Summer

This year has been difficult. I had students coming and going all year, families in crisis, an amazing lack of district wide moral that shrinking budgets and increased class size can create, and a general sense that I am not doing enough for my students. In some ways I think teaching is like parenting; it's very easy to feel inadequate in a very important roll. When I look at the year with slightly less pessimistic eyes, I can see there were some successes that are important (even if they do not involve increased reading levels). My 5th graders all talked about a book they loved this year. This was a first for many of them. Thank you Kate diCamillo and your wonderful Winn Dixie. One student can now tell time when she could not before (she can also do many other math related things but this had an impact on her day to day). I discovered the power of the pitch counter for reducing unexpected behaviors and increasing my ability to chart that kind of thing. That one was a thank you Amazing Race for the idea and Dave for being driven to be productive even on a line at the JPL's open house slash wanting to use his Amazon iPhone app. It does not seem like the extenuating circumstances that made this year hard [read: the economy] will be any better next year. But, for now, I have summer. I will try to refill my tank. This task will undoubtedly be made easier by the many visits planned for the summer and my iPad. I'm looking forward to shedding this sense of failure for something more lighthearted (and perhaps realistic). Oh, Summer.