Conferences, Spring Break, and Sixlet Subtraction

The thing I love about parent teacher conferences are spending time with the parents. The thing I don't love is how much time and energy it drains from me. Conferences ended at 8 o'clock last night and I actually got lesson plans written too. So that was a wonderful thing.  That means that Spring Break has actually begun. We were going to leave "bright and early" for Kansas this morning and I am just too tired. I fell asleep at the computer last night and I am not packed. Sometimes I think that our report cards don't always assess correctly and sometimes I just don't like what they say. I had to be honest with parents and admit that I had not pursued some areas as rigorously as I should have and that is why students scored low in a certain area. Talk about an assessment! Yikes! A smart teacher probably would keep her mouth shut and for sure wouldn't post it in her blog.  I am really just interested in becoming a better teacher and sometimes (for me) that involves admitting my faults in a public sort of way.  This is something that encourages real change in me, so I am skipping out on being smart and trying to do the thing that will help me become a better teacher. Confession is good for the soul I think.

Sometime today we will head out for our beloved town and we'll stop at our favorite restaurant on the road Pueblo Nuevo. Look for it on Highway 54 in Greensburg. Not only is the food scrumptious, but the family that owns and runs it are a lot of fun! We love stopping and eating there. 

Spring break. I have to admit that I am a little jaded about Spring Break. I get a shorter one than many of my teaching friends and I am trying to remember that starting on April 26, we will not have school on Fridays. The other thing that is disconcerting is that last week the weather was very Spring-like and warm and wonderful. But it's supposed to snow in Kansas Thursday and Friday and then snow here in the panhandle on Saturday night, just in time for us to come home. We took "zoo" out of the itinery, and Coronado Heights, and, and, and.... Boo! But we are going to get some much needed merchandise. Both girls need GOOD shoes. And thankfully (at the moment) I can afford to do this for them. 

This is how I started my break.... a large pile of homemade guacamole provided by another teacher, covered with home made salsa, and chowed it down with some tostitos. Yummo! 

Sixlet Subtraction. Yesterday we needed something "fun" in our class. I had some Easter/Spring Sixlets in my teacher closet (I thought I might need them for conference week.... hee, hee). I gave them each a packet with instruction to open them and NOT to eat them. Some students were more adept at this skill than others!  Some packets had 9 candies and some had 8 candies, but I had to give some students another sixlet so everyone could start with 8 (that meant some students had to eat one before we started). Everyone started with 8 sixlets. Then I instructed them to eat two. We stopped and wrote out our equation and they counted how many were left. We used that for the beginning of our next equation. It was fun. They did great. Sixlets are gluten free so even my student who has been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance was able to participate! I forgot to take photos as we were equating.