What Worked and What Didn't (Only a Two-Skirt Week!)

Part 1: Reflective Journal
The end of the quarter always puts students and teachers into a frenzied state. Add the local baseball favorites in the playoffs, high school senior nights and the preparations for a week of parent-teacher conferences and after school meetings.... Well, you get it. To say I'm tired is an understatement.

A large part of writing this blog is to help me keep my sanity and stay positive; I almost lost sight of the "positive" this week...

What didn't work this week was an opportunity that slipped by me to help a student get "things" under control. He had avoided work, avoided groups, avoided assignments and when it came to needing my assistance to FIND his materials, all I FOUND was a complete and total disaster encased in  2'x 2'x 4' metal. Like all things, this was at the end of a class period and the bell was ringing. 

I'm sorry to say, his locker still looked like this at the end of the day today. 

Next week, I'm going to put this high on my list of "Things to Turn Around".

What DID work though was the student book talks and reviews. Every quarter my students report on what they've read in some way. We've used Power Point presentations, e-movies, book dates and the traditional book report. This time, I gave students a choice: a book talk or a written book review. The checklist and rubric were spot-on and the students did a fantastic job. This "option" is definitely a keeper!

Part 2: Teaching-Wear (Week 4)
This week was one of those "rare" short weeks with a "free-jeans" day thrown in. Next week will be like this as well due to Red Ribbon Week (but I'll dress the theme and post the pics anyway)!

Monday- No School (Columbus Day)
Tuesday- Jeans day (Volley-for-the-Cure T-shirt day)
Which left only Wednesday and Thursday for my challenge:

<= Wednesday I changed from a heavily patterned skirt to a pinstriped brown one. It was a comfort thing. The morning started out chillier than I had expected so I also went for the brown tights. When I took my first picture, I had to laugh! I had left my sunglasses on top of my head and the image of myself made me think of one of the Monster High Dolls--Catrina DeMew (pictured here available at WalMart.com ...) The glasses and the scarf must have done it... 
     
                                                  My rating: 4 Really comfortable (but no pockets)  

<=Thursday, I went for the "dress" part of the challenge. I did include in my original oath-to-myself that dresses counted too! This is a one-piece black cotton with a zipper up the back. It has a peplum (which some friends pointed out DOES make the silhouette more hourglass!) and I was cold again so I chose grey tights with my comfortable black flats. (Ha! I was on my way to the cafeteria...$2 for biscuits and gravy--Thursday staples!)

My rating: 4 (Although I really liked this, the skirt with these tights were "tight" and I felt like the skirt was "stuck" or rising most of the day. Not sure I'll wear this combo again.)


By the way, in both photos I'm wearing my octopus/squid mascot for NANOWRIMO. If you are not sure what NANOWRIMO is, keep following this blog! (The insanity starts in 13 days!)