I Survived a Week of No Yoga Pants

Yoga pant withdrawl is a horrible, horrible thing. Yoga pant withdrawl and the first week of school exhaustion bug...that's something I'm surprised I survived. But I'm here, I'm blogging, and I'm getting ready for Week numero dos. I guess it's hard to remember the severity of anything a full 365 days later, but dear sweet baby Jesus laying in a manger the first week of school is exhausting. I always think to myself how smart it would be to write down a few notes at the end of the first week so I don't think I'm crazy the following year but I never do. Until this year that is...my note reads as follows:

Hey girl hey! You're about to start the first week of school and just so you won't panic and think this year is any different/crazier/worse than any of the others here are a few reminders:
1. You'll be in bed before 8:30 every single night (wrangling a class full of 6 year olds is harder than any cross training workout your trainer can throw at you...pinky promise).
2. Speaking of work outs...you won't be getting in any of those. The gym won't know you're gone so it's ok to do some horizontal running (A.K.A. napping) instead of the vertical variety.
3. You'll be frazzled no matter how much you plan...and when you don't get to something super cute that you planned, it's because you over planned for the short attention spans you're contending with.
4. Things will undoubtedly be 1 cuckoo bird short of a full blown cuckoo's nest...roll with it and just keep swimming. Things will calm down eventually.
5. There's no tired like teacher tired at the beginning of the school year.

All jokes aside, the first week back to school is no joke. While I was cooking dinner on Wednesday night I'm pretty sure I fell asleep standing up. The splash of a potato hitting the water in the pot made me come to. Please tell me I'm not the only one that was that tired mid week! Despite the being so tired I can barely hold my eyes open past 8:00 part, the first full week back was pretty good. My kids are the cutest things ever. They like love to talk and some of them have a serious case of ants in the pants. Milk was spilled on my brand new carpet (and I didn't cry...that much), it rained cats and dogs on the first day just in time for dismissal, and I was dubbed "The Best Teacher Ever" for taking them to lunch.

For me the first week back is all about teaching routines and expectations, organizing paper work, and completing those blasted beginning of the year assessments (so annoying but so necessary). Teaching expectations is the most important part of Back to School Week. With that being said, most of my "cutesy" stuff didn't happen because there simply wasn't enough time and my kids aren't really ready to break out the scissors and glue to complete multiple artsy fartsy learning creations quite yet. I've revised my week 2 plans to make sure the Week 1 Wannabes make their way into my classroom...just a week later than planned.  One thing that I did manage to make happen was my annual Me Bag assignment. For the past 4 years I've asked my kids to bring in 5 items from home that tell something about them. They can bring in favorite toys, an item that they collect, pictures of their family...pretty much any item that can fit into their book bag (that isn't dangerous) and tells something about them can come with them to school as part of their Me Bag. It's one of my favorite parts of coming back to school because they love it and they get so tickled about seeing and sharing. It's such an awesome activity and it really helps to start creating that classroom community. && duh, you learn a lot about your kids in the process. Of course I made a Me Bag to share too...I'm not about to miss out on the fun!
I could have packed a suitcase full of stuff to bring in to share (I'm pretty random), but I managed to follow the rules and this is what I brought:

1. Gamecocks Koozie: I'm a huge Gamecocks fan && I also happen to love chevron so this koozie was a no brainer.
2. Earrings: I never leave the house without a pair of earrings in. They're not always this fancy...sometimes they're my "fearl" studs (fake pearls), but I always have some type of earring.
3. Camera: I like to take pictures...easy enough.
4. Flamingo: My favorite animal is a pink flamingo so this was an easy pick.
5. Nail Polish: It's pink (my favorite color) and I like to paint my nails (when I have the time).

I already shared a Meet the Teacher style SmartBoard file packed with pictures of my family so that's why I didn't pack any in my bag, but pictures were the it thing to pack with my kids. To prep for this activity, I sent home a letter to the parents on Monday explaining the assignment and its rules. The Me Bags weren't due until Friday so it gave them plenty of time to gather their items. Out of 19 kids, 17 participated...I'm sure the 2 that forgot will have them tomorrow. They had so much fun and they were so cute presenting their things. This year I gave them a chance to ask questions/give comments to each presenter && my little attention seekers ate up every chance they got to share their likes about each bag.

The second most important part of Back to School Week is what you wear. I have always loved back to school time because it involved new outfits. A new outfit waiting in the closet has a way of making even the earliest of alarms exciting. I have some of the cutest little fashionistas in my class this year. If only they made some of these kid clothes in adult sizes...I can't stand the cuteness! I meant to take pictures before heading off to work every day, but as usual I was too rushed for that to happen. &&& with all of the craziness and the rain (there was plenty of it) I looked like a sweaty hot sleep deprived mess by the end of the day. I did manage to take 2 daily shots, but the other 3 were staged today.

 

Now that I've successfully procrastinated making lesson plans for another hour, I guess it's time to tame that beast. Until next time, live, love, and get your teacher swag on!