Giving Credit Where Credit is Due!

"Dear Mrs. D, Your like a party you make me giggle, te he he:)
I know that third grade won't last forever but your the best teacher ever:)"

There are a lot of good teachers that we work with. You know the ones who made sure their classes behaved for you your first years teaching? Who sat next to you in the lunchroom and talked to you like a friend? The teachers whose students can "handle" themselves in the art room because they do so much more than dittos in their classroom. You know who they are. The kids know who they are. I got a little glimpse into what students REALLY think about their teachers with our "end of the year" project.

You see, every year I try to do a fun display for the last day of school to surprise the teachers. One year we outlined a student on large butcher paper and they dressed it up like their teacher. We all got a kick out of the teachers full sized portraits lining the hallways. Many of them had on very short skirts and too much lipstick. It was hysterical.

This year, I dug deep in my memory bank, my blogger memory bank, and used this really cool flip flop idea. I have no idea where I saw it but I'm sure I didn't come up with it myself. Each student traced their shoe to make their flip flop and then designed it. I gave them an option to write a note to their teacher on it. The second to last day of school (it was a half day), three students were thrilled to spend the better part of the day taping these flip flops down the hallway. So on our final "bus walk" teachers and students followed the flip flops to the exit door. All the teachers stood in the rain to do the traditional "wave."

 If you don't do the wave at your school you really should start one. The last day of school all the teachers, staff, everyone stands outside and waves goodbye to the kids. It is something to see. The kids wave from the bus windows some were teary eyed, some bawling, some happy to get out for summer.  The bus drivers honk their horns and the teachers try not to cry, fail, and wave to their students.

The mural is a quote from Dr. Seuss Oh the Places You'll Go
"You've got brains in your head and feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose!"
I apologize for the underlining it is a glitch in blogger that won't turn off!

What did I learn from all this? I learned that Mrs. Knud*&% is "like a second mother" to her students. Third graders ONLY like third grade because of Mrs. Dim*&^%. Ms. An%$#^ does the best math lessons and brings in popsicles (which is funny because she also is known for her awesome reading lessons; she's all around great.) Mr. Hur&^% taught a certain "someone" how to be "nice." That one made me cry because it was so true.

What more is there to life? Well for starters. . . finishing cleaning my room and taking down all these sandals. I am one of those people who has to go back to clean there room.  Hopefully I will get better at cleaning my room on time as I get more experienced and less sappy.