Ready, Set, Go!!

Last night I got super prepared for everything in the morning, laid out all my clothes, and even went to bed early. But my body didn't want to sleep until 6 and was wide awake at 4:30 a.m. Yes, you are reading that correctly! After two weeks of sleeping in until at least 8 I was up before the crack of dawn. We had serious wind almost like hurricane wind and it woke me up. So since I couldn't sleep I began my first day back at school! It was the coldest day we've had in a long time 48 was the high. This is not normal for Florida so naturally everyone was bundled from head to toe!

When I got to school I was surprised at how much I had actually done before winter break! I had winter books out, my common board and essential questions done, all Christmas/holiday decorations put away, and homework already passed out! Whew what a relief! I got center ready for the week, sharpened new pencils, read neglected e-mails, and was completely ready to see my little ones!

Our password for the day was Happy New Year and let me tell you my kids were so happy to be back! They all had smiles on their faces and couldn't wait to tell me all about their holiday. But my kids were so great when it was time to settle down. They read, did their seat work, worked in centers nicely, and really impressed me!!

I had to start FAIR (Florida state test) testing my students today which is lengthy because I have to do each child individually on the computer. I tested my above grade level students first because I knew it would go by fast. Then I saw one of my students reading independently and trying so hard. I knew he had improved a lot since the beginning of the year and was interested in seeing how much. I was blown away! Such a great feeling! At the beginning of the year this student did not know all of his letters and sounds. He had to do the listening comprehension part of the test because he couldn't read. Now this student knows all his letters and sounds and read on grade level!! WHOA! We made his new goal together for fluency and I could tell he was so proud of himself because we had the same goal of accuracy for the whole last semester. :) I just had to brag on him because I'm so proud! He never gave up, kept trying, and reached his goal!

In other news in my class I found out one of my students passed the gifted test. I was pretty sure was gifted already and making accommodations but it was nice to have the results for her parents. Now she'll go to gifted class every Wednesday.

We're working on patterns which my kids are loving right now and I'll be working on some games for them to play during math centers. I don't seem to have too many. Speaking of my math centers they are a mess so I'm participating in Clutter-Free Classroom Project. I took pictures of my room today...you'll see the organized mess on Friday. Click here if you don't know what project I'm talking about:

Clutter-Free Classroom




Anyways I hope y'all had a great first day back and are staying warm. I'm debating between hot chocolate and the gym right now...I'll let you know which one wins out tomorrow.