Fridays Are Fantastic!

Hi friends!

I was just going through my Google Reader and came across Taylor's post about five things she thought were really great this week in her classroom! I love that idea of staying positive, so I am allllllll over it.

• My class is basically in full-on work mode. I spent a lot of time on the first few days of school letting the first graders know that we didn't have free choice time, do-whatever-you-want time, or playing with toys time (the last one was actually funny, as I don't even have any legit toys in my class besides our Skippyjon doll!). The first graders have now accepted it and moved on with their lives and are working HARD.

• We can walk in a (relatively quiet) line down the hallway!!!!!! Last year I was way too lenient about this. I think part of the reason is that I work in a very small school, and I'm the only teacher who keeps her door open during the day... so unless we were screaming down the hallways, we weren't really bothering anybody. But I made it a personal goal of mine to have a quiet line this year. So far, so good. :)
• We are becoming more and more polite every day! Over the summer, I read Amanda's post about how she instills manners in her class, and it really made me think. We practice this a lot over the course of the day, and it's starting to become natural for some of us. Yay!
• Phonemic awareness time, or Hear & Cheer (as we call it), is going SO well! I put a lot of stock into Michael Heggerty's PA program when I asked my principal for it over the summer, and it is paying off already! I have hand motions going for a few activities so far, and those the ones the kids like the most. Note to self - think of some more. :)

• We are finally going to have a full specials schedule! I typically have six 30-minute specials during the week, which are my planning periods. Mondays - art, Tuesdays - P.E., Wednesdays - technology and music, Thursdays - P.E., and Fridays - library. However.......... we did not have an art/technology teacher hired until this morning. Our previous art/tech teacher became our Kindergarten teacher this year (HOORAY!) but that left an opening that, for some reason, just could not be filled. But finally it was. The loss of planning time wasn't my biggest problem - it was more that the kids really needed a break from our room! 

Oh, and I have a sixth one!

• We can read for 15 minutes!!!!!!!!! I love you, Daily Five!

Can you think of five fantastic things about this week? I'd love to know them! Happy weekend!!