Routines

I forgot what it was like to get up at 5:00 in the morning! Man, I'm tired this week! My normal morning routine is to get up at five, make coffee and iron clothes (yes, I do it every day...something about crisp clothes I like). Then, I exercise. My exercise routine usually consists of 3 days of power walking on the treadmill and 3 days of a Christian alternative to yoga routines. I do not believe in real yoga, that's why the alternative yoga. Praise Moves is set to scripture and music (http://praisemoves.com/). This helps me to include worship in my morning routine. I also listen to the Bible on my MP3 player on my power walking days. After this, I shower and get ready for work. I'm usually out of the house and on my way by 7:00.


I like to get to my classroom early, so that I have a little time to get my thoughts and last minute details together before I see students. I didn't see any students this week until Thursday and Friday. Many special education students don't see students at all the first week or two. This gives the students time to acclimate to their general education classroom. However, on my campus, the teachers begin to teach later in the first week. So, I try to have the Resource room schedule figured out by then and do a trial run for a couple of days. If necessary, I tweak the schedule to work for them and me.

I always begin the year with a screening of my students' abilities to see what they have retained over the summer. This also helps if I have new students as I do this year. So far, I have gained three new students from various school districts in the area. I like the familiarity of having my students from year to year, but it is nice to have new students to add spice to our classroom. One of my new students may really add spice this year...he has a behavior intervention plan. So far, so good. It's amazing how some students can do a complete turnaround when in a different environment and working with different teachers. I really hope we can make a difference for this young fellow before the year is over. He must be the reason God had me return to this classroom this year.

Today, Saturday, I will spend much time working on lesson plans for the next week or two. I really want to put some thought into my new writing program. I attended the East Texas Writing Project this summer and have a wealth of ideas to use. I hope everyone has a wonderful, restful weekend!


"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."
---Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), 30th President of the United States

Teacher Week

The infamous "back-to-school" week has been whipped! Guess what? I'm tired and it was only a four-day work week. It takes us a little while to get back in the groove of the daily schedule. Here's how the week went down this week...

Tuesday - first day back; we spent this day in district staff development sessions. There were some very good sessions on teaching and curriculum.
Wednesday - first day back on campus; the morning began with breakfast from our administrative staff. Then we listened to updates and necessities for the coming year all morning. In the afternoon, we worked in our classrooms getting bulletin boards decorated, organizing, and preparing for the students' return.
Thursday - worked on completing classroom decor and attended a meeting on teaching English Language Learners. In the evening, came back to meet students and parents at "Meet the Teacher" night.
Friday - our day began with a multi-district convocation with a speaker, Billy Riggs, a "Dis" Illusionist. He reminded us that we are valuable as teachers and that we could make the difference in one student's entire life outcome by how we teach and care for them. We finished our day with more work in the classroom.

My motto for this year: "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." ---John Wooden (1910-?), American basketball coach

Monday, here we come! Ready for a brand new year to give out of myself!