overwhelmed.

I'm there. Overwhelmed. I wasn't there yesterday. I wasn't there this morning. I just arrived in the land of the overwhelmed this afternoon. Suddenly I looked around my classroom and saw the chaos. The ungraded papers, the science materials stacked on the back counter, the unfed crayfish next to the sink (I have since fed them, so don't worry :), the desks all askew (I moved them into rows, but I hate that at the end of every day the desks are a mess!), and my desk PILED with stuff. Just piled.

And, it's the end of the month. You know what that means. Bulletin boards need to be changed, the calendar needs to be changed, and since it's the end of the week, the newsletter needs to be created and emailed out, too. Sigh. I raced around the room for about forty minutes after my kids left today, but it's still chaotic.

Don't get me wrong.... it's a good chaos. We had a really good week of learning. Thinking back to some of the conversations I heard my "friends" having this week, here's some of what I overheard:

"This is grammar? I love grammar!"
"What do crayfish eat? Do they poop? Can they live outside of water? When will we get to learn about the crayfish??"
"Can we work on our skits in our groups now?"
"Aw, man! I got chloroplast on my pants at recess!" (Learning about plants is paying off! Yay for the smarter vocabulary!)
"Do we have to stop reading now?  Can we have ten more minutes?"
"I can't choose from my writing prompts. Can I write both of them if I have time?"

Yes, it's been a VERY good learning week. And, in preparation of another such week, I'll be going into school tomorrow for awhile. We have a waffle breakfast fund-raiser anyhow, so I'll just stay and work on some things for a bit and be ready for another week of learning. And you know what? I don't love the chaos, or leaving my room in shambles in the evening, but if the chaos is a side-effect of my kids' learning, then so be it! Bring on the chaos!

What a way to start a year! [Leaving sub plans and more!]

Well, friends.... I really do have some great intentions to get on this blog someday soon and begin to show you some of the AMAZING things I've been learning from my 4th grade friends. They really are incredible!

This year just hasn't started as planned! I've had my kids for all of nine school days...  (which is crazy when I think of all we have accomplished in JUST nine days!). I really have been meaning to blog, but starting at a new school, in a new grade, with new curriculum... it's all I can do some days to keep my head above water!

Then, this weekend my grandfather passed away, which sent me into a tizzy to get sub plans ready. I am usually pretty good at getting sub plans ready. However, I have never had to leave four consecutive days of sub plans during which time I couldn't come back to the classroom to grab papers to grade, check on things, etc.

I began my hunt on pinterest and elsewhere to find some help!

I started with THIS cute Sub Tub Label from TPT. It's free and adorable. (I love free and adorable).
I applied it to my version of a Sub Tub, and viola!