So glad that next week is another short one

Yesterday I got three birthday cards in the mail! So neat. Thanks again, friends and family.

Today is Friday. It was okay, actually.

Fridays are test prep. So, the classes end up being pretty manageable, because they have to shut up and do the test questions. I felt pretty inspired about what to do after that, though.

I finally opened up the creative writing toys I got--two spinners, one that says 'who and what,' another says 'where and when.' So the kids spun and then wrote a story that included those elements. A few kids shared what they wrote, and honestly, I was really impressed. They were really creative and interesting. Class A had to combine a child moving, an adult who finds a treasure map, and a rock cave on the side of a mountain at noon. Class C had to combine a baseball player who lost a lucky mitt, a king who lost all his riches, and a stadium in the evening. Lots of fun. I think I'll do this every Friday for writer's workshop. There's no real other time for straight creative writing. That way, as I teach more strategies about writing, their stories should get more interesting.

I finished getting my bulletin board up. It didn't seem like a big deal. I think that's because I had a pretty solid plan well ahead of time and implemented it fairly well also. It doesn't look too fascinating (not that it's as plain as last time), but I'm really proud of the kids' work. I can't wait for my colleagues and superiors to read it.

I got my next week figured out, at least for writer's workshops. Monday: context clues, Tuesday: homophone (should I pronounce that like 'homonym' or like 'homophobe'?) sentence study, Wednesday: um...oh, right, a game: Apples to Apples (need to work on making that an actual "lesson" though). Thursday we're off school, wahoo! And Friday will be test prep. For reader's workshop, I might start doing procedural lessons for literature circles that will start in three weeks. Possibly this week will be just more literary devices, while I get the literature circle stuff together. Gotta make copies and get more materials.

This weekend will be busy. I'd like to be a little social, but I'm starting to just have trouble reaching out. Perhaps I am better off staying in this little nest of messy loser life.

You know what bugs me? Watching America's Next Top Model (yeah, I know, shut up--I have no life, remember? Nothing else is on Wednesday nights), where these girls whine about haaard it is to pose for a good picture. Boo fucking hoo. Poor, poor, pretty girls, with your terribly hard lives. Not even like what I'm doing now is the hardest thing in the universe, but jesus, talk about a tough time. Trying to keep sixth graders in line, entertained, and educated? God, this year seems like it will never, ever end. Who will I be in June? Will my students all have passed the sixth grade, or failed? Will any of them have improved at all? Will I be insane and embittered?