Friday, May 9th

Thank you very much for all of the flowers and gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week.  They were quite beautiful and I'm thankful I have such thoughtful students and parents.  I know I am a tough teacher and I have very high expectations, so I know that I'm not the easiest to deal with.  However, at the end of this year, I have no doubt that I've done my best to prepare my students for the academic and social rigors of middle school.  That being said, thank you again...this has been a fun, entertaining, and endearing year.  

Today students finished their main idea/supporting evidence assessment and read two sections in the Social Studies textbook.  As I explained to the students, I'll be assessing them on the Civil Rights Movement next week and they'll be beginning their president project that covers the last social studies standard (American History 1975 to present).  So today they read the two sections and completed a request form with their own questions and wonderings about the late 1960s-70s.  As we end the year, I'll answer their questions about this important, but not assessed, time in history.

Students also had Explorations today and most reported back that they had a good time.  My own exploration, 'So you want to be a teacher?', was also quite entertaining since our small groups came up with the best and worst things about teaching after giving their presentations.  

After Explorations, students packed up and I read Son to both classes.  We are about 1/3 of the way through the book and I'm hoping to finish before the end of the year.Lastly, I postponed the vocabulary assessment until Monday so students have time to study the words on Quizlet over the weekend.  Also, they should continue to read; I'm quite proud of the many children who have already read multiple books.