Graduation Day Memories…

Well, it’s here. The last day of school…time for Kindergarten Graduation! It is as completely adorable as you can imagine…caps & gowns & tassels & bazillions of pictures. We’ve got our little poem ready, our rockin’ Pete the Cat song, diplomas & medals & a sweet little reception all planned out. When all is said and done we will present the class of 2024…holy moly! Doesn’t that feel like it’s forever away?!

This has been a really sweet little class. No major behavior problems (beyond the cursing that somehow managed to happen fairly regularly…from the 5 year olds)…excited about learning & willing to participate in *most* of my antics…and just these big, adorable, occasionally frustrating personalities. Every year I seem to bring out the fiesty in my students…what does that say about me? 😉

I always get mad at myself at the end of the year, because there have been so many hilarious moments and quotes that I have yet again failed to write down. It’s no different this year…but we have had some serious laughs along the way. Here are some of the memories I hope to carry with me from this year…

*The incredible, incredible growth I saw from most of my students. It is crazy to have them come in barely knowing their alphabet and leaving reading. Seriously reading. Or for them to hardly be able to write their name and to leave writing sentences (it’s a stretch for some of them, but they’re getting there!) It’s crazy and exciting and a little mind-boggling when I think back to where we started.

*Some of the total sweethearts that I have. I’ve got a couple who have helped take care of me on days I didn’t feel 100% and I hope they don’t lose their kind hearts.

*Watching leaders blossom, kids find their “sweet spot” and start learning like crazy, and this one particular little guy who has matured leaps and bounds in like the last month alone. They really do grow up so much in one year!

*Bahaha…hearing them say “Yeah, my mom taught me that at home….” when I’ve only spent weeks teaching them to do that very thing. What am I, chopped liver?! (*Except for the kid who can already count combinations of coins…I definitely did not teach him that. Future accountant?!)

*Laughing when kids replicate literature…like my one little guy who can soooo relate to Kevin Henkes character Wemberly, from “Wemberly Worried.” I’ve definitely had to reassure him / answer some questions for him on some interesting topics!

*My adorable little ESL students who just wiggle their way into my heart…I have so much fun with them.

*Seeing how literally kids this age take EVERYTHING. It is wildy frustrating at times, but ya gotta laugh to keep from crying, right?!

*Listening to their wild stories & all the things that their parents would probably die if they knew it was being repeated at school. (Every heard a teacher say “I’ll believe about half of what they say about you if you’ll believe about half of what they say about me? Well trust me, that is sooo true!)

*Having to remind myself that they are little parrots…the new phrase we’ve been over-using is “That is so rude!” The funniest example of the parrot phenomena was the day I told them that sometimes when they leave I go stand in the corner and cry (they totally knew I was joking…and that they drive me crazy sometimes!) only to have one of them go straight outside and tell her grandmother that as they walk away from the school. Lesson learned. 😉

*Pushing them to independence, something that some of them have never been pushed towards before. I know at times other teachers think I’m hard on them, but the truth is that they can do far more than most people give them credit for. It is so cool to see the light bulb come on when they realize that they can do a lot of things for themselves…

*I know I’ve already mentioned it, but this class has definitely thrown some cuss words out there. A few times on purpose, a few times randomly inexplicable, and a few times while trying to sound out other words…like “fuzz.” Next year I’m going to make a sign to hang outside that says “Caution: Blending Happening” so that I’m not held accountable for the bad words that come out of their mouths.

*Knowing that some of these little ones are going through hard times at home…through things I’m so not able to relate to…is a reminder of all the blessings that I have in life, and of how this job truly is a ministry.

The silly, heartwarming, heartbreaking, head-scratching, hard-working times we’ve had together this year have brought us all very close together…and now they are graduating and leaving me. I’ve been trying to convince them to just stay with me in Kindergarten again next year, but go figure…they don’t wanna! 😉 And even though odds are they won’t remember much of their kindergarten year when they are all grown up (I hardly remember anything from mine…sad day.) I hope the feelings that they have when they look back are warm and fuzzy and full of love. They’ve got a piece of my heart for sure, and I pray heaps of blessings on them in the years to come.

Congratulations Kindergarten class of 2012!

KEEP CALM & GRADUATE ON

Classroom Awards: The Dark Side

You’ve seen it all before…end of the year class awards. In High School it’s things like “Best Eyes” and “Class Flirt” (I think I was voted “Most Likely to Succeed…which I have, but probably not to the extent that some others in my class have. Ah well.) In Elementary we do it a little differently. I saw an adorable set of certificates on “Teacher Pay Teacher” (if you are a teacher and have not checked that out yet, then you must, must, must!) that’s called “Candy Bar Awards.” Snickers for the child who always makes everyone laugh, Almond Joy for the one who is always happy, Lifesavers for the child who is always willing to help out others, etc…

The really great, over-achieving teacher in me really wanted to do the candy bar awards & go buy each of the candies for the kiddos…but the two shots in my bum + a z-pack exhausted “let’s just survive all these end of the year festivities”decided to go an easier route. The kids are totally not getting jipped, because they were super cute certificates with fun little titles…like “Substitute Teacher Award”…”American Idol”…and “Ravenous Reader.” All the kids are very deserving of these fun little titles, because…I’m just gonna say it, my kids are the coolest. 😉

But let’s just be honest here. Come May, teachers are tired, kids are tired, and for a variety of reasons, the relationships in the classroom have a tendency to become strained. It’s kind of like a marriage…the things that were cute in the beginning are like nails on a chalkboard by the end. (Disclaimer: I love my students. I will miss them & I want only good things for them. This is nothing personal against any of them…it’s just a natural part of the school year. So don’t hate on me, cause I’m not trying to hate on them. Cool?)

So you can imagine how it would be so tempting to have a separate list of “awards” to put into words the dark side of all these personalities that come and live together for a year. This is my 5th year of teaching, so I’ll pull a few of the “dark side awards” I would have liked to have given from years past. (Remember, it’s all in good fun! *wink*)

The Dark Side: Classroom Awards

 Most Likely to Say the Teacher’s Name 100 Gazillion Times a Day

Most Likely to Cut in Line

Least Legible Handwriting

Mover & Shaker & Wiggler & WILL NOT EVER SIT STILL Award

Most Likely to have a Hit List

(*just hoping that particular one has had enough teacher’s since me for me to have moved down on the list! AGH!)

Most Likely to Do the Opposite of What I Say

Most Likely to Eat Everything

(including, but not limited too, boogers…pencils…glue…paper…I’ve seen it all!)

Best at UN-tying your Shoe

Mr./Miss “Gotta Have the Last Word” (good luck with that one if you’re in my room! :P)

Bathroom Camper Outer(the reward for this one would be a newspaper…ha!)

Hehe…that’s probably as good a place as any to stop. I’ve thought of one too many at this point that I just can’t put on here, and the force of the dark side is getting stronger…so we’ll quite while we’re ahead. 😉

No worries, I’m positive my students could come up with a few “Dark Side” rewards for me as well. Actually, one of them did not long ago. He said I was mean and looked like a cockroach. And he did not appreciate it when that made me laugh.

On a final note, I tried googling variations of “sarcastic classroom rewards” and got a screen full of links talking about how inappropriate sarcasm is for the classroom. My bad. Guess I’m the only soul brave stupid enough to just put it out here on blog land. I’m just saying what every teacher out there is thinking….right?!

(And no, I don’t typically use sarcasm in the classroom. Not that 5 year olds even get sarcasm anyway.)

So…2 more days! 😉

KEEP CALM & DON’T ACT LIKE YOU DON’T GIVE SARCASTIC AWARDS IN YOUR OWN HEAD!