School Days, January 2011

It will soon be time to start school again.

We've had two weeks off for the holidays. We'd better get back at it.

I mean, there are things like adjectives and measurement and schwa and fluency and time to the half hour and volume and Accelerated Reader to learn. And about a million other things too.

My students will make more paper snowflakes and I'll hang them everywhere.

We'll be kind to our bird friends by crafting peanut butter pine cone birdseed hangables for our tree outside our window. Peace will be our theme for January. Of course.

What I often call Christmas Magic will have happened.  Many students might have matured greatly over the break. It almost seems silly to say it. But it happens and I love it.

The students in room 4 will be glad to see each other. They like school.

Well, all except that guy with the o. Ha. He needs a neck-up check-up maybe.

We'll write our first and last names on every paper beginning January 4. Beautifully, of course. D'Nealian...with curls. I'm a stickler. They know it's my job to see that they do their best.

The bar will be raised. And they'll leap over it.

The room will be rearranged to give us a new feeling for our new year.

We'll gather at the rug each day and say our date with an exaggerated eleven on 2011.

My students will move faster as a group. Things that took such a long time to do in September will now be a snap. And because of this, because they know me and what I expect and how the procedures work, we'll cover more territory.

January, 2011 to May, 2011. I'll complete my job of making second graders out of first graders. Fluent readers out of beginning readers. And we'll move on to a new school year with memories of these good times.