Week 2

We made it through Week 2.  I'm not sure how.  This is an active group and we have a lot of students with special needs this year.  People keep telling me that it's okay and we will rock it like always, but I won't lie...I've had some panicky moments this week.

Let me tell you what happened on Monday-it was the most excitement I've ever had on a Monday morning, that's for sure.  I had morning duty in the gym (thank goodness our new principal worked it out so we only have it 2-3 times a year instead of the 6-8 we USED to have it for!) this week.  The bell rang and I walked the first graders to class.  Right as I got to my door, you'll never believe what happened: the fire alarm went off!  All of the teachers poked their heads out of their rooms: "Who pulled it?!"  "This must be a joke!"  But when no announcement came over that it was a false alarm, we all started to move.  Our principal told us the next day that we had the entire building cleared out in under 3 minutes which I think is darn impressive considering that buses were unloading, kids were eating breakfast, and some of us hadn't even made it inside our classrooms yet!  We had to wait about 20 minutes while the fire department came and checked everything out.  It wasn't a drill-a classroom AC unit blew out and caused smoke and a burning smell, so we needed to evacuate.  That is the first time in my teaching career that we have had a real fire alarm and honestly, I was blown away by how smoothly it went.  Anyway...that pretty much set the tone for the week.  I am hoping that next week will go much smoother!

Also...we started our baseline testing this week.  I ended up making a whole bunch of stuff to help me. For example...we decided that we wanted to test for sight words.  Now, I LOVE the forms on Ms. Perkin's web site and I have used them for years.  However...I like to test the words OUT of order (because otherwise the kids learn to read the list, am I right?!) which means I have to hunt and search for the words that are IN order on the form.  This year I decided I'd done that enough and made a new set of forms and flashcards for me.  I typed out the words in random order on the student recording sheet and then put the words in the same (random) order on a ring.  Not kidding when I say that I felt like an organized genius!  It made testing go SO much smoother.  I also color-coded my rings by printing the different lists on different sheets of paper so I can tell at a glance which set is which.  I also made brand new ABC flashcards, # flashcards, and shape flashcards for flashcard rings...plus data forms for each skill AND class data forms.  I feel so organized about their baselines now!

I uploaded the set to my TPT store...which will be on sale tomorrow and Monday!  It's time for the TPT B2S sale.  I have bought sooo much here lately that I don't NEED anything else, but I can't resist a good sale, can you?  While you're at it take a look at my Wizard of Oz set.  If you are a GA teacher getting ready to start the frameworks lessons, I made a set of graphic organizers for a Cast of Characters book as well as masters for a story elements foldable.