The First Two Days of Summer

Yesterday was my last "official" day at school. The end of the year seemed very anti-climactic. They never even announced the results from field day 2009 and it used to be such a big deal. Scotty wouldn't have stood for such a thing.

Sadly, my homeroom did not rise to my expectations this year as I had two athletic and talented young men decide to draw attention to themselves by losing on purpose (skipping during the track events...got the picture?). Let's just say that I was not amused in the least! In my six years of teaching 8th grade, I've never had a homeroom demonstrate such an extreme lack of sportsmanship and classlessness. If it hadn't been for the rest of my kids who sincerely tried, albeit reluctantly due to the stress of peer pressure, I would have march every one of them back into the classroom and they could LISTEN to the other classes having fun while they sat in silence. Yes, I was ticked in a major, major way. It's a shame too, because I loved those kids. Their behavior there at the end put a damper on the end of the year, and made for an awkward goodbye for the ones that acted like jerks. They tell me such is expected from middle schoolers, but I always expect more from mine.

Yesterday, I managed to get checked out on time, but have stacks and stacks of paperwork to organize once school starts in the fall. I need at least three days to get 'er done. Lunch was fun with Lisa, Kevin, Sherry, and Vickie. We went to Jason's Deli. I really love the folks I get to work with every day. I need to remind myself and them of how special they are to me.

Our principal recognized me at our end of the year staff meeting- this time, in a good way. The staff applauded for me and I started to feel the weight of speaking on behalf of teachers. We were told we'd have some classes of 35 kids next year. It seems like the expectations get higher and our working conditions get tougher. Eventually, something's gotta give! It would be nice for our teachers to be on the receiving end of a little sincere postive encouragement and recognition for a job well done, but it truly feels more oppresive..."This is what we're going to do, and it really doesn't matter what you have to say about it." This we know, but it would be nice to feel that our concerns have been heard.

Sam, Addie, Chelcie and I have been taking Marley for swims at Carl Cowan Park. She loves the water, but is still too unpredictable to make it a relaxing excursion. She needs that kind of exercise and freedom to run.

Sherry Storms treated us to lunch at Webster's today in honor of Katrina's 16th birthday! Yummy!

Sherry, Katrina, and I went for a long walk on Memorial Day then the entire Crawford family (that's right, ALL of us) went to the park for an impromtu picnic. We got a load of chicken from Kroger and ate by the parking lot before a huge storm blew in. Drew and I had fun playing tennis as he CLAIMS he can beat me now, but I contend that age and experience will still trump youth and athleticism. We have a rain delay on our "to be continued" tennis match.