Saturday, January 7, 2017

Celebrate 1: The Start of a New Year

Discover. Play. Build.


Tuesday was an ice day.  And while I now hate the ice and the teeny tiny shuffling steps across it to get from the parking lot to the school, I really needed Tuesday at home.

The boys and their families left from our family Christmas celebration about noon on Sunday. Greg and I did a quick sweep through the house and did a "five minute pick-up". But we were exhausted. Cleaning would wait. We watched basketball instead :) 

I though I would clean on Monday and take down the decorations. But, the football game was on and we started watching The Crown" on Netflix. Oh, is it a good one (the show, NOT the football game). So again, I procrastinated taking down decorations and cleaning. The weekend was coming. I would do it then.

Freezing rain overnight saved the day. Finally, Tuesday, with no school, no school work, I put everything away. And we are back to "normal".

Wednesday was the first day of classes and the start of new classes. It was short because we had a 2 hour late start, but that was OK. It was just good to get back into the routine of school. I missed my kids :)  I also have an education student with me during the month of January from a nearby college. It was a hectic week for him to start, but we'll get ourselves back on track Monday.

A couple of moments stand out for me this week. 
  • Two of my girls from last semester's College Prep Lit class showed up the second day of this semester. They missed our discussions and books. I invited them back anytime they wanted to come and join in. 
  • I teach Contemporary Lit also this semester. Current or fairly current YA Lit. We start with a class novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I love this book. We start with just flipping through the book. What do you notice? And then, I read the first chapter out loud and we talk about Junior. Kids got it right away. "He's so smart!" They were so excited, I read the second chapter out loud also. 
  • The next day, a student came in saying, "I'm sorry Mrs. Day. I had to read ahead."  I laughed. She wasn't the only one. A "non-reader" boy was about half way through the book. Two other girls read the whole book! They all loved it.  I may have to adjust some plans, but I got what I wanted. Kids are reading.
There were more celebrations (I keep a post-it in my bullet journal for writing down celebrations), but these were my favorites. And I'm writing more...so there's that :)



10 comments:

  1. Getting back to "normal" is always such a comfort for me too! I love how you are keeping a list of celebrations in your bullet journal. Great idea! I may steal it!

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  2. Love that those students came back for "more", not surprised! And love about The Absolutely True Diary. I held several groups with it in the past-awesome for grand conversations. I'm glad to hear more from you, keep writing!

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  3. We're watching The Crown too. But it's been awhile since we've made time for an episode. Maybe today! I love your celebrations of books, students, and even a snow day. Happy Saturday!

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  4. Sometimes all you need is one extra day to get things in order. It doesn't happen often when the day comes along. I was lucky to have my winter holiday continue this week. Still could use one more day. ;)

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  5. I am always thankful for the unplanned ice days! Have you ever read Crooked River? It is a thoughtful two part chapter book that really touched me about the plight of Native Americans.

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  6. I think we could always use "one more day." :) Such a great week you had, Deb! I love that you had visitors from your last class and that your current class is full of students who can't help but getting lost in a good book. Hope next week is full of many more celebrations you can record in your bullet journal. Happy new year to you!

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  7. I just bought that book with a B&N gift card. I haven't started yet, but now I want to. The cold didn't reach us until today, Saturday, so no ice day for us. I love your laid back it'll-get-done-eventually attitude.

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  8. We had a 2-hour delay in a short week too, and that made it a little easier to get movin'. I read True Diary right before Christmas and loved it! I am not sure my 6th graders need to read it so I have not put it in my library. Happy Weekend! (And thanks for the compliment on my blog!)

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  9. Deb, I am still here in the middle of the winter storm trying to not get overwhelmed with Christmas decoration clean-up. It's tough going since I have a sore throat infection and my son came down with a whopping cold that seems to made its way to me now. So I think my best plan is to carry a it will get done attitude so that I can sneak in some of my favorite things to do.

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  10. We are in the midst of a new winter storm. Woke up to a text canceling my flight for tomorrow morning. I must say, it felt good to re-book for Tues morning. Perhaps I'll be ready by then "to get back into the routine" ... maybe.

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