This is my favorite time of year with my students. I know them well now and I don't have to deal with many behavior issues because of it. It's warm and sunny and everyone is happy and relaxed. The year from hell finally turned itself around, and I love my kids now. They still can be a challenge, but they've come a long way. I chalk it all up to my good teaching, of course. ;) Somewhere along the way they did became my kids...and even though I thought I wouldn't ever say this, I am going to miss them.
The other week was teacher appreciation week. If you want to read a teacher appreciation story that will make you cry, go to her page. Nothing so touching happened--but one memory that will stick out in my head was in homeroom the other day. The student council decided to do something different this year, and they made us a mix cd. You know how I feel about mix cds. They brought it in during homeroom and did a little speech, and my homeroom kids insisted that we listen to it. So instead of doing SSR it was listen to the teacher mix cd. It had some really cute songs, including "Push It" because kids do, "Summertime" and some others. Anyway, during that song "Bad Day" the kids were all sitting around and two of my loudest and most obnoxious starting singing along and doing this little dance to go with it. They were all standing around the cd player in a little group, and we were all laughing and having a great time. I wasn't worried about what we were supposed to be doing or how it would look if someone walked in or about the million other things I needed to get done. I was just standing there and laughing at their dance and I just felt this feeling that I was exactly where I wanted to be, doing exactly what I wanted to be doing. Then I started getting all teary eyed and sentimental over this group, particularly the obnoxious ones, particuarly THE LOUDEST GIRL IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Later they said something about how we didn't do SSR and how fun it was and I told them about my teary eyed moment and how I would miss them and they just laughed at me like I was the biggest dork in the world.
Speaking of which, THE LOUDEST GIRL IN THE ENTIRE WORLD passed her state test (on her third and final try!) today. I was so proud of her I wanted to hug her. I also had the-smallest-boy-with-the-loudest-voice-who doesn't-do-any-work-ever pass yesterday--I gave him an ice cream bar as a reward at lunch and he was so excited over it. Him passing his test was more exciting for me than the girl who got almost a perfect score. I've never seen him more proud of himself, either.
The percentage of kids meeting the benchmark went from 52% in my classes to 72% by the last round of testing. It's not great, but it's better than I got last year, and it is a big improvement. It also beats the state average, so I'll take it.
There have been other good kid stories that I really want to share, so I'll have to remember to do that later...
My regular life has been okay, but Chad and I broke up (I guess for real this time). We broke up a bunch of times but we never really did until this past Saturday. I guess I'm done. I feel so defeated because I feel like there are so many good things, but I guess he doesn't feel everything he thinks he needs to feel for me. I'm so hurt, but I guess we all knew it would come eventually. Maybe I'll be able to be friends with him. We had been getting along really well and I was dealing with some of my issues but I guess it wasn't enough...I had a good time with him while it lasted. My heart is broken, but I guess I am getting used to dealing with that. Anyway, enough about that. I am definitely taking a break from guys.
I stopped going to therapy a while back. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I feel ten million times better since I stopped going. Go figure. I also joined a gym with Chad about a month ago, and I have been going a lot. I have never enjoyed exercise (other than walks with Mandy), but this has been great. We joined on the four day a week plan, so we have to go Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. I have gone every time except twice since we joined, so I have worked out pretty much four days a week. I am pretty proud of myself. It makes me feel so much better in general, and I can see a little bit of a change in my body. I'm getting muscle definition in my legs and my stomach looks a little bit better. The scale says I have gained a few pounds, but I am trying not to let that discourage me (yeah, muscle weighs more than fat, but still). I wish I had taken measurements or something, but I'll just keep doing it since it makes me feel so good and try to ignore the scale. The next step is to try to eat healthier overall.
Anyway, it makes me sad that Chad and I aren't really going to be able to be workout partners together anymore, but I am still going on my own anyway. I'm glad that he convinced me to join.
Tonight I have this parent night thing for incoming students, so I have to go back to school. The worst part? It goes from 7-8, so I will miss the first part of American Idol. Unfortunately I don't have a functional VCR, so I can't tape it. Oh well.
My roommate has moved in and we are getting along really well. I adjusted pretty quickly, and she likes the cats (I got another cat, at least temporarily). She seems cool and easy to talk to. What a relief. She is gone a lot, too.
Okay, just wanted to write something here since it has been so long...
