Today's Schedule--Just Plain CRAZY.

That would be my description of today at school. I expected it to be chaotic, what with the district disaster drill and everything, but still....sheesh...

8:00-8:50am CELDT testing (for the ELD kids, which involved packing up half the class and taking them to the cafeteria...)

8:50-9:00am prepping for the drill--gathering things we needed to take outside and giving the kids a pep talk/minor threats on how to behave out on the field...

9:00-10:00 Disaster drill. OK, I guess it went as smooth as it "could have..." but you try keeping 32 kids still and quiet for an hour on the grass. I let them take out books. Not realistic, but we're talking about my sanity here, folks...

10:00-10:07 Back in the classroom and just about to "attempt" to be productive, and, no...wait...there was an announcement that everyone was going to have recess at 10am. (Ours is normally 10:15...)

10:10-10:25 Recess--hey, they announced it late and we're entitled to 15 minutes, so we took it.

10:25-11:25 Back in the classroom--wow...I actually got to have 60 uninterrupted minutes--the longest all day today. We corrected math homework, collected all homework, and took a spelling test. After the chaos outside during the drill, you could hear a pin drop during the spelling test. I think they wanted quiet as much as I did. We also corrected the test together.

11:30-12:15 Lunch (My 2 buddies, Ramona and Nancy, and I just sat and laughed about today. It was like a cartoon. And it would've really been funny if it wasn't so ridiculous and crazy.)

12:15-12:40 Read aloud and a few minutes of this wonderful IMAX ocean documentary, which looks AWESOME being projected on the Smartboard. It is like having a big-screen TV in the classroom. Plug in my speakers with their woofer and --wow. Instant theater.

12:40-1:10--Library for the kids/30 minutes to do some planning and run off copies for next week for me

1:10-1:45 More of the ocean documentary (called IMAX: Deep Sea--one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Highly, highly recommended. The kids were enthralled. That says a lot!)

1:50 Dismissal

1:50-2:30 Several kids stayed to play on the Smartboard while I cleaned up the room and got a few things ready for next week.

2:30-3:45 I went on the laptop (which the Smartboard is connected to) and entered the kids' spelling test grades and prepped for Monday morning, which is when we are supposed to start teaming for ELD for 45 minutes. It's going to be a circus those first several days...Fortunately, the majority of my group are my own kids and, also fortunately, I found some great online ELD interactive activities that we can do on the Smartboard. That will help those first few days as they (the office) iron out the wrinkles. And it is going to be pretty wrinkly...

3:45-4:10 Drove home

4:10-5:30 Played with Alexander at my mom's house. My brother came to pick him up and stayed for over an hour. We talked politics. He's got lots of very good insights.

6:00-8:00 My mom and I went to our Friday night sushi place--Zono, on Lake Avenue in Pasadena. After the crazy day today, I needed good food and good service.

And now...home sweet home.

Plans for this weekend? I need some pampering. A long-lost friend, who I found on Facebook and is also a massage therapist, is coming over in the morning to give me a good 90-minute massage. Oh, how I need one. My back is a sea of knots. Then maybe a showing of The Secret Life of Bees, and then popping over to the carnival at the church around the corner...