Letter of the Week: Vv

V is for Vase/vegetables.

Hello friends and happy November! I hope everyone enjoyed "falling" back an hour today - I know I did! I have a lot of things on my mind so this post will be a lot less structured than previous LOTW posts. Please forgive me. Last week was a pretty good week. I think deciding to scale back on the curriculum was a great decision. In priming my students to get ready for center rotations, I lowered the rigor of the content I was teaching to increase my ability to manage the class. I literally had them cut and paste only the word 'I' for their Make-a-Books and did each of the center activities (Letter Cut and Paste, My Vv Book, and Letter Vv Art) whole group. I couldn't believe how much this freed me up to properly teach my students the routine and expectations for each center activity. I haven't decided if this will be the week we go into full on center rotations or if I should have them practice each center for one more week - as they say in the fantasy sports world, this will be a game-day decision.

I'm excited to announce that my Rug Project got fully funded today! That means my students will no longer have to sit on rows of colored duct tape. This project was made a reality by some truly incredible people that I know and even strangers who I don't know. I was equally as inspired by the donors as donors were inspired with the project. Thank you again to everyone who supported this meaningful endeavor. My students are going to LOVE their new rug!!!

In other news, I was told on Friday that I would be losing one of my kiddos back to his home school and getting a new student tomorrow morning. Just when I'm starting to build some momentum going into the first of nine days before our Thanksgiving break, the 'Revolving Door' strikes again! I'm very sad to see my friend J go as I get quite attached to my students, but I'm also extremely curious to see how my new student will affect the classroom dynamic, if at all.

My thoughts go out to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. I have family members out on the east coast, and some that live in New York so I am hoping for a speedy recovery from this tragic catastrophe.

Lastly, with two days left before we find out who the President will be for the next four years, I just want to take the time to advocate YES on Prop 30! I am so passionate about what I do, the children I teach, and the people I come in contact with day in and day out. Please, help secure funding for our schools in California. Prop 30 would raise California's sales tax from 7.25% to 7.5%. That's an increase of a quarter of a percent. There would also be an increased tax rate for those in the very top income brackets. As many know, California isn't regarded as a front-runner when it comes to states with the best education system. Personally, I'd like to see a shift, especially with the education of inner city students. If 30 doesn't pass it's likely I won't have a classroom to teach, and if I am so lucky to have a classroom next year, you can bet that after a $6 billion budget cut, I'll never see a maximum kinder class size of 22 ever again. Please just take the time to look at the prop and consider the issues that currently face our education system. Phew, that was tough! I almost exclusively keep my political and fiscal views to myself, but the thought of Prop 30 not passing really scares me! It passed!

Here's to a great week, the end of political ads, and some highlight teaching moments. Thanks for reading!