Parties and Plans: Then and Now

Here I am, at home, with my sick child. I had to leave school at noon to take care of my daughter after receiving a call from the nurse at her school telling me my daughter was sick.

When I was in 2nd grade, here are the directions that probably would have been left for my teacher's substitute had she left early that day:

1. Make sure everyone stays in his or her own desk.
2. Ask two students to give out the treats (If suggestions were given of "good students," I would have been listed of course!!)
3. Give out the Halloween worksheet. Students should complete it by themselves.
4. Sing Halloween song.
5. Have two students clean up the trash.
6. Have two students sweep the floor.
7. Have two students clap the erasers.
8. Have students pack up.

And here are some of the directions I left:

1. Here is how you log into the Mac. It is the same way as you log into a pc.....
2. Here is where you access the on/off to the projector (it's in a box).
3. Do you know how to orient the Smartboard (yes, good). If you have trouble, see the teacher next door.
   
4. Here is the link to the web site, etc. (provided directions to get to a Halloween spelling game to play on the Smartboard).
5. Here is a pile of books my student helpers and I collected in case you need them to read.
6. On the children's desks are science papers. They need to observe the toothpaste and water to see what it looks like after sitting overnight.
7. The children can have some independent reading time if there's time. They love that. Or, they can write in their journals. They were learning about "sound words" and alliteration by watching two short videos and creating a podcast yesterday so they might want to use those styles in their writing today.
8. Parents are coming at 1:30 to help the children dress. Some parents will stay in the classroom to help set up for the party (food and craft) and others will come on the parade around town.
9. I have partnered the children for the parade so they keep an eye on each other. I used the digital photo magnets of the children posted on the chalkboard to show you who the partners are.
10. Here is my cell phone number in case you have any questions.
11. Make sure to lock up the Mac and cord in the closet when you are finished.

Whew! No wonder we are tired at the end of the day - even if we aren't there!!!