Like jumping in to a cold swimming pool. Classroom blues after a break.

Heading back to school after a break is always tough for both me and my kiddos. We are lucky to have a week off for Thanksgiving in my district, so yesterday was the first day back after a week of relaxation. By the end of the day, I could tell it was super hard for the kids to focus. I have three classes of kids - each for a two period block. The first core is always very well behaved. This is usually due in part to being tired. This year though, they really are a great group. The second core is like the middle child - kind of rowdy, and right before lunch. This year that group is very, very smart, but very, very social. The third core is after lunch and before the end of the day. This usually means they have the most behavior issues. Yesterday, they had totally checked out about half way through class. Even with the best lesson plan, the added challenge of keeping their focus after a week of being off is a pretty daunting task. Today is better, and we have a solid three week stretch before winter break. I'm planning to stuff as much in to these three weeks as I can. We're finishing up the Outsiders in class during these three weeks. My colleagues and I completely revamped our Outsiders unit to make it Common Core-aligned. So far, I'm really really enjoying the new unit.