Second quarter, here I come! I finished the first quarter strong, but there were certainly a wide range of emotions up to that point. Physically, I took two sick days- one for an upset stomach and one for laryngitis. After watching most of my kids go down with something or other, two sick days wasn't so bad. Emotionally, I started the year feeling excited but also behind and overwhelmed. I was learning technology at the same time I was getting my classroom and lesson plans together. Adding the college classes really put me over the edge for a couple of weeks. The classes were fine, but I was tired. I didn't know how many hours I would need to put into my job. I was frustrated at the number of wasted hours I spend learning technology as well. But now I am really thankful for all the new skills I have learned. I love what I am able to do with computers in the classroom. We have an Apple grant, so the kids each have an iPod, and I teach with a Macbook and iPod. The hardest thing so far has been classroom management. I tried to do things exactly like another teacher, but that didn't work for me. Everyone was getting in trouble, and I wasn't happy. I got some other ideas from a couple of mentor teachers which worked much better. First I needed to get my procedures under control. Then I needed to find a way to make them want to follow the rules. My favorite classroom management strategy was to introduce table competitions. Every time I give the students directions, the first table on task gets a point. At the end of the week, everyone at the winning table gets a small prize. My hardest students have their good days and bad days. We have a lot more good days now, though. We use Dojo for individual behavior, so the parent notifications help. I also remind the students that every day is a new day. The student with the most Dojo points at the end of the day gets a small prize. It makes me so happy when a student who has never gotten it before wins the prize.