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After the last day of school - and before Summer School begins - a classroom must be packed up and the carpets have to be cleared. Sometime after Summer School, the custodial staff will clean those carpets, and the room can be unpacked once again in time for school to begin in August.
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I'm not sorry that my students left the classroom in tears yesterday. The day ended beautifully.
I do not take pictures of our last farewells. I choose to be in the moment with my children. I want to listen to what they have to say. No one else sees it - no parents, no administrators, no other teachers or students. Just our little classroom family. People would be surprised to see who the first kid to speak is; they may be shocked to see tears before he ever opens his mouth to speak. They would be impressed to hear how eloquent his words are. A visitor would wonder at the words. Things like:
This was the first class where I felt like I was free to be who I am. I'm scared about next year: I may have to go back into that shell.
I can't do it justice with a few little blurbs written from memory hours after the event. The moment is always so memorable and meaningful. Other classes can be heard cheering through the walls and in the halls, but we share such an emotional moment. All I say at the end is "Circle up," and "Bring it in," and the class proves that everything we just heard is true.
Students had a final bit of play time during our time at the nearby parks. Some of them got a game of basketball going with our assistant principal, Mr. Garrett. Some were definitely tired and sore by the time we headed back to the school in time to catch buses and rides - or do more walking - to get home.
Today is Fly Up day at Cecil Floyd, in which I will get to spend some time with my incoming fourth graders. On this occasion, I will introduce myself and get a feel for the new class. I will set the mood for the next year. I will get them excited for their fourth grade year.
To us, Mercy Park, across the street from Cunningham Park, is curious place. While Cunningham displays the story of the 2011 Joplin tornado, Mercy appears to celebrate life. The Rotary sculpture park boasts a collection of novel art pieces. Students took a walk around the park, wondering why a naked kid was riding a giant snail, why a pair of giraffes was running wild in our fair city, and why more than one girl seems to be lifting off into the air.
"Be where your feet are."
Michele Smith (Olympic Medalist) Originally Posted in 2017  Teacher friends, the sooner you start counting down to the end of the school year, the longer it will seem to take.
Sometimes we make things harder for ourselves, resulting in our own frustration, than we should. And it's really not that hard to figure things out. We find ourselves in the lame-duck days of our year - those last weeks when mandating tests are complete and the last day of school is still ahead of us. Now is the time to experiment with your dream lessons and test new methods. Now is the time to step out of the comfort zone a bit more than usual. But it is not the time to relax your expectations and stop teaching. As much as you anticipate the end of another year, please don't make it public. Not only will you make this period seem longer for yourself, but you will send the wrong message to your students. It may be a perceived message, but it is a message, nevertheless.
I have a dream that one day I will come to class and people will surprise me with the news that it is the last day of school. I don't want to see it coming. I would rather my students leave me with a different message:
When we analyze even the most innocent of our actions and habits, we may find that we do more harm than good. That's why we need to analyze what we do. That's how we develop more sophisticated philosophies, and it's how we can answer more fully when challenged. It is important that we consider adult behaviors in our school, and not only student behaviors. Leave the countdowns for the Christmas calendar - not the end of the school year. Even then, don't start more than 10 days ahead of the event. If you start too early, you're just fertilizing anxiety and distracting your students. Friday's visit to Cunningham Park took a more serious turn when we respectfully entered the back corner of the park to see the memorial items relating to the tornado that devastated Joplin ten years ago. Students read historical markers, contemplated monuments, and appreciated the flora of the area for a few minutes.
One area of Cunningham Park is the Boomtown area, built by the Extreme Makeover crew in response to the 2011 Joplin tornado. This wooden structure is themed to Joplin's mining days. Students spent much of the first hour or so exploring the structure, climbing, hanging, and sliding. I love how such a diverse group of personalities can occupy the same space and be so crazy together. The fourth grade walked to Cunningham and Mercy Parks, last Friday. Our thanks to our school resource officer Gooch for providing a safe escort. We planned the event on a day with excellent weather. As soon as we arrived, we broke out our sack lunches and spread out to enjoy the setting. Our day was quite pleasant and filled with special moments.
Thursday was a great day for a field trip. It's too bad we couldn't take one. One current and one former Hoggatteer, however, made their way to Oklahoma City along with their family. While there, they visited the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum.
I hope the visit was made all the richer because of the time we spent in class covering this important event in history.
 They say you're never too old to learn.
They also say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I believe the latter to be true...but I am no dog. Some may look at me and see an old codger, set in his ways and unwilling to change. What they don't know is that I have always been set in my ways! Actually, to an extent, they may be right. But they should also look to see that I am open to learning new things...if they work. Because of that, I also recognize that a veteran teacher can learn from many sources, one of which is youth. With the advent of having three new, young teachers on my team, I want each to understand that I am looking to learn from them. It may be difficult to predict, but I'm looking for:
"Rivers do not drink their own water,
trees do not eat their own fruit, the sun does not shine on inself, and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature. We are all born to help each other - no matter how difficult it is. Life is good when you are happy, but much better when others are happy because of you." (Unknown) Here is the last group of photos before the final dark ride project is ready (We'll get those up when we finish everything.). Things have been a little hectic, but the scenes are mostly in their final positions. This week, we will add the tracking for our robots, rehearse the narration, and see how far we get.  For several years, I have welcomed college interns, student teachers, new teachers, and veteran teachers into my classroom to observe. I have also hosted teachers from other schools, administrators, and people from the state department of education. When I need it, I know that I can ask my peers to observe them, as well. I've gone to their classrooms, as well as teachers in other schools. I've gone as far as Atlanta, Georgia, to observe other educators at work. I believe in the power of observation - both to learn how not to do something, as well as to pick up little pointers and tweaks. I simply want to offer new teachers teaching across the hall and next door to my classroom whatever I can to ensure that they become longtime, creative, unique, and effective educators.
I also believe in the power of a mentor. I had an excellent principal to take me under his wing when I started my career. He taught me the difference between a lesson and an assignment. Then he helped me "play" with the lesson line - switch things up, move things around. He taught me that an objective does not have to be explicitly stated right away. He taught me that mystery in a lesson can be a powerful thing. He gave me the same things I will give you:
There are going to be areas in which you can improve. I can help you with this.
You're going to excel somewhere, but you're going to make mistakes to get there. Lean on me when you need to. I am confident that I can help you find your niche and hone your skills. Welcome to the party.
There's less than a month left in the school year.
We've met in person since the beginning. This class is amazing, and I love 'em. But here we are... Suddenly, our classmates seem to want to argue with each other, push each other's buttons, get under each other's skin. On the morning of the day I am writing, things happened during PE class that got a couple of the boys upset with each other. Other class members stepped between them to keep the peace, but then they decided to bring the problem back into our room with them. What should have been a quick and accepted apology ended up being a larger problem because it wasn't taken care of where it happened. With all of our culminating projects, afternoons have been, understandably, less structured than usual, but our afternoons have also been revealing. While students have been able to do smaller group tasks over their tables in the classroom, these looser, more creative projects have presented more difficult challenges. Some groups have split in two in order to keep the peace, with one or two working on one thing while the rest do something else. Even at their stations, their groups are not cohesive. Other groups have also split, but one or two students simply have off-topic conversations rather than work on anything related to the projects. It's as if they just go into the project already expecting to be irritated with each other. I know that we ended the last school year several weeks ahead of schedule due to you-know-what. Going back to a full year may seem to be extra-long to these kids. This time of year usually brings its share of impatience and anticipation, but it has been all too noticeable with a group that has always gotten along. We have three weeks remaining to tolerate each other. There will be weather changes along the way, pulling at our inner tides. There will still be special end-of-year activities. There are still things to learn before we leave for the summer. Our coller roasters just have not panned out as planned. Using them as stations and rotating groups through them just has not worked, and I finally deemed it less important than other activities. Before wasting any more time or supplies, we officially scrapped the project. We finished the Ferris Wheel, last week, and our dark rides and puzzles are finally coming together.
During the past week, teachers heard many thank yous from administrators, corporations, and faceless memes. Teachers have been pampered with chocolate bars, school supplies, lunches, and relief of recess duties. It is, however the personal messages from parents and students that mean the most to us.
The messages received this week can be simple and concise, but they can also contain deeper meanings when you know who wrote them: Thank you for all your hard work with [my son] this year! You rock! Thank you for always being patient and forgiving. You are so encouraging and willing to help. Our fifth graders shared some reasons why they loved being in my class in the fourth grade (Unfortunately, writing in the past tense almost sounds l more like a eulogy.). I found something interesting about every one of their papers. Here are some snippets from their writing:
[H]e helped us with getting better at fractions. Also he taught us a lot of history.
He is respect full. he is Awsome. and he is my favorit. Can you tell what kind of teacher I am from these writings? They certainly help me to reflect on my teaching abilities and the things that make me who I am. Have I projected my values well? Have I made a difference? That's not for me to say...but it's nice to hear some of the specifics from the people who may know.
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