A long overdue posting

Wow, I just realized that it has been way too long since I last posted. I'm not sure where the days weeks went, but I'm back in school. This year I'm teaching 3rd and 4th grade students with emotional and behavior disorders and they are keeping me on my toes! They really are so sweet. One of my students keeps insisting that he doesn't belong there and that mom will be picking him up to go home (this is after 45 minutes of school). Luckily, he has a one on one aide and she is wonderful with him. We have him use a visual schedule with modified work and a sensory break after each task. After the 5 minute break if he is ready to work within 2 prompts, he gets a star. After 3 stars, he has a reward time. He loves bubbles, Thomas the Tank engine coloring book, and an old Sponge Bob game. So far it's working. He really had a horrible school experience the last 3 years, so we have to break down his work in order for him to feel successful and start liking school. My other students are so tolerant of him too, I think they realize that he needs extra supports.

I've also tried Whole Brain Teaching in my room this year and love, love, love it! I wish I would have tried it sooner. My students really know the rules and hand motions, they love the scoreboard with the mighty groan and the Oh, yeahs! One of my little 3rd graders recites the rule, "Keep your dear teacher happy" after anyone says teacher! We even started the "teach, okay" in class. Several students told me that school is going to be fun this year (and they're learning without realizing it)!

I also have all new staff in my room and adore them! They are all positive and hard working. No one is sitting for very long, unless they are reading or helping a student with their academic work. It's so nice to work with positive and caring people. It makes my day go better and I love going to work to see my students and now also my paras!

Hopefully, I will be able to blog more as I get settled back into the school routine. So far, I've only had to teach for 3 days this past week, so I'm already behind on lesson planning. I always like to plan science and social studies on Wednesday nights, reading and language arts on Thursdays, and math on Fridays, but that didn't happen this week. I do have my social studies, science, and part of math done - it was done while my car was having the tires rotated and an oil change. I hope everyone has a great week!