Schools Out!

Today I completed my first year at Lincolnton Middle School. The last day of school is different every year based on the age I'm teaching, if I'm coming back to this school, and hormonal level of my students. It was an emotional day for most of the girls. Some of them were crying in the first ten minutes of school and others waited until the end of the day to cry. Several of them expressed their fear of high school. Several of them thanked me for helping them get to high school. My white board is covered with good-byes and memories. I'm going to have to take a picture of it before I erase it all. My yearbook is filled with well wishes and thanks for being me. I love writing in student's yearbooks too. I love to put in ink my best wishes and prayers for their futures. Hopefully some day down the road they'll read back through it and realize how much I believe in them. My room is empty of everything moveable except my desk and my computer table. Man, is my floor dirty! I've cleaned most of my room as we watched movies this week.

I'm amazed at the amount of paperwork that has to be done to finish a student's middle school career. Today was the day of gathering information for the summer school kids. Monday brings the fun of getting cumulative folders ready for high school. Hopefully, Tuesday will be a day of cleaning and organizing my room. I'm looking forward to sorting cumulative folders and "tracking" my kids' progress thus far in their educational careers.

Don't get me wrong - I love my kids dearly. Some of them will hold a special place in my heart for years to come, but for the most part I'm glad the year is over. My body is physically shutting down. I've been waiting since 5:30 for a decent, dark hour to go to bed. I think I can turn-in soon. Now that school's out, I'll hopefully be able to post more often!