School's Out for the Summer!!

It's official, and I am done with school commitments until July.  My room is packed, covered, cleaned, and organized.  My paperwork is turned in and my brain full of knowledge about Common Core writing standards.  We had a great end of the year with fun day and celebrations for almost everyone.  My sometimes least favorite friend decided that he was going to make the last few weeks happy for everyone. Which for me means that when I think of him, instead of wanting to start rolling my eyes and feeling the tension I can smile and actually have honest thoughts about missing him in 3rd grade.

It's funny how the year ends.  We have moments where I finally feel like we have arrived at a good and productive place.  We can sit on the carpet for 20 minutes and listen quietly and attentively for 30.  We can stay on task and write for almost 15.  On one of the last days, I let them play with the toys and was able to spend almost 45 minutes working on things while they got along, shared, and worked together.  Alas, it only lasted 2 weeks because once they have finally arrived it's time to send them on to first grade. I hope the first grade teachers appreciate it.  I'm going to be starting all over again.  One of the best parts of the last day was cleaning with shaving cream and sponges.  I'm bummed I didn't get pictures for my yearly picture book but the smell of Barbasol still lingers in the air.  I almost didn't get everyone wiped down and cleaned off before it was time to part ways.  I'm sure more than one went home with soap behind their ears or in the crevices of their shorts.

We leave for Ethiopia next Friday so if I don't write again before then don't expect anything else until I have time to write a full trip report.  Happy Summer!

Talli Dog

This is my Talli dog. 

This is her story.

We'd always had a dog but she was the first that was MY dog.  She came to be mine Christmas Eve of 2001 as a 4 month old sweet faced puppy.  I call her mine but she was shared by many.  First, with my grandparents as they harbored the surprise.  Then, the rest of my family as we thought about a name.  Finally, my parents when I went off to school.  She was Dad's constant companion to do chores and in the truck. She was mine on long walks and time on the couch.  She was mom's outside in the garden and under the cutting board.  She was mine but she was everyone's.  She didn't often have a favorite but we shared her as ours.      

 

 She was easy to train but I think the words she learned fastest were "walk," "truck," or "treat."  She learned fast her areas of the house - mudroom, kitchen, and the old brown chair.  She liked to test her limits with two paws on the stairs or a sleep spot by the chair.  She always seemed to inch her way further onto the forbidden spots and it was oh so hard to turn down those begging brown eyes.  It wasn't her fault she just always wanted to be near.   She was so smart we taught her a few special tricks like balancing treats on her nose or playing dead on the floor.  I always imagined that she was humoring us as we tried to show off to friends.

 She was an excellent mother two different times. Her puppies were the joy and highlight of that time in our lives.  She licked and loved them over and over but never was suspicious of strangers or cross state adventures.  

 We know they all grew up with her sweet disposition and love of people both big and small. It was a riot to see them all come when I called.












Mostly, she wanted to be where the people are.  She begged with her eyes and never a whine.  It was amazing how patiently she would wait her turn and her time.

She was quiet and sweet.  She seemed to hate to speak.  We could coax her into it with growl or a treat.  She always aimed to please and was hardly demanding.  She nosed for a hand and a scratch but never to go out or to eat.  She never liked to snoop or get in the trash.  She stuck to her toys, bones, and the occasional kleenex when one dropped within reach.  She played fetch for awhile but never very long unless there was water involved and then she would go on and on.  She seemed to always know when a big trip was in store and rode quite perfect, quiet on the floor.  For us and our family, she was just the right fit.  We couldn't have had a better dog to have by our sides, under our hands, and next to us in the seat.  

 It's going to be strange not to come home to her next time.  It's hard not to imagine no dog in my life.  No one to share my walk or seat on the couch.  She'll never be replaced, always remembered, and forever loved.  Someday, I'll have a new dog but it will always be compared to my Talli dog.  She'll always be there with me on walks, when I see a puppy, or have to give the floor an extra sweep.  "Talli" means lamb and our Talli dog was sweetly perfect and perfectly sweet - Always and Forever. 

There's a lot going on

As noted by this email conversation with my principal.

Me: Do you want me to take care of the DQ Blizzard orders for Teacher Appreciation week?
Him: Go for it.
Me: Ok
Him (after seeing that I had a sub today in the email from the secretary): Are you in Africa?

Rest assured he was dead serious.  Absolutely stone cold serious.

Me: No. I'm in the computer lab.  AIMS Web testing.

Him: That makes a lot more sense.

I saw him at 3:30 and made sure to wave as to assure him that I had not in fact ditched the last 2 weeks of school to go to Africa.  Nor was I in Africa emailing him about taking Blizzard orders on behalf of the PTO for teacher appreciation week.  His response was only a return wave and a comment about how there's a lot going on.  I think that probably about sums up what these last 2 weeks will be like.  I might as well be in Africa.

Zoo 2012

 When should you go to the zoo?  When it's cloudy and cold of course!!

For some reason, I wasn't very excited about this year's trip to the zoo.  I think burnout was getting to me and it didn't sound like very much fun.  Then, it was going to be raining and it really didn't sound like fun.  However, when you go on a cloudy day and it actually doesn't rain you get to have the whole place to yourself.  The animals were very active and right up next to the fences showing off for the kids.  We also got to do a little classroom visit where they let us pet a snake, chicken, and turtle.  The biggest downer of the day was when we learned the playground was closed.  It might be even more fun than the zoo for the kids and the biggest plus is that it wears them out to near exhaustion.  Bummer for all parties involved.

What is not a bummer is that there are only 13 days of school left.  WAHOO!!!

Ho Down Hi & Ho Down Lo

We had our spring program a week ago and since the quality of my video isn't that great I'm putting it up.  The faces are practically blurred.  It's pretty cute and the program was essentially just them singing 8 two minute songs.  They liked it.  More zoo pictures to come later in the week. 

Just kidding.  It won't upload.

Update Musings & Ethiopia

I'm not actually writing because I have news to share but because it's been almost a month since I actually wrote anything. Yikes. I guess this is as good of a time as any then to write a little about a trip I'm taking this summer. First, a few bullets about room 25.

-I have another new student. We're back to that magic number 21. He's really sweet and completely random most of the time but hasn't caused any ripples.

-The last day is MAY 24th! That is sooooo much earlier than the last 2 years I don't know what I'm going to do with myself for the last week in May.

-Oh wait, yes I do. We have common core standards and curriculum alignment training for 2 days for the following week. Psh.

-I am helping with the Kindergarten Academy starting July 16th so my summer just got a week shorter. It will be really great for the kids and make the start of the year for all kindergartners and their teachers smoother but I'm still not sure jumping in 1 month ahead of everyone else is a good idea.

-Going along with the last bullet, my patience at this point in the year is at an all time low. Especially for those things that students have been doing all year long. It's APRIL and we really don't need to be breaking down in sobs over a place in line. Starting a month earlier dealing with the little things that 5 year olds think are big things might run my patience a bit short a little early. We shall see.

-We are having the K program on Tuesday and going to the zoo on Friday. Did I mention the end of the year is practically here?

-Testing on May 7, 8, 9th is going to mark the end of the year. Big bonus that I don't have to do the major tear down/put away that we did that last 2 years.

Ethiopia Bound!

This year, I am going back to Ethiopia June 8-22. I probably knew when I got back last year that I was going to go again. It took me a little longer to accept that reality and embrace the challenge of leading the team but I'm excited about where God is leading. Yes, you read that I am leading this year's trip. I am leading a group of 8 from my church with the organization Blessing the Children International. We chose a different organization because they will allow us to stay longer, are the same cost, and it will hopefully allow us to develop some relationships there that we can continue through the years as Windsor sends more teams each summer.

At this point, I have raised all my financial support and we are working on figuring out what we will take and do while we are there. We are probably going to do some first aid clinics and hopefully a fun day with the kids. We have a great team and we've already seen God stepping up and providing. It's a great story to share and we haven't even left yet so I'm looking forward to what everything else that is coming. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we prepare and depart!!

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!!!!