We finally made it! The last day of school, Joseph’s fifth grade promotion, packing up my classroom…it all was squeezed into a whirlwind of a few days this past week. I’m looking forward to sleeping in a bit and not having to worry about lesson planning. I do have one more test to take (I’ll be taking it this next Thursday) and a few trainings to attend over the summer, but I’m looking forward to getting to spend time with the kids, getting to relax, and getting centered so that I will be ready for next year.
We’ve been gathering supplies for Joseph to take to young men’s camp and this camp stool was one of them. Methinks he might have a hard time packing it. 😉It sure is nice having a fully functioning stove. One of my new favorite things that I didn’t realize would be a favorite thing is that back center burner which is really a warming center. I can set a pot on it, turn it on, and it will keep the pot warm without burning the contents. Pretty nifty!The fifth grade had a water day during the last week of school. They had all sorts of water-related games and sponge dodge ball was one of them. Those little sponges held a surprising amount of water, haha.Joseph’s memory shield. Each fifth grader made one. It has things like their favorite teacher, a picture of them, goals, what they want to be when they grow up, inspirational quotes, etc. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find his (they were all displayed in the hallway between the entrance of the school and the cafeteria and there were 125 fifth graders this past year), but his was right on a corner that I walked by often.This was a fun picture taking opportunity spot they had set up. They made super hero bodies for each teacher with giant heads so that we looked like bobble-heads. I was Captain Marvel. 🙂Joseph walking in……getting his promotion certificate……and smiling for pictures. I was glad Paul was able to get the morning off to come. I was up on the stage with the other fifth grade teachers.Joseph and his teacher, Mrs. Elsayed. Her bobble-head was Wonder Woman and she really was. She was such a great teacher for him and she was such a great leader for our team of fifth grade teachers. I feel like I learned so much from her!Mrs. Elsayed sneakily got my students to sign the mat for this picture frame for me so I could stick the class photo in there. It was such a thoughtful gift! I plan to have it displayed in my classroom next year.This was yet another thoughtful gift. Mrs. Terry (2nd from the right) took a picture that we had taken as a team and made a cute background for it so that we could remember our team. This is also going up in my room next year.The room was all packed up and I was pulling my last wagon full of stuff out. I had to snap a quick picture because I won’t be in this room next year. I’m actually moving down to fourth grade, teaching one of the Mac-GT classes (a class with a mix of GT kids and GenEd kids). The GT kids will still be going to GT outside of the classroom, but the curriculum is going to be designed in a way that I will have more enrichment activities at my fingertips to keep them engaged during the times that they are in their GenEd classroom with me. I’m excited for a new grade (I don’t have much experience with fourth grade) and new students to get to help learn, grow, and progress.Ah…THE book. This is the copy of Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss that I have been sneaking to each of Joseph’s teachers since pre-k to sign for him. I’ve been keeping it a secret until now. He was so impressed and a little overwhelmed with it all. He read through their messages and then gave me a huge hug (and even teared up a little). I told him if he wanted to, he could continue to have teachers he respects and gets along with over the years sign it (the logistics of me trying to sneak it to 6+ different teachers every year from now until HS graduation was a bit too daunting for me). I’m so proud of the young man he is becoming!
‘We only have three school days left. We have Memorial Day, then three days and then we’We only have three school days left. We have Memorial Day, then three days and then we’re free for summer. Well, I do have Friday as a teacher work day, but the kids won’t be there, so I kind of count that as a day off, too. 😉 We had Abigail’s awards ceremony, Joseph had his last GT meeting, Abigail had a water day, and then we capped everything off with a trip to the zoo yesterday.
Abigail and her teacher, Mrs Moreno. This woman was an amazing presence in Abigail’s life this year. She saw through the hard bits and stuck with her until the end. She’s awesome!Abigail wanted a picture with me.I noticed this in the hallway right outside Abigail’s classroom. 🙂With her trophy. She was so excited to get one!Bonus points if you can spot both the squirrel and the mockingbird that’s chasing it. 😀There were quite a few days this week where she woke feeling like this.Ready for the day!A teacher friend got this for me. She had a blast!His last GT day. I can hardly believe he’s going to junior high in the next year. Voila! She loves this butterfly.She actually did really well not running around while in the butterfly house.Checking out a pretty orange one.This was probably her favorite butterfly. It’s called an owl butterfly.It was neat to see each chrysalis and even a butterfly that is still trying to dry out its wings.So pretty!She was in Heaven. Joseph and Paul went for a walk while Abigail and I were looking at the butterflies.This one’s coloration was just too pretty to pass up, so I had to take a picture. I thought that its coloration looked like a a Mexican serape.The preteen doing what preteens do best: multi-tasking while waiting on a younger sibling. He looks so grown up here. She loves this rhino so much!Checking out the African horn bill. She was excited to get to see Zazu from Lion King)On the Nile Crocodile! It was her first choice.She was happy she got the Nile Crocodile.
It’s crazy to think we have less than two weeks left of school. This next week will house an awards ceremony for Abigail, and a water day for her as well. The next week will be class parties for the both of them, and then Joseph’s promotion on the last day of school. I work one day after they’re done and then I’m off, too. I’ll have at least one training to attend during the summer (maybe more, but I’ll see what the schedule is like) before starting back next year. Right now, I’m in limbo between two grades. The principal really wants to move me down to fourth, but it can be challenging finding people to teach fifth, so I may stay put. I’ll hopefully know more in a couple of weeks once all transfers have gone through. I’ve also been studying for my last big test, which I take on June 8th. I have yet to hear back on if I passed the test I took two weeks ago (hopefully I’ll hear back in the next week or so), but I really hope I pass it and this next one so that I can be DONE with testing. Joseph had his last grade-level performance. The music teacher had some songs playing and the kids played a sort of descant to the main melody for each song. I thought it was brilliant. It was a way they could play with limited knowledge (the teacher said they were focusing on three major notes) and have it sound really good. He also had his GT Showcase where he showed off the structure he built (He built the Tower of the Americas) and his dream room. These went perfectly with the GT theme of structures. Oh, and our new stove came in. Our old one was still functioning, but a couple of the burners have been randomly running hot without responding to us turning down the heat (unless we turn them completely off), so when Paul was looking around and noticed a good one that was on sale, we jumped on it and got set up with a new one. It’s been nice not having a possessed cooktop, haha.
Getting ready to play.Playing along with the group.His interpretation of the Tower of the Americas and his dream bedroom that he designed. How does he look so grown in this picture?!My new stove is super-fancy. I like all the different burner sizes that are offered (and that back center one is a special burner than is designed just for keeping pans warm).It had a black stainless steel (with a fingerprint-resistant feature) as an option. It’s pretty!The inside. It’s huge. We went for one with 6.3 cubic feet instead of the smaller standard size. Consequently, the drawer at the bottom is slightly smaller, but that’s not a big deal. It’s a convection oven (but it does have a regular oven setting) and it also has a few fun settings. In addition to convection baking and air frying, it also has a dehydrate setting as well as a bread proofing setting. It’ll be fun to experiment with once I’m on break.I found the yummiest berries at the store yesterday. Look how plump they are! They are really ripe and sweet, which I haven’t found in quite some time.A friend of mine clued me in on the existence of what could arguably end up being my new favorite flavor from Blue Bell. It’s quite tasty! Just when I thought Blue Bell couldn’t get any more “Texas” than it already was,it rose to the occasion, haha.
