Hard Week Over Here

I can't believe another week has come and gone.  And what a week it was.

Mentor Monday was spent working on an application for future mentors and playing the beloved game Spoons!  So.Much.Fun.

Tuesday was testing again so it was low key over here.  I found an awesome logic puzzle (if you don't know these, look into them!!).  Albert Einstein created it so I hung onto him and made Tuesday all about Einstein!  I put his picture in an envelope and allowed the kids to ask yes and no questions to figure out what was in the envelope.  They LOVED this.  After they found out it was him, they watched a short video of 15 surprising things about Einstein and let me tell you, they were surprising!  Then the most eventful thing happened during 7th hour...a lock down and controlled release.  Luckily Shaw had it down and the whole process was safe, communicative, and efficient.  My kids and I made it a game; whoever guessed who was going home next won chips!  This sure took the stress and fear out of the situation.  I was happy to see all my kids go home safely and to find my daughter in my arms later that day.

As we all know Wednesday schools were closed and I can safely say I never want to see a message that school is closed because we are unsafe ever again.  What a sad feeling.  I was happy to be home with my own daughter but what an uneasy feeling.  I am so glad we are all safe again after that scare.

Thursday was a wonderful day.  I was SO happy to see all my kids, more than any other day before.  We were all safe and back at school.  We did a quick emotional check-in and kids started the day off feeling unsafe, fearful, and sad but as the day went on and teachers addressed their feelings, they moved up the thermometer to 'I'm okay' and 'I'm great'.  Helping kids feel safe and secure was the number one priority of the teachers and staff at Shaw and it was apparent that that goal was met.  In our class we did a circle talk in 3rd hour then the other hours tutored or worked on the Einstein logic puzzle that was meant for Wednesday.  The logic puzzle was a BIG hit!

Friday was fun with spoons and Uno then a dance outside to end the day for all Shaw kids.  What a beautiful day to be outside!

Here's to another week with a messed up schedule and kids gone.  Phew, I can't wait to get back into a normal schedule the first week of May.