It Is Time to Say Goodbye.......to Another Year

It is time to say goodbye to another school year! I am ready. It has not been an overly stressful year, but I think a break is always welcome
This year saw so many changes: new cut scores for standardized testing, introduction of the upcoming smarter balanced testing, new teachers, new students (every month except June), more testing than we have ever done before, and, of course, teacher evaluations.

My favorite part has always been students. This year I was blessed to be able to teach so many highly motivated newcomers. Students who came to America with no English skills at all, but by spring they were helping other students. Students who came and had never read an English book, but at the end there were the ones with the most AR points at the end of the year.

There were also challenges among my students: I am thinking about the one student who kept falling asleep in my class almost every day. He could not remember to turn in assignments either. His most common reply was, "you never told me I need to do this."  You really can miss a lot while sleeping (or napping in class). Then there were the students who came to America, but had missed two to three years of school. If we had known about that at the beginning of the year, we could have had much better action plan for them. Well, there is always next year.

Colleagues--I could not manage without them. There are the comments in the mornings: "I was wondering where you were this morning." "This is late for you." (And it wasn't even seven in the morning:)) Or the essential questions: "Do you have any extra coffee?" "Does your Internet work?" "How late are you staying today?"
There are also the serious ones: "What can I do with this child? Nothing that I try is working." Or the many discussions that we have about the level of English proficiency of our students and their abilities. I love to brainstorm together with teachers about curriculum and how we can made the common core standards accessible for our ELL students.

I will miss the people this summer (not grading)! I will take the time to recharge my battery and get ready for a new year.  I will have fun!! I will share coffee and lunch dates with friends. I will irrigate my soul. I will walk more. I will read academic books as well. I will travel with my daughter. I will write more.  I will comment on more posts. I will participate in Teachers Write 2013.  I will have fun!!!!!