Last Week of School

This past week was the last week of school. As such, there was more craziness than usual with field trips/activities for each grade and not too much actual schoolwork being done.

On Tuesday, I was in Mr. Lofthus' class when he suddenly had to leave for a dentist appointment and I was the impromptu sub. He had another staff member come in to talk about making a summer reading plan and a person from the local library system showed some new books and how to use the library website. Then, I read to his 3rd period class out of a book I've been reading every Tuesday/Thursday called "Miracles Boys." Fourth period, the real sub came and I was relieved! The lesson plan he left was to sign yearbooks for the whole period and watch the end of a movie they started. For 5th period, I played Uno and cards with two students, since they had no homework. For 6th and 7th period, Ms. Mitchell's class watched a video of themselves performing their mini-play and did some other work. That night was the 8th grade graduation ceremony. I couldn't go to that or to CG this week because my allergies were acting up. I stayed home that night to sleep and write notes to my students for their yearbooks. Kayle enjoyed CG and brought chicken tacos for taco night.

On Wednesday, the 8th grade went on a boat cruise with a DJ, food, and dancing on a ship in Lake Washington. Casey, another tutor, chaperoned and said it was fun, especially since the driver allowed kids to steer the ship for about 80% of the time. At school, I helped see the 8th graders off in the morning, hung out with students during the day, and partially cleaned the Fishbowl. Not too much to do...

Thursday was my last day at school even though school officially ended on Friday. I brought almond bars and Rice Krispie treats, so I was pretty popular. I also handed out notes to all the students I know well and work with (about 35 total). After mailing the last few scholarship applications and helping in Ms. Mitchell's class, I went to the 6th grade movie at the end of the day. They watched "Hotel for Dogs" and got popcorn, juice, and ice cream sandwiches while the movie was playing. The 6th grade teachers also paused the movie several times for a raffle and had awards for outstanding students at the end. It was a good celebration but a more action-packed movie might have kept their attention better. There was a lot of squirming and talking at my table! After school, I said "goodbye" to all my students and packed up the last of my stuff to go home. Farewell Meany Middle School!

Yesterday, I was very productive on my "errand day". I went to the chiropractor and Verizon store (to delete the random ringback tone that appeared on our account, suggesting my other phone was actually stolen), got a haircut, picked up groceries, got gas, and went to the bank. I also inventoried the 3 huge boxes that arrived for Science Adventure Camp. Just when I got all the youth group books and board games for Meany out of our condo, I now have 4 large boxes of camp supplies and many, many little science gadgets, experiments, and models all over. I guess when you work with kids, there will also be random things to take home!

Today (Saturday), I went to an all-day Science Adventure camp training while Kayle stayed home to program and do some laundry. I made a rocket, a Mars Rover, a mini-rocket launcher, and a sea turtle model among other little take-home trinkets. Lucky for Kayle, all those "prototypes" are now in our living room. Now that I'm home, we're planning to make homemade pizza and rest for the evening.

Tomorrow, Erica Watson, a girl from Notre Dame, is in town to visit her boyfriend who got an internship at Microsoft this summer. We're meeting them at church for the 11:15 service after Kayle and I volunteer in children's ministry for the earlier service. Afterward, we'll all probably go out to lunch and hang out at our condo for a while.

I also have some lesson preparation to do for Monday. I start next week working part-time in the mornings. I am assigned to teach the feature project: the very complicated KNEX robot. We also found out that about 1/3 of our campers just finished kindergarten and we have only 1 5th grader, so it will be a young group. I am hoping that I'll be able to explain the instructions well! After the training today, I feel mostly ready to dive in and have some fun with kids. Of course, I don't have to be in charge of an entire site for another few weeks yet, so that's a relief...

Well, I think that's all for now. Kayle is so anxious for pizza that he's starting without me! Guess that means I have to go now...

With love,
Angie and Kayle