Golly It's Been a Long Time. . .

I never seem to have time to sit down and post something anymore.  I thought I'd have more time this year since I have let go of a lot of things I used to do, but I haven't figured out how I actually found the time to get those things done in the first place!

School keeps me busier than ever.  Although I'm teaching 6th grade English/Language Arts and social studies as I've done for most of my career, I'm am doing more planning and preparation than usual. My partner and I share a terrific group of kids this year, but many of them are on IEP's which requires us to adapt and modify our lessons.  I'm also getting used to having extra adults in my room.  In all my classes except one, there are at least 2 adults, and in 2 classes there are 3 of us.  Sometimes the planning for the adults is more time-consuming than the kids!  Our school also adopted a new skills block or RTI block (reponse to intervention - dumb name if you ask me, for a class!) this year.  For 30 minutes a day, kids who need an "extra scoop" of math or reading skills are sent to a teacher for direct instruction.  I have 5 8th graders that have deficits in reading, so that's a new prep for me.  It's challenging because the skills they are lacking are several grade levels below 8th grade, so I have to find materials that are at their INTEREST level, but at their skill level.  I think I spend more time planning that class than my regular ELA class.

We still haven't moved into the new house ---- inch by inch we're getting closer, but we're not there yet.  Some recent pictures:

The main things left to do before we can start to move are:  getting the appliances hooked up, getting the heat turned on, getting a shower door for the master bath, and getting the occupance permit.  I'd love to say it will be done before Thanksgiving, but I'm being optimistic!