One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night ...

If you were only one inch tall, you'd ride a worm to school.

The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool.

A crumb of cake would be a feast

And last you seven days at least,

A flea would be a frightening beast

If you were one inch tall.

By: Shel Silverstein

__________________

In the spirit of this poem, I would like to share with you our 8^th grade adventure today.  My good friend is the ELA teacher for the 8^th grade.  In her class, the kids have been working on writing and illustrating children’s books for the past 3 weeks.  Last week she invited me to join her and the kids at the elementary school – our students were asked to share their books with the kindergarten through 2cnd grade classes!  How cool is that?  So today ... we went!

I’m not entirely sure who had more fun, the little elementary kids or our 8^th grade kids.  There was laughter, joy, and a sense of pride from the 8^th grade students as they presented their books to the K-2 audiences.  It was really something to see.  At one point I had to walk away from observing one group because I almost cried.  Seeing these students grow and flourish in the last two years has been one of the most awesome things I have done in my life.

Now let’s rewind about a week.  These same groups of 8^th grade students have also been working very hard in my class.  Last week the 8^th grade students had their very first science fair the middle school has ever had.  This was very challenging for the kids, and even though they whined and complained about it the whole time, in the end they told me how proud they were of themselves.  The turnout was fantastic.  In a school where parent involvement is very limited, almost every kid brought their family to see the work that they had done.  All 6 weeks of stressful planning and putting this event together was well worth it.  To see the kids succeed, even the ones that don’t normally succeed, is why I became a teacher.

Today we didn’t do much – it was too hot!  I think this is the hottest day we have had so far this year.  The kids were lying on the floor and lab tables trying to cool off.  I kept having my friend check the back of my dress … have you ever sweat so hard it ran down your legs and you were worried that people were going to think you peed yourself?  Yeah … that was me today.  I tried fanning myself with paper but the paper kept getting wet (from sweat) rendering it useless.  To bad I didn’t have someone to fan me … and feed me grapes.  I like grapes (haha).  The only other excitement we had today (besides the 8^th grade field trip) was getting to take my 7^th graders outside to stand in 40 mph winds and look at some crazy storm clouds.  Letting them be outside with lightning, probably not my brightest moment, but hey – I’m living on the edge!

It is really starting to hit me – I won’t be with these kids or my “school family” next year.  It seems impossible that things really won’t be the same and I won’t be in my classroom.  These kids and my co-workers have gotten me through the last two years.  To tell you how much I am going to miss them … It’s indescribable.

As the days wind down it is obviously way too hot to functionally do anything but whine. I am however finding myself nostalgic of the last two years, hopeful that there will be another position for me with more kids that need my love, attention, and fabulous teaching skills, and determined to better myself personally and professionally so that I can be the best educator that I can be.

And finally I shall leave you with one last piece of wonderful news:  I will be seeing this handsome stud-muffin very, very soon! :)

Now I am off to lay in a pool of my own sweat and catch up on my newest guilty pleasure “The KILLING” on http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-killing