The Sub Plans Were Worth It

As you may recall, I went AWOL last week as I took a few days to go see my long distance boyfriend (which is a whole other story for a totally different blog).

The time away really made me appreciate my class in several ways when I saw what I returned to. I'm going to quickly share my top three things about returning to work this past Monday.

1. It was the first time I ever returned from having a sub and saw "You have a good class." among the notes left by a sub.

2. I had former students and current students welcoming me back with giant hugs, smiles, and even small gifts. I even had a couple parents drop a "Welcome back" and "How was your trip?"

3. My students made my first day back relatively easy by behaving quite well. (Then, the power of the full moon hit on Tuesday...)

All in all, I think this was the first time I returned to a neat room, pleasant note, and happy kids. This teacher certainly can't complain and you can bet I will save the number of this sub. (This was the second time I've used her...she was amazing!)

Keep an eye out for several posts coming in the next few weeks with goodies and new products just for you!

What Exciting Lives We Lead

This week I realized that this Saturday (as in today) would be my only free weekend day with no plans for the next month. When I told this to someone, they asked what I planned to do with it. My response: make teaching things. (In my defense, I will be out for three days in October and I'm trying to get prepared.)

I thought I was weird - taking my one free day and spending it on work. Then, I looked at my Facebook page and saw statuses such as "Loading apps onto the kindle for my students." and "Cutting out lamination." I quickly realized that I wasn't the only teacher spending a Saturday night doing work.

I wonder - why are we so willing to bring our work home with us and even do it on the best day of the weekend?  I have no remorse about how I've spent my day. I've worked on a monster-themed base ten packet, watched a couple of movies, and even taken a bubble bath. Bottom line is, I still did work on my day off. I'm curious - how guilty are you of doing work on your days off?

 

And now onto a linky...

 

 

Last week was very busy. I started organizing things in my classroom and working on plans for the upcoming weeks. I will be taking a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off for some personal stuff. I thought I was getting ahead by thinking about sub plans. Then it dawned on me that I needed plans for the week after as well because my plane will be getting back in town late on Sunday. So, my feeling good about things quickly turned to panic. A little organization and a very happy Friday with my kids has helped my panic subside.  I'll share some photos of my organization adventures later this week. I am quite happy with how things are turning out!

 

Finishing up my fall packet certainly helped my panic as well. This packet has printable center games and activities related to fall. All items are common core aligned with the standard on the instruction cards!

 

 

Next week holds more sub prep and a baby shower for my sister. I'm sure to be a busy little bee in the evenings as I prep for both. I also hope to have my monster packet finished and uploaded by Friday!

  

Speaking of being out...would anyone be willing to write a guest post or two for those days that I am out?  If so, please email me at momentstoteach@gmail.com!