Last Day of School

One of the many reasons I became a teacher is very superficial. I love the school year calendar. I love the fresh start at the beginnning of a year and I love the last day excitement. Well today is the last day and everyone is excited. We are having a field day of sorts, with wiffle ball, volleyball, kickball and team building. Also there are gifts! Chris Fattig just came in and brought me a plant and a High School Musical poster. HS Musical is one of my favorite movies!

Anyway, even though I am exhausted and stressed about getting all my work done, this excitement from the kids will carry me through.

Staff Talent?

Each year, we have an end of the year talent show,at RVMS. Included in that show is usually a staff routine, that is open to all staff members. Last year, with my love for High School Musical, I had the brainstorm to do a routine to "Getcha Head in the Game." We were pretty bad and the students loved it!

This year, due to my fantastic success in the past, staff members started looking to me to come up with the new idea. "No pressure, but we need it soon!" While working out at Curves last week, it hit me. We are doing a tribute to our retiring 8th grade teacher, Mary Beals, and our retiring principal, Ed Crawford. We will be doing 2 numbers (hah! try getting your staff to learn 2 routines) this year in honor of them. One will be for Ed, an avid Cleveland Indians fan. We will be moving our bodies to the put me in coach song, called "Centerfield." This will end with all of us holding Ed Heads masks over our faces! These ideas courtesy of our secretary, Jackie Mooney and masks from Tad Douce~ thanks guys!

After that ends ( and it can't end well) we will go into "That'll be the Day" by Buddy Holly. Both Mary and Ed will be seated on stools center stage for this number. Kim and Melissa created stunning choreography that will surely be a hit. Thanks girls!

At least I know that, even as we fumble around on stage in front of the entire student body, they will love it because it is US, their teachers, making fools of ourselves. I am sure it will be a blast! I will let you know how it goes!

A May day at school

This is testing week. I hate the tests. They are passed down by the state as instruments of torture, so the students say. Nevertheless, we test! But this afternoon, testing is over. And it is 80 degrees outside, with sunshine. So in my class, we take a break. We go outside and the students sit and listen to me read. We are reading a book by James Patterson, called Maximum Ride. They are enjoying it and so am I! When I finish, I tell them they have 15 minutes free......outside. Mind you, these are 7th graders, 12-14 years old. I don't know what I expected, but love what I saw happening before my unbelieving eyes. Games of tag and Marco Polo broke out all around me. As the boys ran, they had to constantly pull up their saggy pants with one hand. I laughed out loud at that. The beautiful freedom came to a close with a student coming toward me with a dandelion saying "Matt had a baby and its head popped off!" If you didn't do that as a child you were missing out!