The Last Week

Well, here we are... it's the last week of the school year.  This was the first school year that I taught completely, from the beginning of September to the end of June.  I've been in the same school for two and a half years (nearly three school years, as I was volunteering prior to being hired there)... however, last year I switched long term positions in May.  So, another milestone in my career has now been met -- my first real, full-year of teaching, with no supply teaching and no switching of long term positions.

I'm still not hired as a permanent teacher, but I do have another full-year long term contract at my school, next year changing grades again to teach a 3/4 combined class.  That means, I'm following my same little guys that I taught in grade one, now grade two, into grade three!  Hilarious.  It's amazing to experience their development, though!  Fortunately, being such a huge school, I'm not directly re-teaching too many of the same students, and most students I had in grade one AND two, I will not have again.

We have a busy last few days of school.  I imagine it will go by in a blur.  I feel like I have so much to do, and so little time.  I have a lot of classroom cleaning and organizing to do, as I will be once again changing classrooms, this time moving down the hall a few doors.  We have to take down and pack up everything in our classrooms every year anyway, because the caretaking staff has to go to town cleaning the room (including washing down the walls).  I'm going to go in throughout the first week of July to move my stuff down the hall, I know I will need that extra time for organization.  When you teach primary classes, you really need your classroom to stay intact for the whole duration of the school year, the kids are still using so many of the supplies and books.

I will miss my kids so very much, I already felt emotional the other day.  I'm just going to try to look forward to the fall.  I figure, if I have already had such positive experiences in just these three short years as a teacher.. I cannot wait for what the future holds for me in this career.  I absolutely love what I do for a living.

Summer break WILL be nice, though, too. ;-)