End of the School Year 2007~2008

End of the school year 2008.
For the last few days I've been stressed and eager for the ending of another school year. This school year that is now at an end, was better than the previous, but it was rough in the sense that I spent most of the school year playing catch up...and I never did. I was too tired to even get online to post a few lines to my draft folder for later editing. So my summary of the last few days will be short.

Monday through Wednesday, I gave my students worksheet packets to work independently while I tried to do packing during the school day. The results were fairly nice. Not great, but nice. On one hand, the students did work (relatively) independently. However, there was too many distractions for me to really concentrate on packing. Therefore, I really didn't do any real packing until the students left for the day. I did stick to my plan of 30 minutes "don't bother me, work independently", and 15 minutes review of the materials. I thought the 15 minute review was important in letting the students know that the work was important. It was also nice to have some breathing room. From September until this week, my class found a hundred and one reasons for needing my attention. I spent too much time this school year (and others) running from table to table at the whim of the students. My goal of staying alert and on call at a moments notice was to keep the kettle from boiling over. I've always watched with envy as a couple of teachers who had very good classroom management where they could teach from a chair without the students going wild. Or even being able to work with individual students or small groups, without the others being disruptive in a "I want your attention teacher...NOW!!!" I can keep my class from going wild because I do it the hard way. I spend most of the class time on my feet moving from table to table. I work hard but not smart. I burn too much energy physically doing what can be done with just a look or the tone of the voice. Something I will definitely be working on next school year. I was able to get a sample of "it" these last few days. Since I was so eager to not repeat my mistake of last year (not waiting until the very last day to start packing up, and having to do all the packing and moving of furniture myself), I was quick to cut off the nonsense I usually entertained. I was in no mood to argue or explain to 8 year olds too eager to waste time. The end results were that my class was still loud and hyper, but less so.

Anyway, by Wednesday (the last full day of school), my class was packed and the furniture was moved (thanks to the students). Everything was done except my teacher's area. Wednesday started off just like any other day, the kids were hyper. Yesterday, I had told them that if they behaved (and moved the furniture)for the last day, I would buy pizza for a pizza party. Within about an hour, I came to my senses. I refused to buy pizza for them. Well, when lunchtime came around, I softened a bit. I decided to buy a large pizza pie as a reward for the approx. 8 students who were consistently good. As hyper and disrespectful that some of my students can be, not all of them are badly behaved. And it isn't fair to the good kids to be punished for the behavior of a few. So the good kids got the pizza. Everyone else received chips and soda. About an hour before 3PM (dismissal time), admin makes an all call for teachers to send down a messenger to bring up the students NYS tests results which had to be given out with the report cards. I also included my progress report, and the school's reading report. Last night, I went to Target to make copies of the class photo taken early in the school year. I included the photo as a souvenir for each student. Only about 2 kids paid for the photo. I put the report card, NYS test reports, my progress report, reading reports, and a class photo into plastic Ziploc bags. After the snack party, I told my students they would not get anything until they cleaned up and packed up (including moving the desk and chairs). In the end, I was pleased with myself. Where other teachers still had about a days worth of packing to do, I was just about finished...or so I thought. Since I hadn't touch my teaching materials and supplies, I wasn't ready to rent a U-Haul van to move my things. I was able to call to have my reservations changed for tomorrow.


Completion Date - Saturday, June 28, 2008 2:02AM
Post Date - Friday, July 11, 2008 11:32PM