"Everyday I'm Shuffling.."

The title of this post has been stuck in my head all week! Why? Well, because the teachers had a flash mob at the PSSA pep rally!

We had a pep rally on Monday to get the students excited for the PSSA, the PA state testing. We had words of inspiration, and PSSA man, who was a senior from the high school. He came in and put on an amazing performance that got the kids really pumped. Then, before closing the rally, the teachers rushed the stage to dance to the song "Party Rock Anthem". Then, the students were so excited it became a huge mosh pit of dancing and jumping. It was so much fun, and a memory that I will forever keep.

The weather has been so nice, and since PSSA takes a lot out of the students, we were not doing too many formal lessons. On Wednesday, we went on a Haiku Hike. Ms. M and I took the kiddies out for a walk around the building to make observations on what they saw.

Then, we went inside and students created Haiku's about what they saw. They were really good! We created a board outside to show off our Haikus and other spring crafts.

I had another formal observation on Wednesday. Let's say it didn't go as well as my others. Not that it was bad, but the kids were so excited and out of their element due to PSSA, it was hard to get their attention to try and teach them a science lesson. When it came to the actual experiment, it was fine, but just getting them to listen to the directions and procedures was difficult. I wish I would have came up for a more creative, fun lesson for that day, but I guess we learn from our mistakes. P.Stef still gave me positive feedback and said my classroom management is great, just the circumstances of the week made the lesson difficult to teach.

I created PSSA good luck pencils for my students. This incentive got them really excited, and they were all happy and had confidence in themselves when using their pencils on the first day of testing.

Speaking of incentives, I received my first Parent "Concern" this week. Our school gave out rubber bracelets, similar to the LiveStrong Bracelets, that said encouraging words about the PSSA. Well, the kids spent more time playing with them, breaking them, and flinging them around the room then actually wearing them. We had to take a few from students, and I guess one particular student was upset over getting his taken away. His parent e-mailed not only Ms. M but also the Principal, saying that I took his bracelet away for no reason, and put it in my pocket and took it home. Ms. M replied to this, completely having my back. She said that I had put the bracelet on her desk after telling the student a number of times to stop playing with the bracelet. The principal even came to see me to make a joke about the situation which made me feel better. I knew that parent concerns or complaints cannot be avoided, and I am so glad that not only Ms. M, but the principal had my back in resolving the issue. I must say, it was a good learning experience.

Next week P.Stef is coming to conference with Ms. M and I about my Mid Term Evaluation! I am so nervous and excited!