The day started with my kiddos taking a survey. Every year I give the students an evaluation to fill out. The first past is about them: what they've accomplished/goals they've met, new friends they made, etc. The second part is about the class/classroom: what lessons they liked best, what lessons weren't their favorites, and suggestions for improvement. (I always have to clarify on this one because I can't change things like the school-wide discipline policy, recess times, etc. There are always a few kiddos who want to adjust those!) The final segment is about me: Did I treat them fairly? Did they feel safe? What was the best/worst advice I gave them? I tell the students to be honest; they are not going to hurt my feelings by their responses. I take the surveys and read them over so I can gauge my teaching for next year. I have actually taken some suggestions from students in previous years and changed things from time to time. I've been thinking of doing a smaller version of the survey at the end of each quarter or semester as well. We'll see what happens.
After that, we cleaned out the last few items from their desks (crayons, pencils, and final "fun" sheets) and cleaned up the room a bit. By that time, it was time for recess and independent reading time, which led us into lunch.
Lunch was held in the classroom. We had pizza, chips, and juice. Some of the children also brought an extra snack or two, so they also had those. During lunch, the students watched a slide show of the year, courtesy of one of our parents who took pictures of a lot of our class activities.
After the slide show, the class had a surprise for me so I was asked to step out of the room for a few minutes while they got ready. When I was given the signal to come back in, I came in to see my students standing at their desks with roses in their hands. Each student then came up to me, gave me hug, presented me with a rose, and told me thank you or some other appreciative statement. After that, each of the parents came up and presented me with a rose and said something nice about me and/or the year. The whole thing was very sweet and slightly overwhelming. I was a little teary by the end. Here is a picture of the final bouquet:
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| There are more than two dozen roses in here. Every time I think about it, I get a little teary eyed. It really was a thoughtful gesture. |
After the hugs and tears and more hugs, I took the students to special. During that time, the room was cleaned up and the desks were wiped down. The room parents prepared the afternoon activities to be ready to go when the students were out of special.
Once the children were picked up, we prepared to go outside for about an hour (not much longer, as there was a heat advisory that day. Even with that, it was cooler outside because of the breeze than it was in the building.). We went down to one of the fields and played water games: Duck, duck, goose (where you threw a water balloon at the person's back instead of tapping them on the head), balloon toss, water tag, and the student favorite, free for all. When everyone was sufficiently drenched, they stretched out on their beach towels and had juice and Popsicles. After that we took a group picture and prepared to go in for a craft activity.
Back inside, the students painted picture frames to be filled with a copy of a class picture (courtesy of the same parents who provided the slide show). The students finished their paintings and went outside as they finished. After recess we read under the fans and waited for dismissal.
A long, hot, fun-filled day.
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