Sometimes it’s hard to maintain a good attitude so close to the end of the year, as kids are getting ever more squirrelly and standardized testing looms. I want to take a moment to focus on the positive and share a few successes from the week. So, with no further ado, here are some things I’m feeling grateful for today:
- Zombie Sub plans from Martina Bex. I had to be absent yesterday and was looking through my files for something easy (for me) to leave for Spanish 1. I bought these plans two years ago and they were perfect. It is so nice to have something ready made! Worth. every. penny.
- Mrs. Hill: Can I just pause and say I’m thankful for my sub? She was a dream. The kids liked her, she made them work, and she used the checklist I left her and marked off who turned in their work, with helpful notes like absent or a percentage and exactly what they completed and didn’t complete. I hate spending my time grading completion assignments, but I ALWAYS take a grade for sub work because I don’t want my students slacking off while I’m gone. This made it so easy to assign classwork grades and quickly enter them in Power School.
- Being organized enough to leave a sub binder:
I never miss work, so I didn’t already have my sub binder put together, but I was able to assemble one quickly on Wednesday with my schedule, instructions for the sub, and dividers for each class with the roster and seating chart. I asked Mrs. Hill to hole punch the students’ work and put it in the appropriate section of the binder, so when I came back to work today, there weren’t piles of papers all over my desk – just one neat binder. - DRESS DOWN TICKETS. The relay for life team is selling dress down tickets good for the REST OF THE YEAR! It’s the little things, y’all, and I sure am grateful to be able to wear jeans all of May!
- Reflection. Sometimes I’m embarrassed to post my lesson reflections on this blog, because I don’t want to share something that makes me look silly and stupid! But I think reflection is important, so since spring break, I’ve challenged myself to write something in my planner everyday about how my classes we did. Usually it’s a list of activities and a sentence or two reflection – nothing too long! – but just enough so that I’ll have something to look back on when I teach these units next year.
Ms. Brown Spanish 
I love the positivity! Lately, I’ve been challenging myself to not worry about looking silly. I realize how much I appreciate it when other teachers are open about what they’re learning and what mistakes they’re making. It helps me feel like I’m not so alone in not being perfect! So I’ve been trying to be really honest both on twitter and my blog about some of the silly things I feel like I should have known for ages. Also – reflecting briefly every day about how things went is definitely something I need to start doing! What a great habit to make, and useful for the next time around, too!