I Hate to Even Mention This...

I saw this on Facebook a few days ago.



I looked twice to see if was actually a photo of me! I've been exhausted for weeks. First, I had the crazy start-of-the-year school change, and all the recovery and unpacking and time-consuming work that went along with it. I'm absolutely still glad I did it, but I've not yet recovered in the sleep department.

Next, I've gotten seven new students since the first day of school. Seven. SEVEN. Did you hear me?!  They are lovely children, but they all have above-average needs. And they have nearly all been kindergartners. It has been very challenging. And disruptive. And time-consuming.

And a few other additions to my sleep deficit: professional development I was asked to provide for my staff last week (I was happy to do it, just not thrilled with the timing!), some parenting challenges, a two-week virus that wiped me out, too many meetings after school... you get the idea.

But now... I get a week off. How beautiful is that?

My district has a Fall Break.

Have you ever even heard of such a thing?! I never had. But I'm totally on board with the idea now!

I've worked every day since the start of school. Most weekend mornings, I've grabbed my laptop first thing, and spent at least a few hours planning, prepping, creating... Until this weekend, that is. I didn't do a shred of work yesterday! Omiword, it felt so good. I slept as late as I could, had a leisurely cup of coffee, went to my son's swim meet, lunch, errands... I bought new running shoes (I had been putting that one off due to lack of time!) and looked for a geocache with my daughter and watched some TV and truly enjoyed spending time with my family. OH. SO. GOOD.

Today I'm going to shop a little. I want to go to Athleta and Loft, among other places, and I'll probably stop by Nordstrom for a fresh pair of Toms. I'm going to run, and bake some pumpkin cookies, and clean out my closet, and wash the mountain that our laundry hamper has become. I'm going to lounge on the couch and watch some more TV. (I heard there was a Modern Family season premiere this week, but I missed it, so Hulu Plus, here I come!)

I might even get out my laptop and do a little work. I have some projects to work on (requests from TpT followers) and I want to organize my data binder and transfer all the little Post-It note information onto my calendar.  But I don't have to, and that makes it seem all the more appealing!

And I'm sorry if you're working this week. Here are a couple ideas for you!

Last week we did lots of Apple-Themed activities:

We read books about Johnny Appleseed, talked about the different between fact and opinion, and then students wrote.



Get that activity page HERE for free!

My kindergartners had a great time during math last week. They put number cards in order (1-12) and then build unifix cube towers to show each number. They worked in groups of two or three, and they loved doing this! I'll repeat this activity during math workshop time with different number cards and different manipulatives.



And I really like using this book with beginning readers. There is a poem for each sight word. I never go in the order in the book. I choose based on theme.



 

I started enlarging the pictures on each page, and letting student color them for our big, shared reading chart a couple of weeks ago. Six or eight students get that honor each week-- and they love it!  After we've practiced reading for a few days, I provide the students with their own copies. They trace the sight words, color, and add to their "Rhymes to Read" notebooks. But the chart stays up in the room.



Happy Sunday, Friends!