Day after

What a day.

Everyone was completely zonked.  Including all the teachers.  You could see on everyone's face how tired and worn out we felt.  Whew! 

Conferences weren't nearly as bad as I thought they'd be.  I found out that one of my students doesn't like to write, so she'll drag her feet on writing anything.  That was a great revelation for me.  I wasn't finished until 8:00pm.  Long day at school.

Thankfully, the morning started out pretty easy.  The 5th graders were extra chatty, so we started up the old no talking game (which they take very seriously).  There were only a few slip-ups.  Everyone got lots done on their stories.  I helped a few more students flesh out their outlines.  I acted as secretary for the student who was digging in her heels on writing.  Ms. J and I figured out that she has so many ideas in her head, her hands and fingers can't keep up with them all, and her writing doesn't sound good.  So that's why she's not a fan of writing.  Our new plan is that Ms. J will type for her, and this student will dictate her story.  The only hurtle in this plan is the student herself; she might not want Ms. J to type.  We'll have to see once we run the plan by her.

The 7th and 8th graders earned a class reward for answering enough challenges of the week.  They voted earlier in the week on what to pick for a prize and they chose extra credit points over extra recess or a class movie.  Since they made such a good choice, I decided they earned the privilege of a movie in class.  Of course I controlled the movie choices: Aladdin or Mulan, both of which take place in the time period/corner of the world we're studying now.  I really wanted to watch Mulan because we are currently learning about the Mongols (and we just finished the Han Dynasty, the era in which Mulan supposedly took place). They chose Mulan and we watched about half of it.  They really liked it!  About five or six of them had never seen it before; I could tell they were really into the movie.  Everyone groaned when we had to stop.  Maybe we'll finish it up on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the day ended on a low note.  The 5th graders spent an hour taking a math test with Mr. E.  They came back moaning and groaning that it was really hard.  And then I had a science test waiting for them.  Lovely.  We did a brain break.  Then decided that wasn't enough to freshen them up.  Took a fifteen minute recess.  Then passed out the test.  Except I forgot to give them a little time to look over their books/notes.  They just had to jump right in.  Here I thought the test was going to be easy for them.  Only one out of five said it was pretty easy.  The rest didn't get it.  They didn't understand what the questions were asking.  I think their brains were just too tired.  So I sent them home with their science books and told them to look at it over the weekend.  We'll try again on Monday.  Sadly, that means we won't be able to start outer space until later next week.

One of my students is moving next week.  His last day is Thursday, so I'm trying to plan a send off for him too.  Basketball starts next week.  We have PTL next week.  So lots of stuff going on.  Hopefully my weekend is relaxing!