TGIF

Today a great day. My students, for the most part, didn't have a major meltdowns and therefore I was able to reward them with popcorn for their good behavior. They seem to be practicing more of the "Let's put others first" and "Let's not throw things or hit others when we are upset" rules. I can see more breakdowns and meltdowns in the future, but at least I got to relax a little today. It does help that it's a half day and the fact that I have now been given permission along with the materials to teach my L2 ( language 2) learners their letters and sounds. The materials came in today and I found out that I get a possible additional aide in the classroom next week.  I am SO grateful that I have a team of teachers that are stepping in and reworking their schedules to get my students as many opportunities to get help as possible.
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Getting work down for my course and benchmarks completed for my 3rd/4th graders has been a trip this week. I struggle with finding time to rest and complete what is required of me in and out of the classroom, but it's slowly but surely getting done. I am learning quite a bit about my students and how they learn a new target language right now, and I am seeing how important it is to not put the same amount of pressure on my bilingual students as I would a monolingual student. Being able to share that with Dawne has been good in that we are both looking for ways to help our students grow, but keeping in mind that we need to set goals for them that are realistic.
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It was interesting this week- probably one of my hardest weeks so far, to come near a complete meltdown, only to be encourage by those that are around me, and my parents at home. Asking for strength to make it through the day is common practice, and reading about others and how they cope is important to. I loved reading this from one of my favorite bloggers this morning
http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2013/09/the-klutziest-morning-of-my-life/ and being reminded that there is always an opposing force. I look forward to when things calm down a little more and I can enjoy being in the presence of my students. I am getting geared up for Fall Festival among other fun events and it's my hope that they get in the spirit of doing things for fun, too. My favorite thing to do is put together goody bags for them and create fun crafts.

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Freezing cold. As I sit here I can here the wind and think to myself....man- it's going to be a cold winter. Thankfully I was able to support my school and by some warm comfy gear this week. I have been looking forward to wearing the school colors for quite sometime now.

On my walk today with Dawne and Bogart (it's nice to have someone to walk and talk with- loved walking with Andrea last year and love walking with Dawned this year) I noticed how seriously TALL the grass was. Well, that and the fact that there is snow that is quite visible on the hills now. The taller the grass, the harsher the winter.

Now I am off to enjoy my warm bed and a good night's rest. This weekend will consist of planning, cleaning out my classroom, reading, reading, reading, and hopefully by Sunday, time to rest:)