School's EOY (Summer)

School years completed: 17

School years with a crazy amount of origami: 1

The countdown to summer was boring in the scheme of things. There were a few kids who were desperate to fix grades, but most of the kids had grades they were comfortable with. No one with a low B wanted to do the effort to boost it all the way to an A. 

One of my classes had a couple of nice kids that went out of their way to make me feel better about the year.

My whole goal with being a teacher is to change lives. I hope that by starting earlier it will echo throughout all the years to come. It'd be nice to be remembered, but it's not really necessary. I want to create an environment for kids to become more confident and competent, connect to their peers, and LEARN. It'd be nice if they liked me and learned Geometry. Learning that effort matters and there are rewards for putting that effort in, how to think critically, how to be a student, and how to learn are all way more important. I hope every kid who leaves my class feels valued and that they are worthy of being valued (because they are all made in God's image -- even the annoying ones).

Graduation for the seniors was Tuesday. I stayed afterschool to work rather than kill time driving home. I did get myself a Danny's Favorite from Wegmans to power me through! 

Graduation was at JPJ again. There were much fewer masks than last year. 

If I was slicker, I could have had an earbud in. I wasn't. I watched the whole thing honestly. I wasn't sitting near any of my teacher friends either, so there wasn't a ton of talking. 

The last few days of the week were uneventful. I talked to kids and even played a round of Agropolis to try and entice a few into learning a new game.

I let one of my CS 2 students fulfill a dream: He rearranged the desks into the shape of a boat.

I didn't even make him fix it before he left. I did it myself during planning.

The end of school is always a mix of sweet and sour for me. The finality of it all hits. 

Meanwhile, Shane enjoyed his last week of school. There were all sorts of activities! He couldn't wait to go to school and he couldn't wait for summer! We made it through 6th grade! He passed both of his SOLs easily and ended with all A's and a couple of B's. There were some rough spots here and there (especially at the beginning). Shane's biggest challenges remain his focus, his attention-seeking, and dealing with peers. 7th grade feels like the first true year of middle school for me, so we'll see how that goes next year (Keep us in your prayers!). For now, Shane's earned his summer's rest!