I watched the finale of Oprah yesterday. It's hard to believe the Oprah show is over. Somewhat interesting fact: the show premiered three months after I was born. No, the end of Oprah is not the ending I was referring to in the title of my blog post, but I'll get to school stuff in a minute. I made it to the gym right at 4:00 and got an elliptical right in front of the TV that shows Oprah and actually did 60 minutes of cardio so I could watch the whole show. I think that might be a workout strategy for the summer...find some good viewing and schedule my gym time around it. Anyway, I can see why there's a book called The Gospel According to Oprah. This last show definitely indoctrinated viewers in Oprah's personal gospel, which I found very interesting. She started off with a whole segment about finding your calling, which I pretty much completely agreed with, but then got into some stuff about the energy we give off and karma type stuff that I wasn't agreeing with so much. But she ended the show by saying "To God be the glory," and even gave a couple shoutouts to Jesus. The Christian blogosphere seems to be all abuzz. I've read some articles by reviewers that found the final show very boring (probably cause she didn't give away any cars), but I bet the die-hard fans were satisfied with it.
Enough about Oprah. Things are definitely busy around here lately. And it's really hot, which just makes everyone cranky. But overall, things are good. I can't believe there are only 8 more days of school! And two of those days I'm going to be doing DIBELS testing so not really teaching. Then throw in field day (tomorrow), the art and music program, and the last day of school. Ahh! I'm supposed to put on a big, fancy graduation with only a couple days left to teach? Yes, I know the graduation doesn't have to be big or fancy, but I just want it to be really nice, since it's basically my last hurrah with Urban Promise.
Speaking of that, I finally sucked it up and broke the news to my class yesterday that I'm not going to be teaching at the school next year. I tried to do it really casually and positively, but I still felt pretty awful afterward. It was really tough, even though I was able to say that they'll still see me around a lot since I'm planning to volunteer while at UD. I really can't imagine how I would have felt if I'd had to tell them I was moving to another state. I'm trying my best to get them pumped up for first grade, but so far it doesn't seem to be working. I keep reminding them how much they're going to learn and that they'll get to do lots of fun stuff, but I don't think they're convinced. One of the girls in my class helped me out a lot when she said, "Well, at least I'll still be with all my friends!" It's looking like the whole class will be back next year, which is awesome. And we've grown really close as a group this year, so they're excited that they'll still be with the same classmates.
One thing I hadn't prepared for was how to explain to my class what graduate school was and why I was going. They didn't get it. I explained that I was going back to school to learn more about education and become a better teacher. It's funny because the general response I've gotten from adults who know I'm leaving is excitement that I'll be receiving more education. A couple have even said that going back to the school is the only way they'd feel good about me leaving the school. My students didn't quite share this reaction. They insisted I was already a great teacher and didn't need to go back to school and in fact acted pretty offended that I'd choose being a student again (I am a grownup after all, as they reminded me emphatically) over being a teacher. I tried to remind them that either way, I wasn't going to be their teacher next year, but I think they know things will be different than they would have been if I was staying. Yes, I hope to volunteer, but I don't know when or how often, and it probably won't be able to be in their classroom. I won't be able to invite them to my room after school to help me clean up or to help them with their homework. But I believe this will bring new opportunities, and I trust and believe that my students will do just fine without me. Saying goodbye to a class is always hard, and this year I have the added difficulty of saying goodbye to teaching at the school. It's my prayer that both my students and I can enjoy the rest of the year and not worry about what next year will be like.
I have lots more to say, but I'll stop there for now. More updates on this crazy month coming soon!
Enough about Oprah. Things are definitely busy around here lately. And it's really hot, which just makes everyone cranky. But overall, things are good. I can't believe there are only 8 more days of school! And two of those days I'm going to be doing DIBELS testing so not really teaching. Then throw in field day (tomorrow), the art and music program, and the last day of school. Ahh! I'm supposed to put on a big, fancy graduation with only a couple days left to teach? Yes, I know the graduation doesn't have to be big or fancy, but I just want it to be really nice, since it's basically my last hurrah with Urban Promise.
Speaking of that, I finally sucked it up and broke the news to my class yesterday that I'm not going to be teaching at the school next year. I tried to do it really casually and positively, but I still felt pretty awful afterward. It was really tough, even though I was able to say that they'll still see me around a lot since I'm planning to volunteer while at UD. I really can't imagine how I would have felt if I'd had to tell them I was moving to another state. I'm trying my best to get them pumped up for first grade, but so far it doesn't seem to be working. I keep reminding them how much they're going to learn and that they'll get to do lots of fun stuff, but I don't think they're convinced. One of the girls in my class helped me out a lot when she said, "Well, at least I'll still be with all my friends!" It's looking like the whole class will be back next year, which is awesome. And we've grown really close as a group this year, so they're excited that they'll still be with the same classmates.
One thing I hadn't prepared for was how to explain to my class what graduate school was and why I was going. They didn't get it. I explained that I was going back to school to learn more about education and become a better teacher. It's funny because the general response I've gotten from adults who know I'm leaving is excitement that I'll be receiving more education. A couple have even said that going back to the school is the only way they'd feel good about me leaving the school. My students didn't quite share this reaction. They insisted I was already a great teacher and didn't need to go back to school and in fact acted pretty offended that I'd choose being a student again (I am a grownup after all, as they reminded me emphatically) over being a teacher. I tried to remind them that either way, I wasn't going to be their teacher next year, but I think they know things will be different than they would have been if I was staying. Yes, I hope to volunteer, but I don't know when or how often, and it probably won't be able to be in their classroom. I won't be able to invite them to my room after school to help me clean up or to help them with their homework. But I believe this will bring new opportunities, and I trust and believe that my students will do just fine without me. Saying goodbye to a class is always hard, and this year I have the added difficulty of saying goodbye to teaching at the school. It's my prayer that both my students and I can enjoy the rest of the year and not worry about what next year will be like.
I have lots more to say, but I'll stop there for now. More updates on this crazy month coming soon!
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