Five for Friday: Observation Overload

Happy Weekend!

 

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend!

It's going to be GORGEOUS here!

 

This Five for Friday almost didn't happen...it was a WILD week!
 

Please visit Doodle Bugs Teaching to read more!

 

This week had many elements of "what just happened??" and then "oh no, that DIDN'T just happen!"
Anyone else have a week like that?

 

I barely had a moment to snap pics because I participated in
FIVE observations. FIVE.

 

 

On Monday, I had my year-end formal observation. These will forever stress me out. I respect my supervisor SO much and I never want to let her (as well as my students and their families) down. I always ask her to do pop-in surprise visits because the formals feel so forced. Anyway, she came and observed my Power Hour reading group. This group meets every day immediately after lunch (and the time cannot be adjusted, unfortunately). This means that every little hand is giving me an urgent silent restroom signal...but not at the same time. They flash the signal in 15 second intervals so I seem to be ALWAYS addressing this throughout our reading block. Monday was no exception. My observation was a hot mess and I was extremely bummed out afterwards :(

 

The other observations were a part of a school effectiveness review that is city/state-wide. A team of five official-looking people did scheduled 20-minute observations throughout a two-day period. I guess I should be honored that the administration thought my teaching was worthy and representative of what they were looking for. But perhaps it was a bit misguided this week...thankfully, all of them went really well! Most of my students weren't too distracted and stayed engaged in the lessons. And my principal was still smiling and talking to me on Friday, haha! I also got to participate in a Teacher Focus Group where I was asked about 55 questions about the school, teaching, etc.
Fun stuff!

 

 

This week, my Level G Guided Reading Group worked on a book with rhyming words. It was really tough for them to identify which words rhymed and why. I updated my Flower Power Rhyme Time packet (18 new pages!) to include rhyming dominoes with pictures to support, plus I added ten mini-mini-book pages.

 

 

My students always benefit from extra practice,
so I created five more:

 

 

click here to pick up this freebie!

These free mini-mini-book pages include:
 -ad, -ed, -id, -ot, and -um.

 

I also just uploaded an activity pack for long vowels:

 

 Rhyme Time Long Vowels

I captured this sweet moment on Thursday:

I ♥ this! During a brain break, these two BFFs shared a book. I absolutely love how she is "tracking" while reading. Moments like this make it all worth it! Another proud moment this week: I had a mom sit in on her son's "Power Hour" (reading intervention group). Afterwards, I asked her what she thought and she said
"I had NO idea my baby could read like that!"
She was surprised and so pleased :)

Remember these?

I ♥ Snap Words and just this week Child 1st Publications released Sets B, C, and D! I will have to carefully calculate my feedback credits to maximize the savings, but I know these materials are well worth the cost!

I've been "needing" a few spring items for an upcoming mini-vacation. Yesterday was a half-day at school and the PERFECT opportunity for major retail therapy! I scored too big at one of my fave stores. Here's a few dresses I picked up:

Looks cute with a belt, too!
I'm wearing this to dinner tonight with a jean jacket :)

 

This dress actually looks even cuter on!
What shoes would you wear?

 

I also picked up bright colored capris: kelly green, aqua, and coral. I'm set for spring! Have you done any shopping lately? I'd love to hear about the cute things you've found!
Have a super Saturday!