Saturday, June 27, 2015

Hello Summer!

Ladies and gents, year one of teaching is in the books! My kiddos had their finals June 15-17th, my friend Ronny graded all of them on the 18th (I graded all her French 7 finals plus I had to grade 8th & 10th grade state exams for her too!). I only had two kids not pass for the year and only one kid not pass the final....both of which I knew was going to happen. I am going to miss these kiddos a bunch (some more than others!) but I am so grateful to be on vacation....because I need to study more for the CST.

But here's what I have been up to this week.

Monday was the 8th grade & 10th grade proficiency and Regents tests for foreign language. Needless to say, a big day for the LOTE department! My poor chair must have been a nervous wreck all day. I graded all the 8th and 10th grade Regents tests. It's some rule that you can't grade your own set of exams that are tied to a state test (but then it doesn't make sense that you can grade the SAME test for ANOTHER teacher...whatever). After the 8th graders took their tests and we had graduation rehearsal, I graded all of them. I actually went over to the HS because I needed the "read to write task" that is new and couldn't grade without it. 

Overall, the other French teacher's kids did well! Some of the 10th graders had me cracking up with their essays on Tuesday (22 kids X 2 essays each = 44 essays plus all the 8th grade with 2 each). I was snorting so hard at one of them. Looking forward to see what they come up with next year!

Monday night I chaperoned the 8th grade dance. I only knew a handful of 8th graders from the Academic Center this year so I was surprised that I got chosen to chaperone. Apparently its uber selective. I figured if I could make some extra money, why not. Plus, they fed us. It was interesting. Black was the girls' color choice for dresses that night. And I know I am getting old when I didn't know half the songs they played. Especially that "whip" one. 

Tuesday was Fun in the Sun and Chromebook collection. In our district, all students grades 4-9 have a Chromebook that is issued to them by the district. They have it for the school year and return it in the summer (to repair, etc). Teachers can do assignments on them in class and its great for Google Classroom (which I want to use more of next year). I only went to two activities in Fun in the Sun because I was excused to go grade at the HS. Apparently we need to rename it Misery in the Sun. In the span of 2 hours, we had one kid dislocate her knee (within the first 15-20 minutes), one kid barf from the heat, one girl get stung by 4 bees, one girl cut her leg. Glad I missed that!

Wednesday I chaperoned graduation at the HS. It was a really nice ceremony, paying tribute to our awesome security guard who is retiring and an aide at the middle school who passed away in December (her family lives in the community and she worked at the school for over 40 years). So sweet. It makes me sad for next year when I get to see my 7th graders from this year graduate.

Wednesday night I also went out to a retirement dinner for the lady Chere I shared a room with this year. What a sweet tribute. We went to this fantastic Italian restaurant, drank some wine, and just spent a memorable evening together. Chere was one of the first people to welcome me to JFK, could EXACTLY tell when I was having an off day and just wanted to offer that hug a mom would give their upset child and was just a lovely person. 


Myself, Chere, and Ilana, who was Chere's TA and is now replacing Chere. Sweetest girl! Wish I was sharing a room with her next year!  


My lovely co-workers...
Phyllis, Julie A, Julie H, Chere, Dina, Ilana, SueAnn, Myself and Deb
(This would be a perfect picture for the slideshow next year!)


Hard to believe year one is over. Thursday was our faculty meeting and saying goodbye. I am the nutcase that signed up for a 6 hour class on Thursday at school to get credits. Oops? I am also going to take online classes towards my steps. 

Other than that, I have nothing really stellar planned for a few weeks. I am only working Saturday and Sunday next week...perfect time to study for my CST that is in two weeks. And than I am seeing Taylor Swift in two weeks! Here's to the summer of 2015! 

No comments:

Post a Comment