you're ready to get back. You sound so prepared! I can imagine the getting up early again really stinking after having the summer off. With an early bus we're up at 6 am again. (ugh.)
Yay on the potty training! I'm glad you're looking forward to the school year. I do agree with you that getting back into the swing of things is hard. Working full time and having a baby means almost zero me time. Here is hoping that things will eventually normalize!
We definitely have to make a point to get together soon and talk about all the stuff that I can't write on here. ;-)
regarding your having a hard time of late: i think you are like me, in that as painful as it is, you have the gift of being able to go fully into your grief and feel things that (although we may not always realize it) others cannot allow themselves to feel. the incredibly hard parts -- transforming her room, returning to the ocean, seeing the signs of her right after her passing, are full of life and connection as well as pain and loss. the unbearable parts are the ordinary days. i wish you joy, pain and gratitude in the mundane today.
Hey girlie...just checking in to say Hi. Things have been quite hectic and I have not been able to check in with my bloggy friends lately. I do love those pics of Hannah...wow!
I'll be back to "talk" some more later. Just sending you a hug.
I'm super impressed with how quickly your classroom came together! I taught first grade up until the year before last & this time of year is always a little sad for me. I look forward to your school updates! :o)
Sounds like you'r on your way to a great new school year! My fiance went to Mount Mercy College in Iowa so we know the Sisters of Mercy in our house! It was nice to hear a little more about their mission :o)
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