Dakilang Pilipina

Done-Done! (The School Year in Review)

It's taken me a week to really clean out my classroom, but as of today, I am done-done...compared to just plain done. As I gave my empty classroom one last look over, I reflected on the year that just passed. It's definitely been great to be back in the classroom full-time after a three-year absence and to be quite honest, it really felt like my 1st year of teaching all over again.

And y'know what they say...you never forget the first year, be it the teaching experience or the kids. In my case, it's the kids that I will miss the most.

Being back to work quickly reminded me of the non-stop work that goes on behind the scenes of being a teacher. For me, my mind is always going and always thinking of what can be done, what can be used, what can be improved, etc. Each time before something is discarded, I have to think twice in case it can be used for something else. Possible art project? Storage? Creative display? We can never just throw (or recycle) anything away...in fact, we are all packrats to the core.

Aside from the countless hours of correcting (or procrastinating to correct as my case may be...), planning, and preparing, it really has been AWESOME to be back in a classroom. I've missed the interaction working with young kids. This year's kids are particularly memorable...I don't think I've cracked up so much from what someone has done or said! The 8-9 year-old kids in my class are truly an unforgettable bunch and I'm going to miss them terribly.

Each year, I usually have a group of girls who like to hang with me. It's cute, really, how they loiter around my desk, offer random thoughts, tell me stories, tell me who they like, who likes whom (because it DOES start early nowadays...), volunteer to do things, and just talk about nothing and everything. A lil' groupie- lol. But this year was different...instead of the girls, it was the boys! And what makes this whole situation so endearing is that while most of them tended to get in trouble for one thing or another, it would be those same boys who would constantly hang around my desk sharing about this or that, and in most cases, telling me their latest jokes.

And what a bunch of jokesters I had!

My #1 Jokester, whom I am going to miss the most, won't be coming back to our school next year. I will always remember this one day where I had just finished lecturing the class about rules or something or other...probably their incessant talking because these kids would NOT STOP! Talk about madaldal! Anyways, tempers were high, lecture was given, students had their heads down, and all of a sudden, #12 raises his hand and when called upon says,

"So Superman walks into this bar, right?"

The timing was so off and even though I was upset, I was trying my best to hold my laughter in. That's just a glimpse of how the entire...ENTIRE...year went. Jokes, laughing, and fun times. Of course, we had our bad days, too....oh boy, did we! But for the most part, I really enjoyed these kids...enjoyed teaching them, learning from them, being inspired by them, spending time, talking and getting to know them, playing, joking, laughing...and oh yes, grossing them out. I've grossed them out so outrageously to the point where I'm practically crying from laughter. The looks of disgust and horror on their faces are classic, I love it! My theory has always been this simply: if the kids are ENJOYING the learning process, they will REMEMBER what they learned more. As much as possible, I want my kids to be reacting, laughing, grossing out, and more in my class. Teaching is almost like doing standup...if there's no laugh, I get that "...is this mic on?..." feeling. And with kids, they'll tell you like it is...that's what I love about 'em.

I can go on and on about the kids or even about the best parts of the school year. I should've blogged more often during school, but um, shoot...who has time to do that? In any case, as I look back, it's been a really tough year- physically, emotionally, psychologically, and yes, spiritually. I've been challenged with work as well as my personal life. With one being done (for at least 2 months or so!), I can now concentrate on getting my life in order.

Here are a couple of pics from the last few weeks of school that I wanted to share!

Looking for mud critters at our field trip to Crissy Field.