Monday morning and I am asking where did the weekend go? It disappeared as they all do with household chores; yard work, games, and some much needed down time. It was hot and humid Saturday and I got sunburned watching Olivia’s softball game. It stormed mid-afternoon and was much better on Sunday, cool enough to open the windows at night.

The alarm rang early, way too early and I felt like Winslow – crud! But, with one day (after today), I will have time for sleeping in and those chores I never seem to get to. Yesterday before William’s lacrosse game began, I started writing my letter to the outgoing seventh graders. I attempt one each year and post it to the Blackboard (district on-line e-learning portal) for kids to read. Because each year’s is unique different kids, different activities, different outside forces – each letter is different. I try to share what I learned from them about being a better teacher and how it will affect me in the classroom.  After twelve years in the classroom, I am still learning. I did not finish, that is for today – to be published tomorrow.

June 7, 2011

Dear outgoing Guitar Sharks

I am one of the Language Arts teachers on Team 7-0, home of the fabulous Guitar Sharks. I am excited about summer vacation because it means I can read, write, and re-think. I have a few goals for the seventy days of summer vacation. I started reading Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Ride series. I started with Stormbreaker and I am currently at the end of book six, Ark Angel, I want to finish the series. Also, I have teacher books to read and process with titles such as Fair Isn’t Always Equal and Bringing Words to Life. Nevertheless, I have long list of kid books to read and I am looking forward to reading them. At the end of June, I will be heading to summer camp with William and his Boy Scout troop. He, too, is moving on to 8^th grade and plans to swim the mile – I am planning to swim with him this year. After camp, we’ll drive through the UP and over the Mackinac Bridge where we’ll spend July at the cottage in Michigan and come home at the end of the month. Before I know it, it will be August and it will be time to get ready for school to resume.

The 2010-11 school year went quickly. It always goes quickly when you are busy and we were busy in class this year. I am proud of the work we did on our writing and many students really grew as writers this year. The most growth came on persuasive writing, which came on the heels of reading The Giver.

And that, is where I stopped. William’s game began and afterward we had errands and chores before it was time to have dinner, clean up, and get to bed. Early in the afternoon, we discovered the critter Ivy was searching for on the deck Sunday morning. She was searching for a toad. She found it early in the afternoon and she gave us quite a shook as she was foaming from the mouth and trying to get the taste out of her mouth. Evidently, she had picked it up and as toads do, it peed leaving quite an awful taste in her mouth and leading to the frothy mouth. We were worried it was something else and we induced vomiting. Afterward we found the toad, unharmed though shaken and we put all the pieces together.   Ivy spent the afternoon resting and trying to recover. She was very excited to see me this morning and we went outside together.

And, it is that time – when I have to get moving and start the day. Or really start another part of the day – school. One more day (after today), I can do it! Making the Days Count, one day at a time!