1.18.2012

a day in my shoes

Hop over to link up for the "A Day in My Shoes" blog party!
Thanks to Katie for hosting such a fun party!

So here's a snapshot of a day in my life...
Tuesday, January 17, 2012


6:00 am
Alarm sounds. I sneak out of bed and wake the girls. Shower, hair, makeup, get dressed, etc. Meanwhile I check on the girls in between drying, spritzing, and straightening my hair. And somewhere towards the end of this process my hubby hops out of bed and is ready to drive out of the garage in 15 minutes. If it weren't for the amazing chunky necklaces that my girly girl self sports each day, I could be seriously jealous of my sweet hubby!

7:00 am
I'm very spoiled because my hubby takes our youngest girly to school each day. So they leave at 7:00 on the dot and I start gathering...my work bag, ipad, and SmartOnes frozen lunch. Our oldest daughter heads to school with me. We try to leave the house no later than 7:15 am.

7:30 am
Arrive at school. My teacher friend texted me that she is out sick today. I printed her lesson plans and sent them to the office.

7:45 am
My weekly duty is to monitor detention on Tuesday mornings. The students report to my room. Once I get everyone situated, I am able to write the objectives and agenda on the board.

8:25 am
Detention students are released, and I turn records in to the office. I have ten minutes before class begins. I greet my students at the door. And then during announceents I check in with those who sneak by me in the hall. ;)

8:35 am
School begins. I start each morning with the sweetest group of 7th graders (count: 21)! They spend 15-20 minutes on their MATHercise while I check attendance, conference with low quiz score kiddos, and pull students with missing assignments. Then we all switch gears to today's lesson. We created a mind map to summarize the Angle Relationships unit we've been working on for the past two weeks. Finally, the students begin working on their study guide for the test coming tomorrow. We worked one competency and then paused to check for accuracy and ask questions...repeat until the end of class.

10:02 am
The end of first hour with five minutes to switch classes. I have another great group of 7th graders (count: 24) coming for math. Same general plan...although our summary discussion runs quite differently. Monitor and adjust. :) A few minutes before the end of class, I get a phone call from my daughter's school nurse. My sweet girly has the stomach bug. I call my hubby, and he is  available to head home for the afternoon.

11:27 am
The end of first hour with five minutes to switch classes. I have planning period with lunch included in the mix. Today my 7th grade PLC is meeting during our prep. We meet to set common grading for the next unit we start later this week.

12:30 pm
I should be eating lunch...but a few emails need returned first...and I need to add a couple of discussion slides to my geometry PowerPoint...so I opt to eat my turkey sandwich and pringles at my desk while I work.

1:25 pm
Seminar. I have a group of 7th graders (count: 26) gathering in my room for RED (Read Every Day) time and study hall. Our study hall is unique in that it allows students to travel to other teachers for tutoring and/or assessments. I have several students travel to the Library and computer lab while others come to see me for help with their math review and one geoemtry student comes to make up a missed quiz from his absence.

2:10 pm
Seminar ends and students have five mintues to switch classes. I have an amazing group of 8th graders (count: 17) coming for preAP geometry. I check homework while my students work to find the area of a regular polygon with a known side length. Since four out of five teams are on track, we check their homework for accuracy and answer questions. Next we review characteristics of quadratic functions and lead the discussion to deriving an equation of a parabola in terms of the focus and directrix. We close with a Showdown activity to ensure they can put their new knowledge to work.

3:35 pm
School ends. My daughter helps me clean desktops. We have a birthday celebration in my room for one of our math teachers. Fun! I pack some lesson planning items, change clothes, and leave the birthday fun early.

4:15 pm
I have physical therapy for my heel. Unfortunately, I've been battling plantar fasciitis for over a year. But physical therapy is working! My oldest daughter is with me and claims it appears that I'm paying big money for a foot massage. LOL!

5:30 pm
We grab take-out and head home for dinner and homework. My oldest daughter provided the entertainment at the dinner table by sharing several of her QuickWrites from first semester. She loves to write! After the girls finish baths and head to bed, I create a couple of items for a future MATHercise tub and watch a TV show with my hubby.

11:30 pm
Lights out!
Thanks for reading! Be sure to link up and read other snapshots...it's always fun to here about the lives of other teachers.

Enjoy the rest of your week...make it count!
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