The End and The Beginning

Well, school isn't technically over, but it is for me.

On Tuesday, we had our end of the year ceremony and cook out. I have to say, I think this was our best closing ceremony yet. We did a collection of poems and songs based on our theme, "Peace and Love." Each third year had a poem (or solo) to recite on their own or with a friend. At the end, the children sang "Love in Any Language" while I put a slide show on in the back. It may be the world's cheesiest song, but it was very cute.

Afterwords, I read a poem with a stanza about each third year student and gave them their gift. This year, I had a coupon for a printing service website (vistaprint, if anyone is interested) and so I made each child a little photobook with pictures from their first, second and third year. They came out very nicely, despite being a bit smaller than I had anticipated (I assumed the 4 x 6 book would have 4 x 6 pictures - but the whole book was 4 x 6). Nonetheless, it was a hit.

Our cook out was great too! I was so worried about not having enough food that I sent home a ton of reminders and we ended up having way more than we needed! The kids had a great time, and one parent even brought a mini sno-cone maker. She was a saint for manning it all afternoon!

Then, yesterday, summer training for Elementary started. My children are still in school until Monday with a sub. Talk about not having a break for me! We have jumped in head first once again. It's only the second day and I feel like I've been in training all summer. Oi.

So, one of the things my trainer mention before we got started was to remember why we are doing training. It's going to be a long, hard summer and we may want to remind ourselves of our positive mission to keep us going. Of course, I want Elementary for my school, and to expand public Montessori, particularly in the urban public education setting. I do feel very passionately about this.

Yet, I really have to say, that throughout this year I have been reflecting on my Primary class. I had a pretty good year this year. When I decided to do Elementary training, it wasn't because I wanted a break from Primary. I wanted it in the future and now seemed like a good time to do it (although now that I'm getting married and am actually planning on getting married next summer in between written and oral exams, now does NOT seem like the best time!). The more I think about it, the more I realize I love Primary. I'm going to finish this training, of course, but I'm beginning to think my heart is really in the Primary classroom. We'll see if this sentiment changes. Just thought I'd record my thoughts for now.