Last Few Days

June 1: Almost there! 2.5 days and 1 hour left. I started sending things home and cleaning up around the room. It was the last day of centers and I was scrapping to find things to do that wasn't packed up. We had a lot of extra recess.

June 2: BIG clean up day. We used shaving cream on the desks which had LOTS of perks. (Thanks Aunt Joyce for the tip!)
1. It smelled good.
2. It killed at almost 30 minutes of our day.
3. They thought it was the funnest thing we've done all year.
4. Everything was cleaner than it has been all year.
Then, I tried to set them down in front of a movie. However, my crazy kids begged for extra work because they didn't want to watch the movie. It was A Bug's Life for crying out loud. I can count on one hand the number of movies we've watched all year so I thought it would be a treat. Guess not. I guess my lessons have been so exciting and engaging all year that even a movie is boring in comparison. : )
Suspecting that some wouldn't come on the half day, I tried to send everything home but kept finding things after they left. It was also the last day for PE and music. I don't think the kids really "get it" that it is the end of year.

June 3: 1/2 day and LAST real day of school.
I was recognized at the morning assemble for being at school everyday this year. Of course I had to have a few subs for GC training and testing but I didn't take one personal or sick day. I didn't think it was that big of a deal but everyone was very impressed. They were pretty awestruck that I could really make it 180 days surrounded by kids without being sick. Apparently, I have super charged white blood cells and an immune system of steal. We only had one student who didn't miss a day all year. They took our picture which was probably in the paper the next day. The principal thinks it will make parents request me next year. He also encouraged me to take an occasional "mental health day." I figure next year it will be easier to step away for a day. We'll see. I also expect to get sick sometime in the next week. My life usually works like that. As far as the kids day went, we tried to finish watching the movie, cleaned out everything that was left, and those who didn't have a referral all year got to walk to Dairy Queen for a dilly bar. It is almost a mile there so it took a little over a half an hour to make the walk there. I really didn't have any complainers but some dawdlers who literally kept stopping to smell the flowers. Again, the police stopped traffic for us and it was a perfect day for a walk. Not too hot, not too cold. I told everyone to say goodbye to room 23 and got big hugs on the way out. I wonder about their summers and what it will be like for them. School is often the best and safest place for a lot of these kids. I pray that there is a hand of protection over them and they come back in September with wonderful stories of their summers.

June 7: Report card pickup! I had 8 kids show up to get theirs. No surprises about who came and who didn't. I only have one student being retained and I think an extra year of K will help her be successful for many years to come.

I finished packing up everything and left my room until September. It was a little weird knowing that I won't be able to be back there for almost three months. With the construction, they are disabling our keys and no one knows what we will be coming back to in the fall. I'm planning on it being a mess. Most of the stuff I really need is stored away in Bethany's closet until I move out of my current apartment at the end of July. I'm thinking it will spend the month of August in Grandma and Grandpa's garage so that I only have to move it 2 more times instead of 4. Hopefully, everything else will make it back into my room safe and sound. We have excellent janitors but their summers are not shaping up to be a lot of fun. I did my best make it easy for them with large orange papers on everything I own but chaos is sure to ensue anyway. There will be pictures coming soon of what my room ended up looking like in the end and where all my stuff is currently being stored.