Back to It!

It was a glorious week off for most of us, but all of us seemed extremely happy to be back to see friends and to get back to our school routines. Hugs and laughter were the rule of the day, and I had to build in several times during the day to have students simply chat with each other.

During our morning language time, for instance, instead of getting right to our Spelling-Go-Round activity, we started in a circle to share some of our spring break memories. We did this by saying a rose (the best or favorite part of vacation), and a thorn (the most unpleasant or least favorite part of their break). Interestingly, some children started by exclaiming that they ONLY had excellent memories or, conversely, NOTHING good had happened all week, but by the time their turn had come, each person was able to come up with one example of each.

By the way, this is also a lovely idea to do at the dinner table each night - so much better than the dreaded one-word answers you typically get when you ask, "How was your day?"

Our first day back to school was packed with roses.