Join this fabulous group of bloggers as we celebrate our weeks. You can link up on Ruth Ayres blog at www.ruthayreswrites.com
Today I am celebrating this crazy, busy time of reflection and goodbyes and new beginnings.
Next week, my 8th grade students will have their completion ceremony and move on to high school. There are so many details to take care of. We celebrate the years that these kids have been at this school...some since 4-year-old kindergarten. It is fun putting together the slide show for this ceremony.
I finished my report cards!!!!!
I spent time in my classroom cleaning and boxing things up. The task is much bigger this year because I will move to a different classroom next year. I also need to sort through all of my books and weed out the ones that are not appropriate for 4th grade. Although it is a big task, my heart is light and it is easy to do. I am so excited to be an elementary school teacher again.
I shared the news with the middle school students that I won't be their teacher next year. Although I hated to disappoint them, it really pulled on my heartstrings to see how upset they were. I have had a love/hate relationship with my role as a middle school teacher and I celebrate the fact that I have been able to become a teacher they want to have.
I got a surprise visit from two young men who just graduated high school. They were students in my very first 8th grade class and I haven't heard from either of them since then. It was so nice to see that they are doing well and heading off to the Marines. Both of these young men were very challenging to teach as 8th graders and it was wonderful to see that they are successful young adults who now can appreciate the help and advice that we gave them in 8th grade.
I had my writing classes write reflections about their year in ELA class. I love reading about how they have grown this year. I plan to write a blog post to share some of their insights.
My teacher planner from Erin Condren arrived this week. As soon as I heard I would be teaching 4th grade, I celebrated by ordering a planner. I love these planners and am so excited to have it over the summer while I am working on learning the 4th grade curriculum. (If you don't know about these planners, you need to go to their website and check them out...pricey, but completely worth it)
We had a nice dinner out with our student council group this week. It was fun to celebrate our year of working together by having some great food together.
What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!
Sounds like you have been very busy in anticipation of your move to a new grade. Exciting prospects ahead! Although this goodbye is emotional I am sure. Good luck with all of it!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy your new grade level, Andrea. It sounds like an exciting move. We have the same feelings for our 8th graders who are leaving. Some have been with us 9 years! And in our Continuation ceremony so many alumni return to watch & remember. Great to see them. And thanks for the planner idea; I will look them up!
ReplyDeleteI always loved those visits from formerly challenging students (the difficult ones were always my favorite to teach anyway). So often, we have no idea what the impact of our work is until years later! Love your beautiful new planner! Sounds like you'll be very busy over the summer planning for next year.
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