That will be my default blog post heading for the next 11 months.

I had another busy week. Just me. Routine as usual for the kids. Poor Alan was at work until midnight last night and probably working this weekend, so I guess you could call his week pretty busy as well.

I had my first solo teaching day on Thursday. I went into it feeling prepared and flying high. My mentor said that’s a great sign for success. :) The day went well, for the most part. I was able to tweak and refine my writing lesson since I taught it three times in a row. The way we are rotating classes this year is interesting. Have I mentioned it here before? I’m losing track. I taught a writing class three times and led a reading group. The lessons were ok but it was great to be able to refine the writing one over and again as I presented it to each new class. The third time was much better than the first. :) Reading group went well. I think they understood the point of the lesson, but my assessment at the end was poorly worded so it didn’t do an accurate job. I had a nice girl come tell me that the question didn’t make a lot of sense and perhaps I could word it a different way. She was right and I thanked her for the feedback.

The downer of the day, and what I’m stuck ruminating on, was our first “lock-down” drill of the year. I knew it was coming, we all knew it was coming, but things went a little amiss in my classroom and I didn’t handle it as well as I wanted to. All is ok, but I was frustrated. My principal says “that’s why we practice these things!” Sigh. I have very high expectations for myself. Higher probably than most others have for me. I want to be perfect, and I want to be perfect right now! That’s not unreasonable, right?!

On Monday I’ll be subbing in the class (teaching experience and a few extra $$, can’t beat that!) while my teacher does reading testing. This week begins our standardized testing as well, so that will be a fun new experience for me. New from a teaching perspective, I remember them from a student’s perspective!

We have no big plans for the weekend. I have fantasies of sleeping until noon, but my little (actually, he’s pretty big these days!) alarm clock will have me up bright and early every day. I need more time with them anyway. :)

For now, I have a lovely glass of wine, a basket (or three) of laundry, and a husband patiently waiting for me to come join him in the living room.

TGIF!