Just Breathe

That's what I keep telling myself at least.  I'm finishing up the DYO literacy assessments which, as predicted, have taken me 6 weeks of sacrificing my preps (the ones that are not eaten up by meetings).  I left some of the lower kids until the end of this time span to give them some time to improve, which makes me even more depressed by the results.  My class has 26 first grade children.  The reading benchmark for this time of year was level D (I've heard that TC changed it to E).  I officially have 3 children reading level "G" or above, 2 children at "E,"  2 at "C," and everyone else, I MEAN EVERYONE ELSE, is reading at level B (actually, there are 2 As).  That makes 19 children who are PROMOTION IN DOUBT on my report cards.  I want to curl up in a corner and cry about the world being a totally unfair place.  I had a girl today (who indeed did go to Kindergarten) miss the sight word "I" on the assessment.  It's the one word they write over and over again in Kindergarten.  "I like cats, I like dogs."  "I go to the park...etc."  

P.S. Someone shredded toilet paper all over my rug during our shared reading about pumpkins.   What is more entertaining around Halloween than songs like "Five Little Pumpkins?"  I even had my student teacher turn off the lights when the thunder claps so they could feel the full effect.  I guess toilet paper is more interesting.