Graduation was today, and it was one of the nicest I've seen in a while. Graduations at my school tend to be a little relaxed. The students and staff still dress up, but some of the families either come dressed up or dressed casually. Depending on the student, the family may or may not make a big deal out graduating from elementary school.
It was really nice to see the kids so excited and happy to graduate. Some of them cried at the end, but that's to be expected. They played their bell chimes one last time, and they celebrated their last Mass together. Some of them were really excited and beaming to receive their diplomas, and others played it cool.
It was a little sad to see them leave and graduate, but it's also exciting for them. It will be interesting to see how these big fish in a very small pond handle being smallish fish in some very large oceans. Some of them are attending small Catholic high schools, but most are going to high schools like Curie and Whitney Young, which are basically small cities.
Naturally, they'll come back in the fall and they'll come visit, proud of who they are and confident that high school will be a snap. Then they'll start to lose touch and they won't want to come visit us so often. Suddenly high school and driving and their friends will take precedence, and elementary school will be an afterthought. It's pretty natural. I don't miss elementary school and I certainly dont' visit (then again, my school is closed and I was so excited to graduate that I could barely sit still during my last week of school).
It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks go. I'm sure I'll get random friend requests on facebook and myspace from some students, but most of them are well on their ways to forgetting me and some other teachers already. :-) I'm certain some will show up for the first day or two of camp "to say hi" and there's always one or two kids who show up in August.
Graduations are always a good time to really see how people feel about their schools and one another, that's for sure. There are the kids who run on out of there and there are the kids who linger and stick around for "just one more photo". If nothing else, it's good to see that those things never change, despite those things that have a tendency to never remain the same.
Showing posts with label graduation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graduation. Show all posts
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
No more 8th grade
Wow....that was fast. I just had my last class with the 8th grade. Unfortunately for them, I was correct in assuming that they wouldn't complete their last project. At least half of them didn't turn it in, and the ones that DID turn it in freaked the bleep out because they realized it was the last class and their projects sucked. Too darn bad...not my problem that you're so totally focused on graduation (a month early) that you didn't get your work done when I asked you to. I would have given them today as a free period if they hadn't blown off and used actual classes as free periods. I swear, those kids are putting gray hairs on my little head.
Right at the end of class, my color printer was acting up and freaking out and not printing at all. When it did start printing, one boy and one girl were left in the room. The first papers that came out of the printer didn't belong to the boy, and he was waiting patiently. When the printer jammed, he paused dramatically and said, "Damn!" I SHOULD have given him a demerit, but all I did was giggle and say he's lucky I don't care anymore. It's their last week. I'm sure they could all get 17 demerits and it wouldn't phase them in the slightest.
All in all I'm pretty proud of this class. They're generally good students, even the ones who struggle. There isn't anyone in class who doesn't turn in work. The students who struggle are the ones with learning disabilities and who attent Title 1 classes, and even THEY turn in good, thoughtful work. This class was pretty rare. They all got along and they all were pretty nice to one another. They weren't angels, but they also weren't the kind of kids who make young teachers consider early retirement, either. There are some pretty huge egos in this class, especially because so many of them are strong contenders for the end of the year academic awards. Unfortunately, there are only so many awards to be given out. I finally picked a boy and girl to give my award to, and I'd thought about it for weeks. Last year I had 2 contenders. My first option was to give it to the student with the highest average, but that student was light years ahead of everyone else and was getting a few awards. My next option was the girl who made the biggest leaps and bounds and really grew as a student. Unfortunately, that choice was derailed by their homeroom teacher because she didn't "think she deserved it." Oy. So I gave it to my 3rd choice, who wasn't a bad kid but had performed steadily throughout the year. He didn't make tremendous leaps like the other student, but he was pretty good. This year, I'm really satisfied with my 2 choices, and I think they'll be surprised when they get the awards.
It's pretty crazy how quickly this year is winding down. I can't believe it, but I only teach about 10 more classes before the year ends. Wow.
Right at the end of class, my color printer was acting up and freaking out and not printing at all. When it did start printing, one boy and one girl were left in the room. The first papers that came out of the printer didn't belong to the boy, and he was waiting patiently. When the printer jammed, he paused dramatically and said, "Damn!" I SHOULD have given him a demerit, but all I did was giggle and say he's lucky I don't care anymore. It's their last week. I'm sure they could all get 17 demerits and it wouldn't phase them in the slightest.
All in all I'm pretty proud of this class. They're generally good students, even the ones who struggle. There isn't anyone in class who doesn't turn in work. The students who struggle are the ones with learning disabilities and who attent Title 1 classes, and even THEY turn in good, thoughtful work. This class was pretty rare. They all got along and they all were pretty nice to one another. They weren't angels, but they also weren't the kind of kids who make young teachers consider early retirement, either. There are some pretty huge egos in this class, especially because so many of them are strong contenders for the end of the year academic awards. Unfortunately, there are only so many awards to be given out. I finally picked a boy and girl to give my award to, and I'd thought about it for weeks. Last year I had 2 contenders. My first option was to give it to the student with the highest average, but that student was light years ahead of everyone else and was getting a few awards. My next option was the girl who made the biggest leaps and bounds and really grew as a student. Unfortunately, that choice was derailed by their homeroom teacher because she didn't "think she deserved it." Oy. So I gave it to my 3rd choice, who wasn't a bad kid but had performed steadily throughout the year. He didn't make tremendous leaps like the other student, but he was pretty good. This year, I'm really satisfied with my 2 choices, and I think they'll be surprised when they get the awards.
It's pretty crazy how quickly this year is winding down. I can't believe it, but I only teach about 10 more classes before the year ends. Wow.
Monday, May 11, 2009
It's the final countdown!
Officially less than 4 weeks to go! Hurrah!
This week I'm only teaching Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is our annual Walk-A-Thon, and Thursdays I don't teach, so it's a brief week that's jammed full for me.
I've only got a few classes left with the 8th grade. I only see them 2 days a week as it is, and this Wednesday's out, next Wednesday is their Ribbon Day so they'll be celebrating all week, and the next Monday is Memorial Day so classes aren't in session. Isn't that nuts? Three classes left.
I passed out their progress reports today and a number of them have Cs and Ds. They've been lazy this quarter and there's enough missing work to make sure I don't have a free weekend between now and graduation. Isn't that nice of them? Oh well. I warned them and now they have 3 classes to turn in what they're missing. It sucks but in their minds they've been on summer vacation since....January? They've got it bad, and that ain't good!
On one hand, I'm looking forward to an extra 45 minutes in my day (for 3 days). On the other hand, it'll be sad to see another class leave and move on. Each class thinks they're special, and they are in some way, but they're also very much like other 8th grades that came before them. They've got so many more opportunities available to them and they won't have to start working right after receiving their diploma as so many of their predecessors did. They have the chance to attend some of the best high schools in the city and graduate and become something. Isn't that crazy? Think about all the possibility that laid before you at 14. Are you were you wanted to be when you were 14?
There's not much time left to plan the rest of the year and get ready for summer camp. I can't believe how quickly this year went by. I'm thankful for it, but I'm a little annoyed that I didn't get as much accomplished as I wanted to. Oh well. Hopefully I'll be brought back for a third year and I can finish some of what I wanted to start.
This week I'm only teaching Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is our annual Walk-A-Thon, and Thursdays I don't teach, so it's a brief week that's jammed full for me.
I've only got a few classes left with the 8th grade. I only see them 2 days a week as it is, and this Wednesday's out, next Wednesday is their Ribbon Day so they'll be celebrating all week, and the next Monday is Memorial Day so classes aren't in session. Isn't that nuts? Three classes left.
I passed out their progress reports today and a number of them have Cs and Ds. They've been lazy this quarter and there's enough missing work to make sure I don't have a free weekend between now and graduation. Isn't that nice of them? Oh well. I warned them and now they have 3 classes to turn in what they're missing. It sucks but in their minds they've been on summer vacation since....January? They've got it bad, and that ain't good!
On one hand, I'm looking forward to an extra 45 minutes in my day (for 3 days). On the other hand, it'll be sad to see another class leave and move on. Each class thinks they're special, and they are in some way, but they're also very much like other 8th grades that came before them. They've got so many more opportunities available to them and they won't have to start working right after receiving their diploma as so many of their predecessors did. They have the chance to attend some of the best high schools in the city and graduate and become something. Isn't that crazy? Think about all the possibility that laid before you at 14. Are you were you wanted to be when you were 14?
There's not much time left to plan the rest of the year and get ready for summer camp. I can't believe how quickly this year went by. I'm thankful for it, but I'm a little annoyed that I didn't get as much accomplished as I wanted to. Oh well. Hopefully I'll be brought back for a third year and I can finish some of what I wanted to start.
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