The New Year

I just love that teachers get two times a year for New Year's Resolutions! Of course, there's January, when the rest of the world get to make them, but just for us in the education world, we can also make them in September.  I am going to try hard this school year to be present--to do one thing at a time.  I so often try to squeeze in something else when I should just be focused on one thing.  That's my goal.  The start of the school year is always hectic, but it's been good this year.  I am feeling organized and fairly on-top of things in my library world.

Readers of this blog know that the main reason I love teaching is because I can laugh with the kids every day.  OK, sometimes I laugh at them, but mostly it's with them.  This past week, our first week with students, all teachers had to eat with their class in the cafeteria.  The specialists were visible down there, too, as it should be.  I ate with a group of kindergartners on the first day, and when I sat down next to this little boy, he looked me up and down and said, "Are you a kid?"  HA!! I just love the cluelessness of these kindergartners!! Just too cute!

This year, for the first time, my principal asked for a copy of my pacing guide add to our staff shared drive.  Usually, I make one, but just for myself, as I go.  Since my lessons are always based off what's going on in the classrooms, my map depends on the classroom activities.  But whatever...I pretty much know when the teachers are teaching what, so I've been working on that for the past week.  Non-stop!! I want it to be great, so the details are taking me a lot of time.  I've been going through the state curriculum and aligning each lesson to it (no Common Core for us!) carefully.