Schedule

This year, my schedule is very similar to last year.  Once again, I have 2 sections of 6th grade to teach, & I'm teaching Reading, Writing, Spelling, & Social Studies.  This is what my day looks like:
8:00-8:30              time in my room before kids arrive
8:30-8:50              homeroom
8:50-9:30              planning period
9:30-11:00            ELA with 1st class
11:00-11:45          Social Studies with 1st class
11:45-12:00          locker break & switch classes
12:00-12:30          ELA with 2nd class
12:30-12:45          recess duty :-(
12:45-1:15            my lunch
1:15-2:15              ELA with 2nd class
2:15-3:00              Social Studies with 2nd class
3:00-3:15              locker break
3:20                      dismissal

Before you even ask, YES, I am ready to eat my own arm by the time my lunch rolls around.  Last year, we had the first lunch, so I felt like I barely finished my breakfast by the time we headed to lunch at 11:00.  Now I need breakfast & a snack before I get to go to lunch...I guess you can't win!  Also, I essentially eat alone, which stinks.  There are a few people finishing up when I get down there, but for the most part, I'm alone.
So, that's my day.  Very exciting stuff!

Hello?

Well...it's been a while.  I've been less than successful in my attempts to keep up with this blog.  Life just got in the way.  The school year ended, & I never even looked at this blog.  Yikes.  But!  It's a new [school] year, & I'm determined to get better at this.

Full disclosure:  I may have said this last year at this time, too.

The  new school year has started, & after 3 days, I'm exhausted!  Imagine that.  It is 90+ degrees in my classroom, so the kids & I are definitely spent by the end of the day.  We've spent the first days of this year getting to know one another & familiarizing ourselves with 6th grade policies, procedures, & general *life*.  This year I have 2 sections of 6th grade to teach, so I'll spend the morning teaching Reading, Writing, Spelling, & Social Studies.  Then we'll switch around lunch time, & I'll do it all over again with the other class.

Things are going to be a bit different this year with the hybrid new & old standards (Common Core, anyone?!), so I suspect there'll be an interesting learning curve for all of us throughout the year.  My Social Studies standards have changed considerably, too, so it's an understatement to say that I'm mildly overwhelmed.  I'm hoping to explore some new resources & adapt my way of teaching so my students are really ready to change their way thinking!  Sounds easy, right?

One really fun thing that I'm excited about for this school year?  My son (3.5 years old) will be attending the Montessori preschool in my building, so he'll be with me every morning.  I can't wait to look out my classroom window to see him playing with his classmates on the playground!