Goodbye Snowy School Bus Graphic!!

Notice anything missing from my post??  Let me give you a hint.  I told you what's missing in the title.

Yep.  That school bus graphic, indicating another snow day, has disappeared from my blog.

But....can it be??  Does that mean the KIDS are going BACK to school?

OH YEAH!!

SCHOOOOL'S BACK BEFORE SUMMER!!!

Started to think that we were going to be out of school until at least spring, so it's very nice to know that I'm going to get to see my kiddos today, after a very long 10 days of not seeing them (including the weekends).

And you want to know the bad part?  All I can think about this morning is why on EARTH I didn't use more time over the course of those 10 days to plan more or clean my classroom more or spend more time on my Pinterest account coming up with and making fantastic stuff for my classroom and future activities.

Figures, right?

I mean, don't get me wrong.  I'm now planned up until the first week of May.  I know what skills we're going to cover, I know what we're going to do pretty much each day.  But, I still feel like I could have spent more time finding more resources, coming up with more creative ideas to present the material I have to cover, and at the very least, cleaned out ALL the stuff that's piled up in my room.

Yesterday, I did manage to change my room around, giving myself more room.  I got some boxes unpacked and consolidated.  I was able to clear off some room on my desk, and then pile it back up again with more stuff as I was cleaning and sorting my filing cabinet.  But, if anyone was to walk in to my room at this very minute, they'd probably wonder what I spent the last two "work" days doing.  OK, in fairness, one work day being that I spent all day Friday planning with my team.

It's amazing how LITTLE gets done in a 7 hour day.  But, then again, I really didn't think we'd be back at school today and was trying to pace myself so that I'd stay plenty busy through today.  I'm actually quite shocked we're going back today being that school was cancelled yesterday due to the continued bad condition of the back roads, and there wasn't really much chance of the roads being any clearer by today.

But, I guess whoever made the decision about today decided that the ratio of kids who couldn't get to school versus the ones that could wasn't a large enough number to keep the whole county out another day.

And that's karma at work, right there.  Put off what really could have been done yesterday, because I assumed the kids wouldn't be there today.  I'm sure everyone is aware of what happens when assuming happens, right?

There was actually a pretty good chance of even more snow last night, but that new force field I described yesterday worked once again.  Because the snow has completely dissipated since moving in close enough to our area.

Our total snow day count has risen to 17 days.  That's a lot of ground to cover, that's for sure.  And, to be honest, I'm feeling a little nervous about what the atmosphere in my room is going to be like today.  It's always tough coming back from such a long break.  Especially an impromptu break.  Some kids will be so ready to be back, others won't be.  Some will be exhausted because they've spent all their snow days up until all hours of the night, and completely off their regular schedule.  Some will be extremely hyper because they've spent their snow days going crazy with boredom. Most will appear very shocked when I explain to them the, now needed, urgency to up the intensity to make up for lost time.  Kids often don't comprehend that snow days are NOT "free" days.  Meaning, they are shocked when they hear that all the missed time has to be made up, that it wasn't some bonus break given by Mother Nature.  

All kids love snow days, until they realize how much work and pressure it's now put upon their little shoulders in order to make sure they receive all the learning that they missed.

Thankfully, my teammates and I were able to come up with some "funnish" activities that might help ease some of the burden.  Give them a way of catching up with the use of self selected activities that have them practicing the skills that haven't received enough coverage, alongside learning the new ones.   

And, starting back on a Tuesday doesn't completely throw us off for the week.  We start a day later than we would have on our new stuff.  No biggie.

I think the weirdest part for me in all of this will be putting work clothes back on.  I've spent the past ten days in sweats, pajamas, and baggy cargo pants.  It will feel almost like I'm getting all dressed up, putting on my dress and leggings for work.  

But, I'm ready.  

I'm ready to get back to normal.  Ready to stop having so many interruptions.  I want to get back in there, hit the ground running, and make up for all this lost time.  

And, today is finally the day.