Back to School Tomorrow

I'm finding it hard to believe the eight weeks of "Summer Break" are over, and I'm wishing I had another week or two. Life's like that.

Tomorrow morning I'll welcome my new 4th grade class at East-West International School. It's a full class, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them. Some I already know a little bit, and others I don't. Either way, I've got name tags ready for them all so I can quickly put the correct names to the faces (hopefully). Their books are all sorted and labelled, bookmarks are ready for home and in-class reading. Book boxes for "The Daily 5" are ready to go. My CAFE board is also ready to go. Lessons are planned for tomorrow, including a fun craft activity to finish the day.

So did I achieve everything on my summer "To Do" list? Not really, but I'm not stressing over it. One of the things I did finish was a Book Club for a book called "Awakened".

The biggest thing I've taken away from reading this book and the daily reflections is a reminder to think about how I'm talking to myself, making sure that talk is positive, and to avoid negativity as far as possible. An example is how I approached my schedule for the year. There was something in it that I wasn't real sure about, and which I actually knew wouldn't work because of classroom allocations. Instead of getting upset about it, I thought about it for a while and came up with a solution that would work for everyone. I got my early morning 20 minutes with my students back, my students still get recess and their music lessons, we get 50 minute language arts lessons that day, and my Khmer assistant gets two 30 minute lessons with the whole class later in the week instead of one 40 minute lesson. I'm hoping I can keep a positive mindset as the week continues and that this year will be even better than all those that have gone before.

Some of the things I did achieve include:

• taking photos for the math manipulatives catalogue,
• getting set up for The Daily 5 and CAFE,
• getting those workbooks checked and copied,
• catching up with a friend and her daughter in Bangkok,
• seeing a movie,
• doing some swimming and helping keep the pool clean,
• losing some weight (I've still got a way to go, but I'm heading in the right direction),
• some piano practice (not as much as I'd like but some is better than none),
• getting started on my studies,
• reading some novels,

Well, I've still got a few things I want to do before I go to bed, so I'm signing off for now. My cold has almost gone, with just a residual cough, so I'm hoping to get back into the pool very soon.

Looking forward to a great first day of school tomorrow! :)