The week before the official end of the public school year, my youngest daughter graduated from preschool. I am so excited to send her to kindergarten next year because she is beyond ready. She may even be a bit bored because she has been bringing books home to read already with simple sentences and sight words. Thank you so much to Kathleen and her cutie for helping with pictures.
Model C and I are of course the top left. In the middle is our friend Nick. Model C went with the preschool director to the scholarship award assembly at the high school to present Nick with a scholarship. The director didn't know that we are friends. Nick scored major brownie points when he showed up for Model C's preschool graduation. On the bottom left is Hannah and Model C. Hannah put up with Model C when she was just six weeks old while Hannah's mom babysat for me. Plus she keeps showing up at our house with Nick. I guess Hannah is family now. She thinks it is safer to be part of our clan than to hunted down for offending us. The bottom right is a group from Model C's class reciting a poem. They all spoke very clearly and did a fantastic job. The big picture is Model C and Kathleen's cutie. They have been friends since they were crawling. I find it hard to believe that they will be the class of 2027!
The end of school is always a stressful and difficult time. It wears me out emotionally. The kids and teachers usually just give up at the end. Finishing grades turns into "survival of the fittest." My teammates and I discuss what is most important in assessing a student's mastery of a skill or concept and what that should look like in the grade book. The bigger question should be, why haven't we been doing that all year? Little Miss Cutie English Teacher, next door to me, and I agreed on some major changes for next year. A student should not be graded on how many of the same type of assignment he can complete, but rather the one assignment from that concept where the student is successful. "Practice makes progress," says Michelle Duggar. Therefore, we will continue to do practices, but our grade book needs to look different. We are hoping that this idea will help us to keep our sanity as well as show student success. Chocolate helps too.
Everyone tried to enjoy the last day of school. Do student realize that teachers are people too? Do they realize that we have friends and like to be silly? Here is what happens to photo bombers in my pictures!
This year, I attended my first graduation ceremony in this district. It was the most casual graduation I've ever attended. When I graduated from high school, I graduated with 750 students in a large college basketball stadium. We had to be in and out in 2 hours to make room for the next school. Small towns hold ceremonies on the football field. There is no need to dress up too much in this heat! I thought it was very awkward that as soon as students started crossing the stage, they walked off and took pictures with family and friends. The end was very anticlimactic. The poor kid who had to deliver the benediction was barely noticed. I don't think anyone was quiet for that prayer as cameras were still flashing. Honestly, it seemed very irreverent for a rite of passage ceremony. Even though it was very strange, I really enjoyed seeing students from the past and getting hand-shakes and hugs. One of my besties and I took a picture before it started to prove to one special guy that we were indeed there to support him. 
Recovery time for the last week of school will probably take the rest of summer. Locally, the last class let out one week ago. I have accomplished a few things, but not enough. My sweet and crazy friend Diana has made it a point to stay on my case to finish my thesis. It has been hanging over my head for a year! I did make a partial submission this week, but my professor is in another country and won't get back to me until next week. That's ok. I will keep trudging ahead.
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