Finally Some Good News!

Hi everyone! When I last wrote, I was frantic because I had not yet gotten my next student teaching placement, and because my professor had hinted that something might be wrong with my application. Well, the good news is here... I got a placement! It seems like a great one, too... only 20 minutes away from my house, in the same school district where I've already student teaching in. Unfortunately, the district isn't great about keeping up teacher or classroom websites, so I have absolutely no information or details about the placement. I only know that it is an ELS class, possibly containing some fourth graders. But I have to wait for the teacher to email me with more info. I sure hope she emails me soon... I'm at the edge of my seat here! 


Meanwhile, today was my last day at Sky Elementary. I had already planned out how I was going to try to make it a special day. Quite a while ago I ordered some inexpensive Scholastic books, enough for each child to have one. I just looked for the sales where they sell four or five books in a bundle, and ordered several bundles! I picked out a book for each of the kids, and wrote a personal note to them inside telling them that I'll miss them, etc. I wrapped them up, mostly so they wouldn't be fighting over who got which book! Also I stopped at the grocery store this morning and picked up oatmeal cookies from the bakery, and two bouquets of flowers for Mrs. Wing and the teacher's aide. 


Mrs. Wing also did her best to make it a special day! She let them listen to a CD and play rhythm sticks in the morning... something I have never seen in my whole five weeks there! This was the first time they got to do any sort of music and/or movement activity! She also brought some brand new containers of playdough, and they got to play with it. I got to read them a fun book, If You Give A Cat A Cupcake, after calendar time. (They are the best audience for reading to... they all applaud at the end!) And they got to watch a movie, Leapfrog's Letter Factory, while they ate popcorn and cookies! I think it may have been the most fun day ever for them! Even though Ani complained that he didn't like the rhythm sticks activity... he thought the music was too loud, we should have turned it down, and no, standing further away from the CD player or putting earplugs in his ears would not have been acceptable choices for him, and we'd better never do such nonsense again! (I think Ani was a little cranky today!)


Mrs. Wing treated me to lunch, and she gave me a class picture with most of the children in it, and the kids who can write their names all signed it. I will keep it forever! 


All day it felt like just an ordinary, regular day. Even though we were doing fun activities. I mean it felt like a fun day, but not a day in which I would be saying "goodbye forever" to the children I'd grown to care about. Its so weird that on Tuesday, they'll show up at school and start going through their day without me... and I'll be at another school, trying to get to know a whole new group of kids 


At the same time, I'm excited... This is where the real student teaching begins! If anyone teaches fourth grade special ed, please holler out your blog url to me so I can start doing some research!