"No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's cross-eyed looks . . ."

Last day of school today.  I was thinking about how school has played - and continues to play - a major role in my life.  I have been in a school mode for many years of my life - and that doesn't count my kids' school experiences.  I went to public school for 12 years.  I went to college for a B.A. for 5 years.   I did 2 years of graduate school.  I spent about 5 years getting a teaching credential - while I taught school on an emergency credential.  After subbing for 4 years, I have been teaching for 16 years.

When I think about our kids, the years really add up.  6 kids who went through 12 years each of public school.  5 kids with bachelor's degrees at about 4 years each.  3 kids with master's degrees at 2 or 3 years apiece.

Now we are also involved with our grandchildren and their school experiences.  And I haven't even counted Harry's "school years!"

When school is part of your daily life, summer vacation is too!!  That's the plus in the equation.  School is out - this last week was wearing - I had been gone for 2 days,  and there was lots of work that needed to be done before I could sign off and turn in my keys!  But I got the work done - and even left school today at 4 - but school had ended at 11:30, so I had a few hours.  

Every year I plan to use the "packing up" time to sort and purge and streamline things in the classroom.  And every year I reach the point where I just start stuffing things into cupboards!!

So August will find me having to do more sorting than I'd like to.  But until then I will just function in vacation mode!!

(I was noting that for an activity that really consumes a lot of my life, I really don't have very many "school" photos!)

School is out - almost!!

Tomorrow is the last full day of school - Friday is a minimum day, and then we are home free until the 25th of August.

I got a 15 year pin!! I will put it with my 5 year and 10 year pins - looks like I'm amassing quite a collection!!

I am ready for school to be out. It will be a busy summer - but busy at work and busy in the summer are two different kinds of busy!!

Alice is in town - said she'd come out Friday and help me finish packing up my room. The start and end of the school year are a lot like moving - packing, unpacking, sorting, purging, cleaning!!

Alice is good at all that too!!

Monday morning - always seems to come around!

February is full of holidays - at least for students - and next Monday is one of those. Last Monday was a teacher in-service - almost as good as a holiday - at least you don't have to be ready for students and you don't need to be early - unless you want the breakfast spread they have for you.

Sometimes I feel like Mondays come around too quickly - the weekend is never long enough. And other times I feel like Monday is a "second chance" to get it all together at last.

Here's hoping today is just that!

"A rose by any other name . . ."

Much of my life seems to revolve around school. Not so odd really, since I spend 5 days a week, 8 to 10 hours a day there for about 9 months out of each year.

This is a photo from 2 1/2 years ago - I look much thinner. Probably because I was much thinner. Maybe this will inspire me! Or not.

But I can only remember the girl next to Beth, not her name. And the girl next to me doesn't even look vaguely familiar. Maybe she was not a student of mine and just got in the picture.

I see former students all the time around here. And it's always "Hi Mrs. Terrill," while I just say, "Hi!" with as much emphasis as possible so they don't notice that I'm not saying their name. And I think that maybe I should have kept a log or a journal or something so that I could review former students occasionally. (I could buy a yearbook, but they are up to $45 now!!)

Dad feels that way about all the missionaries that have come through over the many years that he has been Ward Mission Leader. We should have set up a log or chart or something with a picture and their name under it. (We have lots of pictures, but not all of them are identified!!) We get wedding invites and baby announcements and Christmas cards. Elder Thomas has a ring to it that doesn't seem to mesh with "Hi Nathan!!" It feels like they will always be missionaries.

We had Sister Keller here for three weeks and I called her Sister Keller the whole time. I felt like I was breaking a rule calling her Julie Ann! But then Julie Bourgeous Sears still calls me Sister Terrill whenever she sees me.

Funny how that works.

The Dog Days of August

This is a photo from June - but I did go visit my mom on August 7th - which was also my Grandpa Stevens birthday!! (and Hannah Kerksiek's b-day too.) Just thought a I needed a photo.

I'm not sure where the phrase about the "dog days of August" comes from. And actually, so far, this August is warm but pleasant - certainly not "dog like."

Maybe it's because school will start at the end of this month. Summer vacation will be over. I stayed in bed this morning and finished a novel rather than getting up and being productive. I'm doing my best to thumb my nose at the inevitable necessity of going back to work.

And today the date is 8-9-10.

That's a nice touch.

Today's rant!!

I had 9 phone calls today between 8 and 11 a.m. And about 5 people came to my room needing something from me. To say it was disruptive to my classes is putting it mildly. Every one of the callers "needed" something from me too. But they could have left voicemails instead. I'm good about answering those. And answering emails too.

What I feel bad about though, is that I pretty much ended up taking my frustration out on the kids. One of the young ladies in one of my classes has ditched one too many times and got sent to the alternative program. I feel bad about that, and it happened today, so my students were on edge about it. They may tease and pick on one another, but when the chips are down, as they say, they are fiercely loyal. I'm afraid I wasn't really "there" for them.

I'm going bed now - I usually end up staying up too late most of the time - which I'm sure makes it harder for me to deal with 9 phone calls and 5 drive-bys - and I'm going to ponder on a plan for dealing with whatever tomorrow brings.

Besides, I have to get there early to run off the tests I didn't finish doing today - on account of all the interruptions!!

I'll let you know how it goes.

"At the hop!"

Here I am in all my 9th grade glory - "At the Hop" was probably on the turntable too!

The dress was seafoam green taffeta. And my partner was Bobby McCann. And don't you love that we had our dances in a classroom??!!

I attended "new" schools for junior high and high school - so gyms and auditoriums weren't finished at first. Once I commented to Harry that the schools I went to look so different now. "Well, the trees are 40+ years older. That should make a difference!" was his reply.

Is it a sign of aging that I love to look at old school photos??

Kids Say the Darnedest Things!

I should take pictures of Dylan and George, so you can envision this exchange.

Ray, reluctant new kid in my Study Skills class: "I'm working as fast as I can." (He wasn't!)

Dylan, apparently trying to show solidarity with his new classmate: "You know we have slow brains, Mrs. Terrill, that's why we're in this class."

Mrs. Terrill: "You don't have slow brains. You might have processing disorders, but no one in here has a slow brain. Stop making excuses."

George, random as usual: "Someday we'll all have gills anyway."

(Mrs. Terrill guffaws heartily - much to the amazement of the rest of the class.)

Maybe you had to be there.

Blast From the Past

The best thing about this shot is not Harry's long locks.

It has to be Karan's Afro-style do!!

The 80's - the age of excess.

But it's been enough years that it's looking good!