Packing Up to Pack it In

So the last day of school for the kids was on Tuesday the 24th.

The last day for teachers, due to the fact that the kids were forgiven the ungodly number of snow days we had this year but the teachers were not, is Tuesday the 31st.

Which means we have had a lot of time to kill.  Our days usually consisted of about 3 hours of in-services, meetings, workshops or whatever.  Then lunch on our own.  Then the rest of the afternoon was spent packing up our rooms, working with other teachers, and trying to keep from becoming completely bored before we could leave at 2:30.  The 8th grade teachers - every one of which had to change rooms - really needed the time.

Just in case some of you were wondering, the 8th grade teachers had to change rooms for a variety of reasons.  One, since our district is pushing a big huge STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiative into the 8th grade this next year, they finally saw the light and realized that science teachers probably need to be in the rooms with running water and sinks, since the social studies teachers who were in those rooms weren't using the running water and sinks.  (No, I still do not have running water and a sink and it will be a cold day in hell before any of us in the old part of the building ever get those, even if we are teaching science.)  The other reason is that we will again have a number of 8th grade teachers who will be picking up two7th grade classes next year, and it makes sense to have these teachers on the end of the 8th grade hallway that's closest to the7th graders.  Last year we had 7th graders running all over the building (and consequently being late all over the time) because their teacher was way down on the end of the 8th grade hallway.  So, truly, it all works out.  Or it should.

Maybe because the admins solicited topics for the in-services, they actually were, for the most part, pretty interesting.  We did a review of our first year of SWPBS (school wide positive behavior support) implementation which was interesting.  Our discipline referrals are way, way, way down this year, but of course the grade with the most problems is 7th.  Let's face it, they just lose their minds that year, regardless of all the positive reinforcement you give them.  As Mr. Enforcer said, it's amazing the amount of stupid boy stuff that he sees out of the seventh graders.  (Sort of like the kid who smuggled his friend onto the school bus in a duffle bag since he didn't have a permission slip from the principal to ride another bus.  Gotta wonder about that one.)

We also had a great in service on what kind of information you can find in a cumulative file.  The Principal is planning on giving us two days of in-service credit at the beginning of the year to work on the files of our 20% of kids who are considered most at risk so we can come up with some interventions - great idea, if you ask me. As luck would have it, my whole team knew exactly what file the Principal was using as soon as it went up on the document reader - even though the names had been blacked out - because it's one we worked with most of the year.  Truly, this poor kid has one of the worst life stories I've ever heard and you could have heard a pin drop as The Principal went through his file and highlighted things that popped out at her that we needed to look at.  Mother had him at 17, father deceased, did okay on state tests until the 5th grade, removed from the home twice, mother has a drug problem and was charged with abuse and neglect, not to mention the fact that she'd lock her kids in their bedrooms while she turned tricks for drug money, she'd lock them in the car, live-in boyfriend was on the lam for some sort of felony conviction, and it went on and on.  (Is there any surprise here that this kid does not do well in school?)

And of course Mrs. Eagle and I spent a lot of time going through our files (and dumping a lot of stuff), going through our unit binders (and dumping and adding stuff) and generally coming up with some ideas for next year.  Although STEM is going to be hit hard and heavy in 8th grade, we're being "encouraged" to attempt more of it on our own next year as well (no big deal as we did a lot of that this year anyway).

So, it's been productive, and unrushed, but we're all about at the end of finding things to keep us busy.  So one more day, which includes our end of the year lunch, and then we're free.

Except I have a science lab in-service on June 1st.  Maybe I can sleep in on the 2nd...

The Longest Month

I don't know if it's because we lost all our mental health days holidays (due to going over our snow day limit), or if the kids are just more annoying this year, or what, but this is turning out to be the longest 16 1/2 days of my life.

I am not alone.

There probably isn't a staff member on board who isn't just dragging into the building every morning, hoping to make it through the day.  Of course, the nearly constant thunderstorms and tornado sirens aren't doing us any good when it comes to getting a good night's sleep.  But still, we're just dragging.

And even coffee isn't helping.

Last Day!

So today was the last half day of school.

Yeah, I know. A half day on a Monday. Why bother? Honestly, I don't know why we did it like this this year, but we did. Teachers, however, have two more days to report for in-service, including one day that's a make-up for the snow days we had earlier this year.

We actually managed to get report cards handed out on Friday, so we didn't have to deal with that. It was, honestly, a fairly nice morning. The kids that showed up (19 out of a homeroom of 26) helped do some packing, ate some snacks and watched The Sandlot and had a pretty nice time. And then, of course, we waved the buses goodbye which is my favorite end of the year tradition.

I had, for the most part, a pretty good group of kids this year. And if you compared them to the group from the previous year, they were angels. I'm going to miss seeing some of them every day. Some of them I'd take home and keep in a heartbeat. Some of them already have good character and I know will be successful in life. I'm proud of many of them.

On a good note, I've received some really nice graduation announcements from some of my former students. That's always nice to see because kids don't always remember their middle school teachers like they do their high school teachers. Mrs. Eagle and I will be going to commencement on Thursday and I'm looking forward to seeing some of my kids walk across the stage and get their diplomas. It's nice knowing you may have had a small part in getting that kid to that point in his or her life.

And better yet? One of my girls from way back came by today and invited me and Mrs. Bunny to her graduation. She's going to be going to Eastern Kentucky University this fall and will major in Chemistry! A scientist! I'm so proud of her. I love it when our kids do well!

Are We There Yet?

I worked with a delightful lady Up North who once described the last few weeks of school as one very long car ride with a bunch of kids. "They all get along pretty good at the beginning of the trip, but by the time you get to your destination, they're all sick and tired of each other and are fussing and squabbling in the back seat."

She's right. And I wish I could reach into the back seat and slap some sense into them all.

We finished our Very Big Deal Government Mandated Tests last week, so that's no longer hanging on the horizon like a vulture waiting for some road kill. Although we all sort of feel like road kill at this point in time. We are having our reward party tomorrow (lucky me, I'm getting to work the pizza booth), which should be fun for the kids and tolerable for the adults. We get to wear jeans (always a happy day), and basically just shovel food and games at the kids while they run crazy and spend their reward tickets on things like cotton candy, door prizes, and hair painting.

Personally, I love the idea of getting them all hyped up on sugar, loading them on the buses and sending them home.

However, we still have five weeks of school. I am still assigning work. I am still taking grades. And some of these kids still need to bust their tails in order to pass. Yet, for some reason, some of them decided earlier this week that bringing paper, pencil, their binder, agenda or book was just Too Much Work, and they began to show up to class with nothing. They'd sit there empty handed and just look at us as if they expected us to entertain them by pulling rabbits out of a hat or something.

So, we entertained those that brought their materials to class by watching those that didn't clean out their lockers and lose locker privileges for a few days. (It worked, they now are showing up, for the most part, prepared.)

And if that isn't enough, the kids are all getting really annoyed and fussy with each other. It's spring so it must be Fight Season. Lovely. Hall duty is never as much fun as it is this time of year. This week alone we had a fight in the 8th grade hall, another in PE, another at lunch, and a few down in the sixth grade. And those are just the ones that I know about.

So the question is....are we there yet? And will we make it there in one piece?