Peek At My Week

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm heading into my ONLY 5-day week for the months of January and February. Our previous weeks included: 4 snow days, a teacher planning day, and one sick day for me, meaning I have not worked a full week since December. We get a 3-day weekend next weekend for President's Day, and then the last week of February includes a day of conferences and a teacher in-service. No complaints here!!

When I was in high school, I got up at 5:00 AM to get ready for school. It was oh-so-important to get to school early to get a good parking spot, and I also took a 0-hour photography class. I literally had to give myself a reason to get out of bed EVERY SINGLE MORNING. Whether it was a group project, cheer practice, or an important test, I had to find some way to convince myself to get up. 

On weeks like this, when I'm really dreading going to work (especially when Monday is starting with -15 degree temperatures), I still do this to myself. This week, my reasons for getting up are as follows:

In ELA, we are reading Maniac Magee. Not only do I LOVE this book, but I am working with my own small group, and those kiddos NEED me to be present every day to help them. 

In Science, as I mentioned in Friday's post, we're studying fish, which means we will be dissecting a perch some time this week. The girl I work with, J, gets super excited about dissections, and it's fun to watch her get into it! She is so willing to get involved with every aspect, including touching our specimens without gloves. I can't wait to watch her pop out a perch eye! haha

Our Design & Modeling class has been H.A.R.D. for our SPED kiddos. Have I mentioned that there are 6 - yes, 6 - teaching assistants in this class? More than 40% of the class is SPED, and 5 of them are literally incapable of following any part of the curriculum. My coworker and I decided last week that we'd had enough. With permission from the classroom teacher, we've decided to pull those 5 kids each day and build 3-D puzzles and other projects from these old kits he had from way back when. I no longer dread the class each day. J and I are going to finish her Carousel tomorrow and then start on her 3-D puzzle of a helicopter!

I'm also really excited to be helping out my girl, Kelly, who is also throwing a huge giveaway for meeting her 300-follower milestone. I've donated my Cupid Shuffle Close Reading & Scoot Activity, which is a perfect ELA activity for Valentine's Day on Friday! Click on the image below to figure out how to win one of two huge prize packs, each including $25 TPT gift cards!