One of those days

You ever have one of those days, Maria? One of those days where you have no motivation? No energy? No get-up-and-go?

Today was one of those days for me.

It didn't start out as such. No, that's not entirely true. Yesterday we got back from Timp Lodge around 2:45 (Teresa and I were the last to roll in because we waited at the lodge until all of the parents had left - to make sure everyone had gone), and when I went into the room, the students were all busily, and fairly quietly I might add, engaged in project work. Kati said the kids had gotten back to work without so much as a suggestion from her. I had thought to have them write in their journals and DEAR until pickup, but instead I let them keep working on their projects.

Yeah, it was a good idea, except for the part where they left the room an unholy disaster.

Coming in to work to a room that was so messy and chaotic, well, it was not the best foot to start on. The kids didn't seem to mind much, but I was totally discombobulated by it. Still, the students came in and did their morning tasks (mechanics today), and the day got underway in the normal fashion. I was thinking of doing the suffix functions lesson I had planned for yesterday, but instead I did capitalization rules. Felt rushed and unprepared - because I was.

I went out at lunchtime to get crickets for Viejo and picked up lunch for everyone at Cafe Rio. Got back and realized that I had forgotten to make Cait's lunch, and now it's late, and eat your lunch, and this is where the disconnect started for me. The rest of the day I kind of wandered in a fog. Kati did three small group lessons on types of triangles, and I just sat around watching. Watching her lessons, watching kids work (and not work), watching the clock tick off the minutes. I was going to do Lois's lesson from training - with the children of the world and the M&Ms, but instead I watched.

We cleaned up around 2:00 and went outside for movement activities. We played Fruit Salad, but it didn't work so well because we were sitting on the grass, and everytime "fruit salad" was called it was just a huge chaotic mess of students scrambling for open spots, but there were no defined spots. So then we played Red Rover, which worked out fine until JS got hurt, and then there was drama as all my attention seekers decided they were in horrible pain too.

I was less than sympathetic when LH sobbed and carried on as though the world had come to an end because "her head hurt." I told her to go out in the hall and get a drink of water and pull herself together. Seriously.

So, to sum up:

What I intended to do:

• Suffix functions lesson on morning line
• Spelling tests for blue and green readers
• Hunger lesson
• Individual lessons/small group lessons throughout the day
• Movement activity in the afternoon
  

What I actually got done:

• Capitalization rules lesson on morning line
• Movement activity in the afternoon

Needless to say it was not my best day.