Tennis.

That is my sport.

That is, if I had a sport, tennis would be it.

I have never been athletic.

I always have to plan when and for how long

I will be going to the gym.

I don’t like lifting weights.

I’d rather join a class,

but that still means getting my exercise gear ready

and going right after work.

If not, I just won’t go at all.

But

if you

invite me to play tennis,

then chances are I will not

think too much about it before I say,

yes.

Tennis.

That is my sport.

Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring the March Slice of Life Challenge.

I think I’m finally getting into a routine with my daily slices.

I usually slice at night.

I am never one day ahead, although it would be great if I were.

And, I am on mountain time, which means I have to post my slices no later than 10:00 pm my time. That feels like a lot of pressure to me, so I’m trying to slice earlier. That way I won’t find myself rushing to post something…anything at the very last minute.

I am a chronically late person. I try not to be, but I have a hard time getting places on time. Over the years, I’ve gotten better about this, but I still struggle with schedules.

I don’t do well with submitting claims to my insurance company on time.

I wait until the last possible minute to do report cards.

I let emails accumulate in my inbox with the excuse that I’ll get to them later.

I am a procrastinator.

So, I do better with deadlines; they help me get my work done by feeling a sense of urgency…finally. Otherwise, things just languish. I always figure I have plenty of time until the deadline looms closer and then it’s here and I’m scrambling to meet it.

So, I am going to try to address things as they come up. Either delete/throw out or take care of them. It seems so much easier that way and yet, for people like me, it’s a real challenge.

I will cut myself some slack if I fall behind or if I forget, but I am not going to forgive myself if I fall into a new cycle of procrastination.

The clock is a-ticking.

Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Challenge.

Today we started reading the picture book Dust Bowl by David Booth. We didn’t get very far, but we’ll continue tomorrow. I haven’t been all that great about my #classroombookaday commitment even though my students have tried to keep me honest. Some days I haven’t read a book and other days we’ve been reading the same picture book for a couple of days. Making time in a constant problem in the classroom.

We played multiplication Bingo in math. We started analyzing why some numbers from 1 – 36 will never work on a 5 x 5 Bingo card if we’re using two six-sided dice. Tomorrow we will dig in further by grouping and making connections between the numbers that work on a multiplication Bingo card and those that don’t. Can we make any generalizations about these numbers? How will the range of possible numbers change if we add a third dice? What if we use dice with more than six sides? Lots to talk about.

We wrote more slices and commented on those of other classrooms. And, I’ve been having trouble with Edublogs. I think it’s fixed. It was a settings problem that hopefully will go away now that I’ve made some changes. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I checked in with students regarding their self-assessment about their writing about reading. Some interesting observations by students in their notebooks. Some good conversations, too.

I’m looking forward to going back to school tomorrow. I’m excited to see my students and to continue learning with them.

Weather forecast: blue skies and sunny!

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring the Slice of Life March Challenge! 

 

I’ve been under the weather for the last three weeks or so.

I’ve had a bad cold, which hasn’t helped. But I think I’ve had the winter blues.

The endless snow. The cloudy days. That feeling that it’s only February and it’s a long tunnel ahead. Just feeling down about several projects that seemed to be going nowhere.

Now that I’m feeling better physically, my outlook has changed. Or is it the other way around? Has my outlook changed and so I’m feeling better physically? Perhaps. Maybe both at once?

It doesn’t take much to feel worn down and it takes even less to get back on the right track. One loving look. One hour at the gym. A reminder of why I’m doing this at all.

It’s March. And, while the snow hasn’t melted away, the days are getting longer. Spring Break looms ahead.

I can do this.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring the Slice of Life March Challenge! 

 

 

This has been a tough winter.

Looking for a house.

Settling in to a new city, new country, new schools.

Apparently, this has been a harsh winter in Calgary. But, honestly, it hasn’t felt that bad. Have we adapted so well this time around? Maybe I was expecting worse? Either way, it’s March 3rd and in the last two days we were hit with about 30 centimeters of snow. Yeah and wow!

At the end of this month we move out of our rental and into our new house. The transition that started this summer will be complete. Once our shipment arrives, we can start to feel like we’re at home, with our things. Everything will be familiar once again.

It has been a tough winter. And, although it’s not over yet, it hasn’t been too bad.

Happy slicing!

Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring this March Slice of Life Challenge.

Almost missed slicing today – the first day of the March challenge!

So, this is going to be a short slice.

Looking forward to a month of slicing.

Not looking forward to more snow, although it’s definitely too late for that: it’s snowing now!

At least tomorrow is Friday; the snow is supposed to fall all weekend. Sunday we’ll have a break.

Hey, it’s March!

Here we go!

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring the #MarchSOL18.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring the Slice of Life Challenge every Tuesday.

Winter settles in. The snow is everywhere. More snow is on the way.

Indoor recess is more frequent as the temperature dips below -20 degrees Celsius.

Students rush in from lunch to find an independent reading spot. The room is silent as I take attendance; you can hear a pin drop.

January is done. February is slipping away fast.

World Read Aloud Day ends tomorrow for us; two more Skype sessions in the morning.

Teachers’ Convention is next week. Two days of learning and then a three-day weekend to rejuvenate.

In my mind, this is the mid-way point of the year. The next few months will follow in a blur as we read, write, talk and learn our way through grade 4. We’ve accomplished so much. So much more learning to do.

This is a bittersweet time of the year.