A Not-So-Typical Week at Work

My third grade class concluded the biggest, most exciting project of the year today - our Rainforest Animal Adventure Week!

[By the way, I'm still not sure if rainforest is one word or two - sad that I've been teaching about the ecosystem for the last three years. Any feedback on that would be helpful!]

So for this week's pictures, I thought I'd provide a little insight into what I do at work.

January 30: Unfortunately I had to go to work on a Saturday. Each year, my coworker and I volunteer for admissions testing for two weekends in January. We administer a 3-hour test to a group of 2nd graders applying to come to our school in the fall. It's not bad until we have to score the tests and write down the raw score, percentile rank, grade level equivalent, etc, etc. The first time we did this, we didn't finish until 2:00. You can guess my excitement when we finished at the above time - hence the picture. :)

January 31: This is my only non-work picture, but for those who know my January rent story, you understand why I took this. I need all the documentation I can get.

February 1: Homemade rainforest animals! Each year, my students' creativity astounds me! As we studied the rainforest and its animals, we kept coming back to this verse: "How many are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures." ~Psalm 104:24

February 2: Administrators hard at work during carpool. This is the assistant principal and counselor at my school - they are wonderful.

February 3: My classroom transformed into a rainforest! As part of their project, my students had to make an animal, present a speech, write a poem, and provide 20 research-based facts about their animal. I'm always amazed at what my kids can do, and I love seeing the different ways God has wired them. Their strengths are evident in really fun ways during this month-long unit.

February 4: We take carpool duty very seriously in 3rd grade.

February 5: Every other Friday we have a breakfast feast at school. My assistant, Sharon, and I went down to partake this morning; as we were walking back to the classroom, I noticed the color contrast between the two plates. Can you guess which one is mine??