The first week of school is behind us. I am exhausted! This morning, I slept until 9, stayed in bed until 1, ate lunch, took a two hour nap, and finally got out of bed for the late afternoon and evening! I am exhausted!
There is always so much to do at the beginning of school. This is when you set the tone for the whole year. I hope that I conveyed that we will work hard, follow all rules and have a good time while we learn. We had to practice some procedures and standards for success a few times, and I know we will need practice more. Practicing is the only way for them to truly understand what you expect!
The kid have enjoyed learning about being bucket fillers. Even in the 8th grade, the kids like to know that they can do good things for each other. I have so many come up to let me know about things they have done to fill a bucket. I know that people shouldn't need to publicize the good things are doing; they should be noticed. With kids, they long for the sens of knowing that they have done something good and that someone knows about it. Encourage them to continue to fill the buckets of everyone around them. When they are filling someone else's bucket, they are also filling their own.
The kids are divided into their houses and they are creating chants,songs,dance, etc for their house. I have enjoyed watching the ideas come to life. They are keeping up with their points, so hopefully the spirit of competition will fuel them to push themselves.
The wiki is updated, and the kids have been created as users. This week, they should all start posting and answering the questions. We will start using the digital project menu I created for proportions this week, as well. Last year, the studens liked the idea of getting to choose what they got to do.
The classes have started working on creating the facebook questions. I am letting each house design a basic question. The house with the best question will receive points. We will tweak the question to fit the class as a whole and then we will post it. I want our questions to be posted on facebook this week, so we can start to see what happens.
I have parents and a few students who signed up to receive text message alerts, using remind101.com. I am excited about using this tool this year. As a parent, I think this communication will be a great tool.
Based on the work that was supposed to be turned in Friday, it looks as though I will have about 12 people in lunch detention Tuesday. That is not too bad, but the number definitely needs to come down! On Tuesday, the kids will get to play Homeworkopoly if they had their work turned in. I am hoping the winning of prizes will push the students to want to turn in their work. If not, they will eat lunch with me until I get it!
Well after a long but promising week, I am still tired. All this resting today is still not enough. I am glad we started the year off with a three day weekend. I know next week will continue to be great and busy, but hopefully I will be a little more prepared with rest.
I hope the beginning of school has been great for you. Be firm, teach the kids, and build the relationships they will need to successful. Enjoy the long weekend and be ready to hit the week running next week!
Happy resting!!
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