Crowns...

Hmmmm...Today was "one of those days" I wouldn't say it was a bad day, but just not a great day. To begin, today was the 100th day of school. I wore my crown out to greet the students and said "HAPPY 100TH DAY!!!!" The kids loved it! and couldn't wait to make their own crowns....we began our Intervention time this morning for the first day. It is a new district wide 'program' that splits students into groups by their reading level and gives them 20/25 minutes a day of individualized instruction based on their needs for their level and how they can grow as readers! It is really neat and I am glad I am able to see the process begin and take shape!

Then, we began making the crowns...here is where the day begins to be 'just one of those days'...If you saw the picture, the students are supposed to add 100 strips of paper to their crowns to resemble 100 days. Well, sometimes a person forgets the organizational skills and abilities of a 6 or 7 year old child. Let's just say there is probably not one kid who actually has 100 'strips' on their crown...kids lost count, couldn't count to 100, mixed their piles, dropped strips, got sick of gluing all the strips individually etc. It was semi chaotic but all in all a great learning experience. I have to admit I was glad the students had to leave for art I was able to reflect and 'cool off' from the said catastrophe. I talked with my coop. teacher and she said that projects can be chaotic but the students enjoy them. We then discussed things I could have done differently such as more modeling and perhaps providing some sort of graphic organizer for the students to put their 10 piles. Such as a paper with 10 squares that they could have put their piles of ten onto to help keep them organized and know what count they were on. GREAT IDEA! I have to admit I was extremely frustrated and upset with myself on how this project was turning out. Regardless, the students came back from art and we finished up the crowns and it turned out great. The students loved their crowns and felt extra special wearing them around school today! On a side note, I would like to add a funny comment I said not thinking today to a student...one student was not very far on their strips and falling a little behind. She said to me "I'm never gonna finish" so I said to this student..."A little less talking, a little more stripping" (hahaha) of course not thinking the meaning; both my teacher and myself laughed no big deal of course they didn't get it just a little funny for the adults in the room!

For the most part, the day went up from there. The kids LOVED the cupcakes (of course) and seeing the frosting on their face, hands, arms, foreheads etc. was cute and worth the effort! I ended the day with a meeting which was a great experience for me to sit in and be a part of. As for tonight, I will be working on math lessons and enjoying some dairy queen in hopes to end on a positive note! :)