Is it Friday yet???
LOL, I am so exhausted, it's not funny. Although, I must say day 2 ran much more smoothly than day 3. Tomorrow is an accelerated day, and students get out an hour early. I'm going to cherish that extra hour because I don't know how else I'm going to be able to keep up with all the grading and stuff. It's crazy. Tomorrow, my students start diagnostic testing, so I'll be able to sit a little bit more and talk a lot less! I have to retrain myself to stand for long periods of time.
Anyway, I got to talk with my principal for a few minutes this morning during planning. He mentioned again how extremely impressed he was with my committee's presentation last Friday. I can't really take a lot of credit because all I did was organize the planning meeting. Everyone else put it together. However, it is nice to be complimented so much! For those wondering, I am the head of committee called the Behavior Leadership Team. We spend time evaluating data on discipline referrals, organizing staff development on behavior strategies, and encouraging positive interactions and attitudes on campus. This is my first year on the committe, and with no one stepping up to run it, well, I jumped right in! On Friday, we did a power point presentation celebrating all the postive stuff on our campus and pointing out the challenges we still need to tackle like getting our referral count down and increasing positive student/teacher interactions. I have to say that I'm pleased to see that teachers are standing outside their doors between classes and walking up to the bus loop and parent pick up with the students at the end of the day. It's made a serious difference in the amount of kids wandering after the bells or after school. Administrative Tardy Sweeps start Thursday, and I warned all my students that the consequences are tougher this year. They get 2 warnings and any time after that it's an extended detention. We mean business this year, and we need to get these kids to class on time.
Sorry...I was rambling a bit. Overall, I have a decent group of kids. There are a couple that are going to be challenging academically and behaviorally, but we have lots of safeguards in place. I already have to check on paperwork for a kid who should be in the low-function program rather than resource. He's just everywhere! Good kid, but is quite obviously in the wrong placement. Thank goodness I have help during the class period in which I have this kid, or I'd never get started on time! 7th period is my smallest class, I only have 4. I hope it stays that way because the girl that came in today is going to require a lot of patience. She is not the nicest person in the world. I gave them 5 minutes at the end of class to talk, and the first thing she did was gossip about another student. Well, I put an end to that real quick. She didn't like me much after that, but I will not allow that to go on my classroom. It causes too many issues outside of class. I basically told her that if she cannot find an appropriate topic of conversation, she will not be allowed to talk in my room. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Well, that's all. I think. I'm sure I could write more, but I don't want to bore anyone. Happy Reading!