Back after Six Months!

 Wow, it's good to be back. I had no idea how much I missed my kiddos until I watched them playing at afternoon recess, laughing and talking as they hit a volleyball around a socially distanced circle. 

The days/weeks leading up to the first day of school were not fun. It's always an adjustment going from summer freedom to school structure, but with all the restrictions and regulations we have to follow this year with covid, it was even worse. 

But school went really well today! My six students are peachy and do what they're supposed to when they're supposed to. One boy had a little trouble staying in his area, but overall they did good. They wore their masks, used their hand sanitizer, raised their hands, asked good questions... It was great. We didn't finish everything I wanted to today, but I always overplan just in case. We can always do it tomorrow. 

Lunch was interesting. Our cook brought us our lunch in takeout containers on a cart. Milks were separate, plus there was disposable silverware. We all ate at our desks and got a break from wearing the masks. It takes some getting used to, wearing them all day. I've had to wear them at my summer jobs, but you can take the mask off when you're the only one around, so I haven't had to wear them for hours at a time. And I haven't had to constantly talk while wearing one. This morning we discussed building stamina in reading for Daily 5. At lunch when we could all take our masks off, one boy said, "Wow, I'm glad I can take my mask off. It's not that bad for a little while, but... Miss H! We need to build stamina with our masks too!" 😊 Proud teacher moment!

Since I was putting off school stuff for as long as possible, I only prepped my lessons for the first day. I always do a lesson plan outline for a week at a time the week prior to teaching it, then go through the plan over the weekend in detail to make sure all the pieces are ready to go. So I have my week plan, but I need to polish W-F's lessons. That's my priority for after school. Tonight I have a Homeownership Counseling webinar starting at 5:30, so I need to use my time at school wisely! I was good last night and went to bed on time. Let's see how long I can keep that up! I'm feeling positive.