Positive Perspective

The moral in my county is low- 90 layoffs from budget cuts.  The moral at my school is low- we have a new very strict evaluation system that everyone is doing poorly on.  As we face a trying time in modern education, Rowdy in First asked everyone to post something positive today.
 So here's to the new and exciting things going on in my world:

First off, my diploma arrived today!  It's good to see it in writing!

Friday we made homemade apple sauce in class.  Ohmyword ya'll... it's the coolest thing ever.  I had a blast, the kiddos LOVED it and it was a great learning experience.  To do it, get one of these super amazing apple corer/peeler/slicer machines.  Have the kids crank 20 apples through the machine, dump them in a crockpot, add some brown sugar and cinnamon and wait a few hours!  Voila!  Homemade applesauce!  Have some volunteers helping out this day.  :)

Ok, this is a biggie:

I have been doing all the parts of the daily five, but I had a center management board drawn on my board.  Today the students picked their own rotations and buddies for the first time.  They were SO EXCITED and SO well-behaved and on-task today!   I've got to be honest... I've been very anxious about putting that last major component in with my group this year.  They wowed me today.

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Tag Photo

My adorable little sister went through sorority recruitment this week.  I had a great time reliving my college days vicariously talking with her every night.  I'm an ADPi, and she pledged Chi-O.  I'm ok with that- I always liked Chi-O girls.  Glad she is settling into college and made it happily through recruitment.  

I feel like my class is really getting into a groove.  They walk down the hallway quietly in a line.  We have class bathroom breaks down to an art.  I see them using amazing "math talk" during rotations and their buddy reading is awesome.  It's not perfect, and we can definitely have our days, but I'm lovin' my little guys.  And that's what it's all about. (you know, and the hokey pokey.)

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