Third Grade with Room Nine: The week back from Spring Break

Here's my biggest realization from this week...
No one ever tells you how hard it is to come back to school after spring break. Holy smokes! Whoa!!
After fall break, I missed my kiddos and was so excited to come back.
After Thanksgiving, I was excited.
After Christmas break, I was super excited to see the kids and get back to work.
After Spring break, I could barely get out of bed, and the kids weren't behaving badly, BUT THIS WEEK WAS HARD!

We are back in full swing though, and have lots to review before the state AIMS test in 3 weeks. We have 2 full weeks left to review and master some skills, before ANOTHER week of testing.

Our Galileo data is not horrible, but not great. We have shown a lot of growth since the pre-test, and that is great news. I love to see growth!

On Tuesday, we spent the WHOLE day taking the PARCC field test. It was long, it was miserable, and it was rough. But, we survived.

Wednesday, we reviewed reading skills in the morning, and then had a "Frozen" themed afternoon. We watched "Frozen", which is ADORABLE! We, then made some snow, and played with snow. We even had one group make their own "Olaf". :) It was fun to have a snow day in our classroom, even though it was 84 degrees outside! :)

Thursday, we did science in the afternoon, and played the game "Oh Deer". I Love that I was trained in "Project Wild" at EMU. It was fun to get out and play a game outside, but they also learned about how populations are affected when there are more deer than resources, or more resources than deer. It was great to teach, learn, and play at the same time! :)

Another thing I have learned this week, has nothing to do with the classroom. I have realize this week that it is very important to remember, as a teacher, that other teachers have different philosophies, beliefs, procedures, and feelings about how their classrooms should run. We all do things differently. We all handle things differently, and we all come from different backgrounds. We all have different experiences. BUT, we SHOULD all be here for the same reason. We should all be 100% focused on the kids, even if we go about things differently.
I think it is important to respect that we all do things differently, but if we are all focused on the kids, and their benefits, and growth, than we should only focus on us, and our classroom. We shouldn't be concerned about other classroom issues, unless we are asked for help, or unless it directly impacts us, our kids, or the school culture.

I am ALSO pledging to NEVER EVER EVER forget what it feels like to be a first year teacher in a new school, in a new district, and a new state. EVER. I will never treat a new teacher the way I have been treated by other teachers this school year.

Off my soapbox, now. :)

Here are some pictures from our week back!