Day 1

Tomorrow is the first day of school!  I'm actually so excited to start this year.  Of course I'm sad to say good-bye to summer, but since it's inevitable, I'd rather just get started!

We started this week with 2 inservice days:  Monday was full of meetings, looking at data, and reviewing last year's practices.  It was a celebration (kind of) because of the projected rating our school and district will receive on the state report card.  Unfortunately, official results are delayed because of some "questionable tactics" used by districts elsewhere in the state (not us!!).  Still, everyone is excited about the gains we've made in the past year and we know our kids did the best they could do.

Tuesday was a day for teachers to work in their rooms and get all the last minute details together.  One of my favorite parts of these pre-kid days is getting to go out to lunch with my colleagues.  Normally, our 28-minute lunch period doesn't allow for much more than inhaling some food and running back to the classroom, so it's nice to experience a "leisurely" hour-long lunch at a local restaurant.

We also had Meet the Teacher this afternoon.  By 6th grade, most of the kids and parents are so familiar with the school and procedures that they end up skipping this time.  But it's always fun to meet the students & parents who stop in, especially those students who are new to our building.  I like starting to put a face to the names on my list and familiarizing the parents with our 6th grade procedures.  Plus, it helps me to be sure that I'm prepared for the first day-materials, copies, classroom supplies, etc.  With attempting to implement my version of the Daily 5 (or 3, actually), I've made some changes to my room & procedures, which take some getting used to.  But really, it's one more reason that I'm excited to head back to school.  And with that, summer's done and we're off & running on our new school year!