Chocolate always makes things better.

Sorry for not writing yesterday. This cold has taken control of me the past few days. Yesterday I was tired all day and felt like crapola, so I went to bed early and didn't want to write.

Today was a busy day at work. I was helping with this project where we test EVERY STUDENT in the entire school on their reading skills (there are other things tested as well like Math and Writing, but that's all I was responsible for), by having each student read three passages and I mark their accuracy. The morning consisted only of 2nd grade, since there are 38 little kiddos in one class!! Three hours of hearing the same 3 stories over and over and over and did I mention over again. It was interesting to observe the range of abilities in one classroom. There were kids that could read maybe 8 or 9 words a minute (with much struggle and stumbling) and others that could read over a hundred words a minute, barely taking a breath. Some of the lower scoring kids are already identified as special ed, but others will be targeted for reading help. It's just sad that some of these kids have slipped through the system without getting help already!! The 5th graders did pretty well, with most students reading their passage with very little problem. I think their stories were pretty simple for their grade level though, compared to what was expected of the 2nd graders. I mean, isn't "important" a pretty large word for 7 year olds? I thought so. Anyways, that was the jest of my day. By 3, I was pretty burnt out and if I never heard those stories again I would be perfectly happy.

My 6th graders missed me today. When I walked back in at the end of the day, a bunch of kids (Girls especially. Boys wouldn't notice if a dinosaur was teaching their class) asked where I was. One girl in particular, Claudia said, "Where were you? I was all alone today!" Now of course, she was far from all alone, since she was in a class of 26 other kids and had a teacher, but it was nice to hear her say that. It was Kendra's birthday (another student) and she actually came and found me when I was testing earlier in the day, and brought me the yummiest, gooiest, tastiest fudge brownie I had ever eaten. Gotta love it when it's a kid's birthday-food is always involved! It sure helped make my day.

The newest update on my 6th grade class getting an aide to replace the one who left is still wishy washy. Apparently one has been hired but pending some paperwork. So it may mean that I cannot do my duties in the resource room next week, because that would leave the 6th grade very short handed. Although I really do love my 6th graders, I don't want the kids in resource to get behind. It's hard to please everyone and I know someone will be at a disadvantage either way. I just feel that the 6th grade can be run smoother without me, than the kids in resource not getting their pull-out time. We'll see what happens.

I think Mason has another tooth breaking in and he's not happy about it. He's sitting on the floor near me, making whiny, fussing noises. I guess that's my signal to get off the damn computer before he goes into the next phase, which is also known as Screaming Bloody Murder In A Pitch Only Dogs Can Truly Interpret Phase. So, that's it for today.