Six More Weeks

    Six more weeks! At our faculty meeting yesterday, we filled our calendars with all the things scheduled for these last 6 weeks of school, and I am starting to feel the pressure.  Only 6 weeks to finish getting my kinderkids ready for first grade, and that includes time out for 2 field trips, field day, school pictures, a TON of assessing, graduation, and an early release day on the last day.  We also have a "Parent Night" and McDonalds Night and a safety fair and K-2 council meeting and meetings with a few parents to talk about retention. And my assistant will have to go help with testing in the upper grades on a few days, so I have to get my assessing done before then.  So, one more week until I will start.  With 25 children to assess individually, and 4 or 5 kinds of assessing to do, it will take a LOT of time.
    I woke up extra early this morning, thinking about the few who are still not able to read or count or write well enough.  Should I send them on to first grade, or keep them for another year?  It is such a hard decision.  I know they are going to struggle with the demands of first grade, but would it be better to give it a try and repeat first grade if they were still behind?  I'll be calling some parents and talking about it next week.
    One of my little ones is moving away tomorrow, and I got another new student this week.  I hate it when one of my best students moves away!  I will miss his stories! 
    I am not working today, because this is my chorus competion weekend.  I need to pack up my sparkly costumes and get ready to go on stage tomorrow to sing beautiful music in four-part harmony. But for now, I still have kindergarten songs stuck in my head.

   
Here are my  favorite songs for teaching numbers from 10 to 19.  Thank you, Mr. Harry! (But I wish I could stop singing this song in my head at 5:00 in the morning!)