All Wrapped Up

I don't remember being this tired on the last day of school ever. I'm hoping it's a sign of how busy the last week has been and not a sign of how old I'm getting. All the graduations did make for lots of late nights and the last two days were physically more demanding than most, with field day and moving all the classroom furniture into the hallway. I came home from the staff party and took a two hour nap. I could have fallen back asleep, but decided sleeping tonight was more important than feeling fully rested this evening.

I was so tired during the variety show yesterday that I had to get up and walk around about halfway through in order to keep myself from nodding off. And I love the variety show at this school.  There are some very talented kids who play instruments or sing every year. This year there was a first grade girl who sang with precision and technique, on key all the way through her song. There are also several silly skits and many classes do something that is open to every student who wants to join.  Parent involvement is high, but the best part is that everyone is well supported, cheered for, and made to feel like their performance was amazing. It takes a lot of courage to get up there without any real performance experience, but every year kids do and walk away with their confidence intact, or even boosted.

A parent and staff member leading preschoolers

in the Gummy Bear dance.

As busy as the last week of school was for me, my students wrapped up the year watching Duck Tales from the 1980s during any significant down time we had this last week.  By Tuesday they were asking to watch even when there was clearly not enough time to get through one 22 minute episode. By Thursday they came in singing the theme song and everyone sang along with it at the start of each new episode. I'll have to remember this for next year - it certainly kept the kids motivated to finish tasks or clean quietly in order to be able to watch even partial episodes.

So much fun to hear them all singing along.

I'm surprised that my emotional state has been pretty even. I felt some sense of loss when I read thank you cards written by the sixth graders made during one of their last social studies classes. Most cards did a great job of thanking me for something specific or referring to something I taught during the past four months. And walking through the hallways for the last time today, after I turned in my keys, produced some sadness. But as I was on my way to the staff party, it didn't last long.

I am so grateful I had the opportunity to return to this school and make a positive difference for the community during a very challenging circumstance. Several fifth graders and their families expressed disappointment that I won't be in the sixth grade homeroom position next year. Several families of students I taught this year expressed gratitude at my writing instruction and disappointment that I won't be continuing. The principal said she felt like she was going to cry when she said goodbye to me in front of the school. The whole experience has been very healing and confidence building for me.

I'm very excited about next year. I can't wait to get back into my own classroom and join a new team. It's going to be great.