It's the Final Countdown. Duh nuh nuh nuhhhh.

Hey, remember me? I hope you sung my post's title.

This last month has been insane.

I have a few friends who were major behavior problems in the beginning/middle of the year. We were finally getting to a place where they weren't an issue everyday. But, summer has gone to their brain. So now, I'm back to the 5-6 kids who make my day nearly impossible. I changed seats again because everyone is arguing. Ugh!

State testing is over. I'm very pleased with how my kids did. After the first round, I had a handful of kids who needed to be remediated in reading and another handful in math. I had a few who "needed" remediation pass the test the second time around. I saw that they "need" it because they were totally capable of passing the first time, but didn't take their time and really focus. So, with that being said, I am totally for testing a 4th time. Although, it really did frustrate the lower level kids when a 1 or 2 popped up again. Definitely pros and cons for each.

OH! And I got a "new" student. With only 10 days of school left. I say "new" because he's not really new. He was in my class for the first two weeks of school, then moved out of state. Well he's back. And he is so much lower that my other kids. I feel so awful about the situation. 10 days isn't enough to get him up to speed. I wish I could do more.

As if our plates aren't full enough in 3rd grade at my school, we are expected to put on a third grade musical. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE musicals. I love teaching kids a routine and all of that. I was in musicals/plays in high school and college. But we just don't have the time this year. With the 4th DCAS opportunity, we needed to be remediating up until yesterday.

[No time for musical funny business]

So, our team tried to make it easier on ourselves. We decided to do a broadway medley instead of purchased and performing a "Broadway Jr." show. Each of us picked a different broadway song. My class is doing "Its a Hard-Knocked Life". They are so stinkin' cute. The only thing is, they do it SO well when we're in the classroom, then kinda lose it when we're practicing on the stage. Hopefully we get it together by Friday.

On the same note, another class is doing Seasons of Love, and I kinda just wanna go up there and sing the solo. I'm obviously living vicariously through these kids haha.

Oh, so I should probably touch on at least something we're doing academically. Well research is one of my favorite things to teach! I've come up with my own ideas and weaved them together with Ms. Bongers from Life in 4B. If you teach literacy to 3-4-5 graders, you should really check out what she does. I adore how she uses mentor texts and journaling. I wish I were in her class! Go check her out!

Because its the end of the year, ya know I need a craft to go along with this. So I purchased this Animal Reseach packet from Buzzing about Second Grade. Click the link, couldn't find the button! It comes with a whole bunch of things that were a little two simple for my kiddos this year, but will work perfectly next year when I'm in an inclusion classroom. So for this year, we are just using the safari guide template! I will post pictures when we're finished!

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend, if you're still in school. 8 days left for me. 4 days this coming week and 4 days the next. Wish me luck! You probably won't hear from me until all my little chickens leave the coop. This farmer is burnt out!