"An Eval, a Christmas Wish and Pac-Man all walk into a bar..."

First, Whew!
How glad are you that today is OVER!?!?!

I have 18 students- 10 of them had to write a reflection letter today~ it was a madhouse, I tell ya! And it was some of my golden ones too.

But I smiled and I laughed and I enjoyed my day...why? Because at 1:05pm I had my Post Conference for that eval that I had 2 hours before the break....here's how that went:


I was sooooo nervous! I was hoping that I would come down with a case of malaria or explosive diarrhea (really) or maybe a firstie would vomit on me so I would have to go home. Man, I DID NOT want to walk in that office.

I really like the new PAL-but she does make me really, really, really a little nervous. I did my first three years with those ton of evals with my first PAL, and the turnstile of ASST PALS we have had in the past with no problem..... I have no idea why she makes me so jittery.

OK, remember the Let's be greedy and take all the money    Race to the Top thing I told you about? Well this was my first one for the new eval system. The rubric for the instructional one is three pages FRONT AND BACK! and I am not kidding! There was a lot of preparation for this one.

And I was determined to stick to my guns  and do what I do- not the fluffy for show stuff. And I did. It was a great lesson! And I hit all the points I was "apost" to (I love when my kiddos write that in their journals).... so even though I felt good about it, there were still those things that made me worry....like when "Quinton" spun himself around UPSIDE DOWN in his chair with his feet straight up in the air while I was teaching.....and when "Jamaraqui" went to the bathroom and while he was waiting for nature to take it's course decided to start singing "Tonight, tonight, there's a party on the rooftop top of the world" in our small tile bathroom with wonderful acoustics.....

(At that particular moment I was pretty sure that aliens had taken all of my children at lunch and replaced them with evil beings from another planet) ! All I could do was watch her type away feverishly on her laptop and think about which factory I was going to apply at this summer.

But I went in today with my post conference notes waiting for the worst, while hoping for the best,  and it was AWESOME!

I got all threes and fours (3s are where we are "apost" to be and 4s are way better! Actually on the 12 points of the Instructional Rubric, I had 7 fours!!!)

She loved my rapport with the children. I kept them engaged and active (they were actively engaging in watching the circus act and listening to the Top 40 from the crapper), but they were all working!  I was so relieved!

So when I picked them up from PE we read an extra chapter of Junie B. and I set the timer for 15 mins and let them each share a craft basket! It was beautiful!

I even stayed way later than I normally do so that I can work on  decorating my door (will post details about that tomorrow).

Now for the Christmas Wish...I posted two goofy squirrel pics last night so I thought I would wait until today and I am adding it to this one ....I can tell right now that if there is a bloggy jail, I will end up there for more than one post in a day.....too many things go on in my head at once to remember all that I wanted to say the first time. And sometimes if I don't say it (or write it) when it is right there....it is lost forever!

So here is the first thing on my Christmas list:

Found it on Pinterest.... I want it and I will wear it every Thursday!!!!

Is that not atrocious!!! I am pretty convinced that the designer of this sweater is either married to or related to the "squirrel-on-a-nut-candy-dish-guy"! (see Squirrels Gone Wild post)

And finally, this is where Pac Man comes in:

There was a "ruckus" before lunch today over in the reading corner....lots of laughter....uncontrollable giggles...you know the sound.....the one that means no one in the reading corner is reading!
So I go over to get in on the joke break it up and "Jamaraqui" (yes, the potty crooner) informs me that if you put one finger in your ear and while it is in there, scratch it with a finger from the other hand- it sounds like the game Pac Man.....really- this is what they were doing......so I told them this was not the time, go wash your hands, get back to reading.....and then I headed back over to my desk.....

where I pretended to pick something up off the floor on the other side and I stuck one finger in my ear, scratched it, and SON OF A BISCUIT EATER!!!! It sounds JUST like Pac Man when he is chomping......(I'll wait while you try it) ........tick, tock, tick, tock....

Ok, do three things for me please.....give me a "hip hip hurray" in your head for my eval, google and find out where I can get that  #@&%* sweater (ha ha ) and go show someone the finger in the ear trick (and if they are under 15 - explain who pac man is)!!!

Have a great night! I am off to TPT to do some shopping!