One More Week to Go

It is hard to imagine that in five weekdays another school year will come to a close. To cheer myself up before the students came in this morning I wrote out this list of things to do. Revisiting the list I think I should do all of them.

As I wrote up the daily routine on the white board this morning I felt a hint of sadness. As a group we have cried over death, laughed over mishaps, sang over birthdays, and celebrated over books we enjoyed. We have bonded and learned much together.My desk did have a stack of "stuff" this morning to put in piles to do before the year ends. At least I could find my desk. There have been times when that was impossible!

As I sat quietly in the morning sun before any students arrived I thought back to the beginning of this journey we embarked on this year. Because of staff adjustments we had to combine our middle school students. I had a 6-7 group and a 7-8 group. At first students were unhappy, but as we all adjusted to the changeit worked out okay. I think students ended up working in teams much better than expected. I will have two of the same grade levels again next year and the 8th graders will just be in the other building. That is what I like about a small school district. Tomorrow I will watch my former students go through the ceremony of graduation. There will be luncheons and parties to celebrate. This is a landmark year for me. When the seniors were in kindergarten it was the first year I taught at this school. They are the first group of students I have known and taught through twelve years of school. Congratulations to the Class of 2007!