Snow!

Saturday David and I were in the house, getting his afternoon snack when I looked outside... SNOW!
The last time he saw snow was last winter/early spring, too long ago for him to remember. He was SO excited to see snow falling from the sky that we rushed to get his jacket on and get outside.

He squinted at it, ran towards it, reached for it, caught a few flakes and screamed, "Ouch! It's COLD!"

What a little goof.

Since he refused to keep his hood up, I didn't want to stay outside for long periods of time.

Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses, or, in this case, catch the snowflakes.

Even if they ARE cold.

p.s. I LOVE that he felt the need to applaud Mother Nature's performance in the last photo. :-D

Word of the Week: Gourd

Fall is in full swing. Leaves are making their gentle descent. The air has a distinct chill. The colors are beautiful - even more beautiful than spring. I can even hear the melodious opera of leaf blowers as I type this. Fall.

Speaking of which, David continues to impress me with his ever-increasing vocabulary. The other day we were looking at a display of fall-associated items. He, of course, points out the "punkins" and grins. Then he moves his little hand and points again. "Gourd." Gourd? I am not sure if I pointed one out in a book, in the cards I was stamping last week, or if he learned it at daycare, but I am impressed. Gourd.

I cannot help but wonder which vocabulary word will be next...

Classes, Grades, and Visits

I've recently started work online for my masters degree in Literacy and Learning in the Content areas. After researching many university options (including brick-and-mortar campuses) and many areas of concentration, I think I have found the best fit for me. Sharing professionally with others outside my building and district has sparked my reflective side as a teacher. Even though we are at the end of a school year, I find myself truly thinking about what I want to do differently next year and how I might restructure some classroom activities to make them more engaging for students. About mid-summer is when I normally feel energized enough to start thinking about the upcoming year.

In the meantime, we are completely in full-throttle for the end of the year. Grades are due this Friday at noon. I'm currently taking a break from grading make-up work and entering those into the online gradebook. Today I received a stack (not kidding... probably a quarter-inch thick) of work for a student who has been at the alternative academy. NONE of it is work that I sent. (I'm still struggling to understand WHY I am expected to "get together" work for this student on a few hours notice when NONE of the work comes back. Zero. I checked through the stack twice. I even sent a cover letter with a checklist of all the work sent last time. Nothing. Nada. Zip. How frustrating!) In addition, some of the work that DID come back was reading comprehension questions based on texts. No problem. I teach reading. I can grade that... right? Well, not if the questions are based on a text that they did not include with his questions and answers! (No answer key was included either, but you probably figured that out already.) Yeesh. "And in your spare time, Mrs. S... what do you do?" ;-D

Our little 19-month-old man is so amazing right now. He can do some basic sign language (especially "more" and "eat") and is speaking more clearly. I knew being a mommy would be the toughest job I would ever love, but I had no idea just how much my heart would melt for this little guy. Five minute walks take forty-five minutes, but I now see ants that I previously overlooked. Sniffing flowers means exhaling at them. He teaches me more than he'll ever know. He is my world. I just hope that I can be the same for him.