We've survived our first day of the ELA MCAS...and it was a long one. Last year the ELA portion of the MCAS was spread over the course of three days, while this year fortunately it's only two days. While that's obviously a positive thing (the less days of testing, the better), it also means that more material is packed into each day. For that reason, it was a strenuous day of testing- I was exhausted simply watching the kids work. The stamina they showed was incredible though, and I was a very proud teacher. I can't wait until Tuesday afternoon when day two is also behind us!

On Wednesday of this week, we joined classes and did some review jeopardy. It's always fun to have both groups together in one room. On Friday, we made cards for Mr. Cheney since it was his official last day as pool director at the Kennedy. We then went outside to play kickball as a reward for filling up the transition jar. It was great to get some fresh air, and I look forward to spending time outside more and more as the weather gets nicer. I also really enjoyed getting to see the kids cheer each other on and show great sportsmanship. After specialist, we started the movie "Wonder" and then finished it after lunch. I absolutely adored the book and I've been waiting to see the movie so that I could watch it with the class. The movie was beautifully done and did the book proud. I only shed a couple of tears...on a couple of occasions....

Our Bucket Fillers of the week were Jayden and Pedro. Jayden is the epitome of sweet. He's such a nice kid and his recent Ove writing task blew me away. Pedro worked really hard on Thursday, and I was very impressed with his perseverance throughout the long and tiring day. Nice job, boys!