CRCT Week

This week was one of those weeks in life that was the best and the worst, which is my justification for not writing more :) So, here's the rundown!

Monday:
Best - We had sausage rolls, grapes, & Caprisuns for breakfast - yum! We also played baseball on the field. Things like this make me feel like I'm at home in my skin and my job. I'm not sure anything makes me smile bigger.

Worst - Took reading portion of CRCT... OMG! It seemed like we were pulling teeth. There is nothing like forcing 17 kids to sit quietly for two hours, no restroom break to take a ridiculous test. I mean, "REALLY!" Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that the test only shows if a child tests well.

Tuesday:
Best - Similar to Monday... breakfast casserole... mmmm!!!! With a side of "Horton Hears a Who" and another round of baseball. Also, had my TOTY ceremony. It was amazing! I believe there is something special about spending several hours in a room full of people that are as passionate as I am when it comes to teaching. For once, I didn't feel surrounded by the 90/10 ratio (90% negative/10% positive).

Worst - 1 Guess... That's right! Language Arts portion of CRCT! Do you know how difficult it is to watch kids miss questions and KNOW they should know the answer! AAAAHHHH! That is the most difficult thing in the world!

Wednesday:
Best - Last day of CRCT! We had these things called breakfast rolls this a.m. OMG! Amazing! I have got to make them in the next week or two... I may even make them for my class at the end of the school year. We also had grapes, Caprisuns, and finished up with some more "Horton Hears a Who" and some more baseball.

Worst - Watching some of my kids forget what a rectangle looks like! I mean, really? Pre-K! I think we officially hit testing burnout! This is why I find it ridiculous that some idiot thinks 6 and 7 year olds should be able to test two to three hours a day, three days in a row. Duh!

Thursday:
Best - Where do I start? Today was all about playing games! I believe it was probably the BEST day I've ever had with any class I've taught! We had an awesome time, especially hooking the Wii into the Promethean board. We took turns playing MarioKart for half the day. We also had cereal & grapes for breakfast :)

Worst - I kind of told my kids if any of them beat me at MarioKart, then I would get ice cream for the entire class... believe it or not, two kids beat me! Oh! and I didn't lose on purpose! So, you guessed it... I owe ice cream to the whole class (LOL).

Friday:
Best - We started our day off with donuts, had popcicles after lunch, and had pizza mid-afternoon. However, the best part was Club Wheeler after school. I had eight kids hang out and play the Wii, eat leftover pizza, donuts, and popcorn until around 5. I don't know why, but it definitely helped me push past all the BLAH! stuff going on in my life.

Worst - Realizing that on Monday, we will be back to normal. We won't be playing so much because we will need to get back on a routine.

Books

Today we read "The Cow that Laid an Egg". My kids LOVED this book. It was very cute and silly. They said that the book was very interesting with a lot of details and colorful pictures. I liked it because it was cute, great illustrations, but it was also not extremely lengthy. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great book to read.

Here is what one of my kids wrote in their journal.

April 16, 2009 - Today is warm. We read "The Cow Laid an Egg". It has a lot of Imagion in it and it is funny. There are 5 other cows, Marjorie, chickens, and an egg. It was a grate story beacase it was funny! I liked it beacase it had a lot of detil.

Candy + Top 3 Moments

Last night, while at Target, I discovered Easter candy was 50% off. I am sure that the older ladies back near the candy thought I was odd, but I didn't really care. Candy on sale can be gold for a teacher, especially a teacher that gives out jelly beans & M&M's for almost anything! I loaded up my cart with six or seven bags of jelly beans & M&M's and called it a night!

This morning when my kids arrived, I asked them what they wanted me to put in our bubble gum machine - jelly beans or M&M's. The consensus was jelly beans, that is until several children asked why they should get their agendas signed if they are getting candy they hate. So, I decided that we would put M&M's in the bubble gum machine & we would win jelly beans for answering CRCT questions correctly. That was just the beginning of our morning!

Around 8:45, my students had visitors. A second grade class decided to join us for CRCT practice. I was so proud of my little guys! They answered the first grade questions and the second grade questions with ease. On top of that, we quit doing CRCT practice and decided to do our journal writing for the day. If you had walked into my classroom, you would have never guessed there were two classes in the room. The second grade class continued to do OAS on the Activboard and my class easily transitioned into their journals. I have tons of funny stories about my kids, but lately I am so proud of them that I find myself wanting to focus more on their sweet hearts more than the funny comments they make.

However, they have come up with several funny things over the past few weeks so here's a list of the Top Three Moments for the past few weeks.