Stuff

So, we're still waiting for an offer on the house. Keep the selling mojo coming. I have to admit that having to wash every dish as we use it and vacuuming every day is getting kinda old. I hope something happens soon.

Now that open house has passed, I have moved on to stressing out about progress reports (due Friday) and standardized testing (starting next Wednesday). The progress reports really don't take all that much. And since I sent home an informal report a couple weeks ago, there shouldn't be many surprised parents. I find that is what gets the most complaints - surprises. If you keep them informed, then they aren't nearly so upset to get a poor report. If they think everything is hunky-dory, that's when the proverbial excrement hits the proverbial oscillating wind mover. The tests are stressful for me because I know that they don't really show the progress that some of my kids have made. I am dedicating this week to reviewing the basic skills they cover in an attempt to relax my kids. Most of them would do a lot better if it weren't for all the pressure. I'm spending a lot of time showing them that they already know how to do the things they are being asked to do and that a few simple tricks will make a lot of difference. For example, READING THE DIRECTIONS is a good way to start. If only I could get them all to read the directions, the scores would go up by 5% across the board!

We had a book fair at our school last week. The kids loved being able to bring money to school and spend it on their own. (I'm a big ole meanie and I made them bring notes from home if they wanted to get something that included a toy of any kind.) The hassle of writing recess-time passes and trying to compete with something much cooler than classwork is offset by the loverly fact that teachers get buying credit based on how much was earned by the fair. Today we were told that we had $209 of credit to spend on our classrooms. $209! Free books! I got to leave with a shopping bag FULL of books and I only spent 50 cents. I have a great big Children's Encyclopedia, some great, high-interest non-fiction, and close to 20 fiction books. I made sure to get some high-level books in case I get bumped to 5th grade. I will get to spend the summer working my way through them. It was like Christmas in May. :)

Alright. I have chatted enough. There is no more putting off the inevitable. It is time to go walking and then I have to finish up my grading/recording. Those progress reports aren't going to write themselves, you know?