Go big or go home

You know the phrase, "Go Big or Go Home" ???

Apparently, my students definitely do.  Typically, the end of the school year brings restless students who can only think of one thing - sweet, sweet freedom.  Boredom, lack of interest, and irresponsibility can be expected.  Sometimes, behavioral issues may increase, but nothing out of the ordinary.

This year, it was much different.

The end of the 2012-2013 school year was in the form of a five-day week.  Yikes.  From what I've experienced, the last week of school is usually a half-week.  I had prepared myself the weekend before the last week to battle restlessness all week and get some real work accomplished.

BIG mistake.

Here are some phrases that I caught myself saying,

"Are you trying to burn all of your bridges before you leave?"

"What made you think that what you did was a fantastic idea?"

"Please stop writing on your arms!"

"No, you may not stand on your desk!"

"Why are you hiding under the bean bags again?"

"Please keep your fingers out of the fan."

"Who took all of the caps off my markers?"

"Did you think before you acted?"

Any sound familiar?  It's as if all rules, expectations, and social skills flew out the window.  A culmination of many chaotic behaviors was this:

Two students showed up to class with their arms taped together.  They (apparently) used an entire roll of masking tape.  I should just stop asking "Why?" at this point.

On Tuesday, I decided to throw in the towel for the last day of actual class.  I wasn't going to fight this losing battle anymore.  Instead, like most times in my life, I agreed to just roll with the punches.  Sugary snacks?  Sure!  Movies?  Why not!  Obnoxious games?  Of course!  Needless to say that last day of class went much better...

I've accepted the oddities and quirks that middle schoolers have. I love that about them.  And next year I'll just prepare myself for the worst and hope for the best for the last week of school.  

I love middle school.  I love the day-to-day insanity of the unexpected.  People will say what they want to say about a teacher's yearly schedule and having the summer off.  But we all know that without those summers, we wouldn't be able to handle the school year with an unexpected sense of calmness.

Cheers to summer to all of you teachers, students, and parents alike!

Emily :)

Goodbye Goodies

As the end of the school year draws near, many teachers are thinking about fun (and inexpensive) ways to say "Goodbye!" to students.  If you are a Pinterest fanatic like me, finding ideas isn't too difficult.  There are loads of great ideas and inspiration you can find there and tweak to make your own creation.

That's exactly what I did.  In order to stay within the means of my minuscule *recent-college-grade-with-student-loans-and-earning-a-sad-teacher-salary* budget, I opted for a crafty gift for some of my small group students that required few purchases and more of my time.  (I also made goody bags for the whole class that I will post later).  In the end, I realized that going the crafty route was much more personal and fun.  

Here's the end result:

I love all of the catchy sayings that go a long with candy or fun toys.  "You are the SWEDISH student", or "I hope you have a KOOL summer," or maybe even "You were a BURST of fun in my class."  

You get the idea.  

So, I took three of my favorite play on words and put them into a message.  (Seen below)

It reads, "(Name), you are such a SMARTIE and it was FUN being your teacher.  Have a BALL the rest of the year!"   This was given to students at the end of Term 2 (thus the "rest of the year") but you could easily replace that with summer.  I was able to buy a pack of Fun Dip for less than $4, an entire bag of Smarties for less than $2, and a bunch of small bouncy balls for less than $3.  I was able to give about 15 students these goody bags for under $10.  They only took about an hour to create and assemble, and they loved them!

I've learned that sometimes, the simple things mean the most to kiddos.  If you put a personal touch into an end-of-the-year gift, it helps keep attitudes positive about school so that students just might want to return again in September!

Emily :)