School's Back in Session

Take away the paperwork. Take away the stress of trying to meet No Child Left Behind standards. Take away the meetings. Take away the fact they expect me to teach in one day, what to really be taught well, should be taught in two. Take away all the.....well, let's just say it, CRAP, and I really, honestly LOVE my job.

I love my kids. I love being creative. I love making them laugh. I love it when I can see their minds growing. I love, love, love teaching. I just need to remember all those things I love this time of year, when there is just too much going on, and the mound on my desk keeps growing!

These pictures are from a lesson I did, trying to teach students sequencing and steps in a process. We were learning how to tell someone how to do something, using good details. I blindfolded students and had them tell me how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sounds easy, right? Well, not if you forget to tell the teacher to take the bread out of the bag and the peanut butter and jelly end up all over the plastic! Not if you forget to tell the teacher to open the peanut butter and jelly and spread it on the bread, and the jars just end up laying on top of the bread. Students got a great lesson in using rich details, especially since they couldn't see what I was doing...and I did exactly as they said! I wish I could post the pictures of the students. They all had big smiles on their faces. It was a fun day, and I forgot about the mound of papers on my desk, if only for a moment!