Last Day of School

Last week was my last day of school for the '07-'08 school year. I can't believe the school year is over. Because I started this job in November it did go very quickly! I am looking forward to being at the same school next year with the same number of hours (12 hours per week). The schedule may shift a bit, but I am hoping that I can keep it to Tuesdays and Thursdays again. I am also very excited to be starting the school year and setting the standards for my students from August on, instead of jumping in mid-year.

I love my school and was really touched by some of the end of the year happenings. One thing that this school does is have a Clap Out for the outgoing 5th graders. In the last 10 minutes of the last day of school, the WHOLE school lines the hallways and claps as the 5th graders take their final parade down the halls. They march through all of the hallways, up and down the stairs and out of the school. It is a very encouraging sight!

One other thing that really touched me is the Thank You book. This was my fourth year teaching part-time, and as a part-time or support teacher you can feel left out. The kids have big end of the year parties in their classes, they see their classroom teacher for the majority of the day, and you are doing piles and piles of state-mandated paperwork and testing (ESOL has become just like special ed in Maryland!). When it comes time for teacher appreciation week you may get a little card or two, but you are lucky if the kids remember that you are a teacher too. The last week of school I had to make an effort to go around to my students and say bye to them and talk to them about their plans for the summer and next year (except my 5th grade girls, who were happy to come to my room and visit). I'm not sure who organizes the Thank You book, but each child in the school picks one support teacher or staff to write a little note to. Then someone takes all the notes for you and puts them into a book for you. This way the music, PE, reading, ESOL (etc.) teachers get to read some fun notes from their students and truly feel appreciated.

My school has a lot of great things going for it! We'll see what happens when I am ready to go back to work full-time!