Tuesday

So...I realized yesterday afternoon and then , again, this morning that my reading class has A LOT of work to complete before Thanksgiving Break!! Therefore, this morning, we read an article about the president pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey but did not do any type of comprehension or summary lesson...we actually read it for fun!!! (Shhh...don't tell anyone!)

While I met with reading groups the students completed their summary from yesterday's article. They also worked on the follow up comprehension worksheet. Most importantly, they finished revising their writing piece and began their final draft. They were very busy...well, most of them...unfortunately, some did not heed my warnings and rushed through their work...UGH!

Crabs: We reviewed the comprehension strategy of stop-think-paraphrase. Then we used it as we read 3 sections in their book. Tonight they need to reread these three sections and get a parent signature in their planner.

In math we practiced estimating the area of a round figure by first counting the full squares and then putting pieces together to count as full squares. The students worked on a practice worksheet in class and have a similar worksheet for homework.

After math the children enjoyed PE, lunch and indoor recess.

Then we had this afternoon...hmmm...I don't even know what to say...it proved to be quite frustrating. I began scoring the children's work (my reading class) during lunch and recess and became quite upset...the work was carelessly done and showed little to no evidence of any instruction. I spoke to the children about this after recess, hoping they would redo some work and show improvement. Then I got called into a meeting.

When I returned from the meeting, the majority of the class was sitting on the carpet listening to a story...so I began to go through my "hand in" basket looking over the work they had completed. It was no better.

I began sorting papers that had no names, mistakes in the title, capital letters in the middle of words, common, simple words misspelled and the list goes on and on. The students sat wide eyed as they realized that almost EVERY paper was being put in the pile of carelessly completed work. This led to a discussion about needing help, poor instruction, not caring, etc., etc.

I made sure to make it clear that I love the students and care about them but I would not be doing my job if I let them turn in, and be proud of, work that is not their best. Obviously, I plan to make adjustments and will not lower my expectations!

We did end the day by finishing the book Junkyard Wonders. Ask your child about it... it had a great message!

Please let me know if you have thoughts or feelings from today's post...or any day's for that matter!!