Last Day for Placement #1

Today is my last day with my 5th graders.  I am so very sad to say goodbye to them, even though I know I will still be able to see them around school every once in awhile when I'm with the 1st graders!  It's so cute watching them whisper and plan the party for this afternoon which I "have no clue about."  Some of them have been acting really sad today while others are the same as every other day, which is good.  It's weird knowing that for some of these kids, I really did have an impact on them even though I was only here for two short months.  This impact might only last a week, a  month, a year, but I'm just glad that for some of them I made a little bit of a difference.  If anything, I know I have helped my cooperating teacher through some challenging times as she has had to deal with a few strokes of bad luck.

I wish I could just write all of the wonderful moments that happened with the 5th graders, but there are far too many.  There are a few in particular that I would like to share with you:

• One student wrote me an email after my first day of teaching and said I did a great job and that he wants me to continue to teach the class (wish granted for awhile!)
• One girl came up to me and asked if they were all coming with to 1st grade too
• One child tried very hard to hook me up with her older brother
• After informing the class that I had a boyfriend, they asked me "Are you getting married tomorrow?  At Disney World?"
• The countless hugs and smiles
• Having students still acting out their human body scripts they performed over two weeks ago
• FINALLY cracking the one child I thought was impossible to crack and really getting to know him

Overall, my experience with 5th grade and my cooperating teacher, along with the school and the other faculty has been so amazing.  I am glad that I will be teaching here for my 2nd placement as well.  Wish me luck with the little ones in two weeks! 

For now, I will be traveling back to the frozen tundra (Iowa) for a week of (first) scrambling together things needed to apply for a job that is only available until March 7th and then relaxing all week long with friends, family, and my wonderful boyfriend!