5:14am Alarm goes off. Out of habit, I check my phone for school closures. We're open. Not sure whether to be happy or sad about that. Lay in bed and watch the news for a few minutes. Scott and the dog were in Rolla for the night, so I had it all to myself. Also, when there's no dog to take care of in the morning, I have more time.
5:30am Put laundry in washer and dryer. Make coffee. Drink some warm lemon water while I wait for the coffee. Check email.
5:45am Get dressed and sit back in bed, reading blogs, drinking coffee.
6:00am Start getting ready. Hair, make-up, pack lunch and breakfast to go. All in small stages. I can't move quickly in the morning.
7:00am Start car. Put out the garbage. Gather up ALL THE STUFF.
7:05am Listen to Dead and Gone on the way to school. It's actually a really nice way to start the day, listening to an audiobook.
7:08am Stop for gas.
7:20am School. Unpack all the stuff. Check email. Set things up. Eat breakfast.
8:10am Children arrive.
8:45am Morning work, Spelling, Irregular verbs, Read aloud, Subtraction timed test.
9:50am Music class (a break for me to check email, to prep, make copies, attempt to call parents who keep dodging my calls, etc.)
10:40am Pick up children, give them a bathroom break, Proofreading, take them to lunch.
11:00am Lunch. Had a conversation with a student about why they cannot eat the school lunch and bring a hot dog for lunch at the same time. It's one or the other. (The hot dog was returned to the backpack.)
11:25am Reading. Abe Lincoln reports and a story about tornadoes and hurricanes.
12:25 Give them another bathroom break.
12:35pm Kids switch for interventions. I have a smattering of children from other classes (i.e. kids not as disciplined as my own). We do half an hour of Context Clues practice with foldables and the Science books. Bonus: We actually get to use the Science books. Normally I have no time to teach such content.
1:05pm Silent Reading time. Kids read. Sometimes I read too. More often than not, I check email, prep materials, pull kids for fluency testing, etc. I also spend a lot of time policing…"WHY AREN'T YOU READING?"
1:35pm More Proofreading, a bit of Writing.
1:55pm Math. Bar graphs. Give another timed test.
2:30pm Too cold for recess. They sit on the carpet and watch The Magic School Bus.
3:00pm Start packing up…this is the point in the day where my voice starts to go and my frustration starts to show.
3:25pm Take the 1st group of kids to the buses. Send the 2nd group to another teacher's room. End up explaining that we do not have boyfriends and girlfriends in 2nd grade. And you definitely cannot trade your "girlfriend" to your friend for a toy that you want. (Make a mental note to call some parents.)
3:45pm Leave school, go to Panera for green tea, the water treatment office to pay the sewer bill, and head to the district's career high school for my Foldables class.
4:00pm Check email, listen to audiobook in the car to relax. Eat a Luna Bar and trail mix.
4:30pm Dinah Zike's Foldables class. It's a good class. Relaxed. But still…it's 3 hours on a Tuesday night.
7:30pm Drive home.
7:45pm Contemplate bringing the garbage can in. I don't.
7:47pm Make a smoothie, call Scott because he's still at school, get a report on how bad the dog was that day.
8:00pm Watch an episode of The Following, drink my smoothie and eat some tortilla chips (still not feeling well and don't want real food), catch up on blogs. Contemplate answering emails. I don't.
9:00pm Shower, #28daysofpilates Day 11, read a chapter of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Contemplate doing some dishes. I don't.
10:00pm Watch the weather report. Wonder why there are still schools in the area that are closed due to weather concerns…Some are on snow day #6.
