Related Posts with Thumbnails

Thursday, February 19, 2015

A Day in the Life...School Edition

Just this week, Kerry, a lifestyle blogger from Till Then, Smile Often and Kaelene, a travel blogger from Unlocking Kiki, posted an overview of their days and they provided an interesting peek into their daily routines. 

Thinking this sounded like a fun post, I started thinking about my own routines and what an average working day looks like in my life. 



5:00-6:00...Wake up time. I don't set an alarm, but my husband does. Most often, I wake up on my own, but just in case I oversleep, his alarm will get me going.

6:00-6:45...I go downstairs, take my vitamins with some Trop 50 and make my husband's lunch. I hard boil some eggs for the day or for the week and I drink a bottle of water. Then, I get my coffee. I check social media, watch the news, read new posts from some of my favorite bloggers and post in my wellness challenge groups. 

6:45-7:10...I make my husband's and my morning Shakeology and have breakfast with him before he leaves for work. My mother-in-law comes downstairs and we catch up before we all go in our own directions. 

7:15-7:45...After he leaves, I go back upstairs to shower and get ready for work. 

8:15-9:15...I get settled into my classroom, check my work email, drink another bottle of water, and make sure everything is all set for my kindergarten ESL students that will be arriving in a very short time. I also touch base with my team and twice a week, meet with  general education teachers or our literacy coach for collaborative planning or training.

9:30-11:10...After my kinders' Morning Meeting, I take them with me to my classroom for English Language Development and Literacy. During this time, we work on letter and sound correspondence, vocabulary development and word work, and interactive writing and reading. 

Many of my kinders are in school for the first time and a few of them are non-English speakers, so teaching them English while teaching them their grade level standards is a challenge. They learn quickly and as a second language learner myself, I am inspired by their ability to successfully navigate between two languages all day. How frustrating it must be for a child to go someplace new, away from their family and comfort, to where few, if any, understand you. But the gains they make will open their world. 



11:10-11:40...Lunch with my 2nd grade team. I check my email, respond to challenge group notifications and catch up.

11:40-1:10...2nd grade reading. During this time, I push into classrooms and support English Language Learners during their reading time. We use a program called The Daily 5, and students see real gains in their reading and comprehension. They also see incredible gains in stamina and independence and, since choice is a cornerstone of this program, students develop an early love of reading. 


1:10=1:55...2nd grade writing. Depending on the unit of study, I may push in, bringing other ELLs from another room and support students in their writing within the general education classroom. Or I may pull a group of ELL students to my room and teach them in a smaller group. 

1:55-2:40...Kindergarten writing. During this time, I teach a small group within a general education classroom. My kinder ELLs work on the same standards as their native speaker peers. For the first part of the year, the emphasis was on story telling...making sure their pictures match their words and that their pictures all had a who, a where, and a what. They also learned how to begin sentences with capital letter and end sentences with punctuation. Now, we're working with informational text and how-to's.

2:45-3:45...Prep. At this time, I write lesson plans, make copies, look for additional resources and go to meetings. If it's my on-week, I have bus duty, corralling kids from late buses into the cafeteria. On the way home, I usually call my mom and chat with her for a few minutes and reconnect. 

4:00-8:30...During this time, I am heading to the gym or pressing play on a workout video,  doing some school work, stopping by the grocery store, checking my social media feeds, challenge groups, and blogs, and prepping dinner. My husband gets home and we have eat and reconnect. We watch the news from Spain and then I head upstairs. 

8:30-9:30...Pajamas, a bit of reflection, and a book or some tv. At this time, I am calling it a night. 



When I'm not in school, it's like a different life. 

What do your days look like? Are you a creature of habit? What is the highlight of your day?




16 comments:

  1. My days are actually pretty empty no this year. When I don't have class, I'm really free to do whatever, which actually isn't so fun when most days become like that!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing, but more importantly thank you for doing what you do. It's teachers like you that make the world go round!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love seeing these! I've done two, a weekday and a workday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the mention. I am a little jealous you are getting ready for work, after I've already left!! Looks busy but productive!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's the latest start time I have ever had. But it does give me extra minutes in the morning, which I will appreciate when the weather is better. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. They're fun. :-) I am going back to find yours...I must have missed them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you, Lisa. That means so much. I am blessed to have the job that I have. Love them first... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's a nice feeling, Rebecca. Enjoy your time.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Seems like a busy day!! Your totally right, learning a new language can be challenging, but I'm totally amazed how quickly you learn as a kid.
    As an adult though, I see myself using both lol. My husband who only knows English, gives me a double look, when I tell him things like.. I'm totally tired, pero tengo un hambre!!

    Melissa

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, that's a jam-packed day for sure! How do you find time to blog? lol I love the fact you teach ESL classes...that is so rewarding and awesome! What a nice insight into your daily life! I can see why folks like these posts!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Kelly, this is a fun Post. I haven't seen it in my inbox as yet- and so with an event cancelled this evening thought I would check in- I had been wondering where you were! A busy day for sure - but- an opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of so many children! So, when did you say you had time to write blog posts?!!! Keep Warm, spring must be on its way!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I do the same thing, Melissa. I embrace my Spanglish! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. It's busy, but I love it. I really enjoyed reading about others' days. Maybe you'll be next. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. It was fun to think about too. It's different when you really take not of it in black and white. Blogging often takes the back burner during the school week, but when I'm off, I'm on...to blogging. :-) You keep warm too. Hopefully, Spring will arrive sooner than later. I'm ready for tulips.

    ReplyDelete
  15. thank you but, I think folks might be bored reading mine these days lol.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I would read it, Carollann. And I would enjoy it. :-)

    ReplyDelete