End of the Year

My students finished classes on June 26th and then I was at school on June 29th and 30th this year (how sad that we actually had to go right to the end of June this year).

I really hadn't been doing so great at snapping pictures lately and the end of the year was no exception.  

So let me just share with you what we did

1) Decades Parties.  

I put a pair of students (some worked in groups of threes) in charge of a decade of the 1900's to share about it with the class.  I gave them a sheet with some suggestions and whatever they picked from there had to total 100 points.  We had a lot of Power Point presentations, food, dressing up in clothes from the decade, and trivia games.  Some groups did a really awesome job at it.  We had at least 1 "party" a day for the last 2 weeks of school.

2) Loonie Carnival

This year my students were in charge of helping the teachers at the different centers.  Mine were puzzle races and fish races... Fish races were a huge hit until I switched the candy from sour soothers to gummy bears.  We did this the morning of our last day.

3) Parties!

The kids threw me a surprise birthday/going away party (my birthday is July 3rd).  There was food, games, a movie, and even a karaoke machine!  They were so thoughtful and when I came back to the room (after being kicked out so they could set up) my desk was covered in presents!

Then about a week later they asked what I was going to do for them.  My original plan was to walk to the ice cream store and to get them each a cone but then someone suggested I just buy ice cream and toppings and stretch that dollar a little more... so that's what I did.  I think I spent about $50 on all the ice cream and toppings and boy were we stuffed!  We ate our ice cream outside... it was a REALLY hot day.

4) Movies, Karaoke, and Games

On Friday afternoon the grade 5 and 6 students got to pick a room to hang out in.  We knew we were going to do games in one and a movie in another... when I asked my students what they wanted in our room they said karaoke... again.  And it had to be my room since I had the mic.  

5) Art and Poetry Books

Throughout the year I was collecting all the artwork my class had done and adding it to a folder with each students name on it.  For every piece of art that we did I also had them write a poem to go with it.  At the end of the year I took out their folders and they organized them how they would like it to be in a book.  They also made a cover for their books.  I spent a looong time binding all those books together BUT it was so worth it.... last year I saw a lot of art work end up in the recycling bin... at least this year it didn't end up in there (at school at least).  I'm definitely going to continue this.

And Finally, something that didn't happen.

I didn't end up getting a teaching position for next year in my division.

I wasn't eligible for another term and I suppose they couldn't hire a permanent teacher.

So, it looks like it is back to substitute teaching for me.

I'm still applying to other teaching jobs that I'm seeing posted but right now, the plan is to substitute teach starting in September.

So, look forward to some more stories from the substitute teacher's classroom!