I cannot believe we are officially in the second part of the school year.  Blows. My. Mind.  In a good way, of course.  Last year, I remember counting down the seconds until the school day would end or hastily marking off days on my calendar anxiously awaiting my next day off.  It didn’t help that we didn’t have a stitch of snow last year, and our five built-in days just meant five more extra working days.  Eh. This year is different.  I can’t believe that I’ve already completed four whole months of school and that the 100th day is on the horizon!  Stop the world!  That’s twelve kinds of crazy!  My husband would attest – I am a different girl this year.  A better mom.  A better wife.  A better teacher.  It’s awesome. My job is completely different, too.  Here’s a look at my daily schedule in the classroom as a Title I teacher… My daily schedule in the classroom actually starts this week!  Prior to Christmas Break, I did three RTI groups – 5th grade and 3rd grade math, plus my kindergarteners – each for 30 minutes.  I always feel like I am running around the school!  System 44 is new to me.  I’m actually being trained Tuesday.  From what I’ve read and observed, it’s a phonics intervention program used with 3rd-5th graders who lack basic phonics knowledge.  I’ll be able to give you a better idea of it after my training and when I’ve had a chance to work with the kiddos.  In other news, Winter DIBELS benchmark is getting ready to take over my life.  Our district does not mandate that we complete it within a certain time frame, so our school’s decision was that I would begin the winter benchmark in January.  ALONE!  We want our teachers to have as much instructional time with their students as possible, so it was decided that teachers will no longer be responsible for DIBELing their classes. I will DIBEL the bottom 40% of students (based on MAP testing) in grades K-3.  I do a few 4th and 5th graders, too, depending on what interventions they’re involved in.  However, it all comes down to this: A WHOLE LOT OF KIDS TO DIBEL!  Fortunately, we currently DIBEL using iPads, which makes it really easy to not only give the assessment, but also to sync it to the system.  I’ll probably finish sometime in February 😛  I’m going cross-eyed just thinking about it! My day is super flexible, which is really great.  It’s also ever-changing.  I just kind of go with the flow and meet whatever needs need to be met – meeting with teachers, meeting with our administrators, reworking scheduling, watching over RTI, moderating our Reading Intervention program, etc.  I also do a LOT of data collection, organization, and analysis.  More than I EVER thought I would do!  Not gonna lie…I kinda like it 🙂 What do I miss the most?  All the fun seasonal activities.  And, teaching reading.  I LOVE teaching reading.  And, teaching math.  I might miss that a little, too.   If I go back to the classroom, it will be as a kindergarten teacher.  I realized this year just how much I miss those precious little kinder kids!  They’re just little sponges and their growth is palpable.  I love them! Fortunately, I’m getting to teach literacy to my kindergarten RTI group.  And, Becks.  He helps fill my need and fuel my creativity 🙂  Just about sent me over the moon when he signed for his very first library card today.

Well, the weekend is just about over and I have a crazy week ahead!  Catch up with our family over at www.babblingabby.blogspot.com 🙂