Appreciation

Yesterday I wrote of how I gave my students the charge to write the nicest thing they could about each of their classmates to end the year on a note of kindness and gratitude. Well, I, too passed my notebook around, and I was extremely moved by the praise of my students.

At the risk of sounding self-serving, I will share two comments:

The best teachers tell you where to look but not what to see. You are one of the best teachers on the face of the Earth.

I never liked to write, but you changed that. Thanks for teaching me.

The Last Lesson

To end the year I shared the story of another teacher and another class with my students. The tale of Mark Eklund and his teacher Sister Helen is oft-told: how she had him in both 3rd and 7th grade, how despite his squirmy talkativity he never failed to thank her for teaching him, and how on one tough Friday afternoon she had her students take a moment and list the nicest thing they could think of for each kid in the class, and how when Mark was killed in Vietnam he was carrying his list, and how all the other former students who attended his funeral had their lists also.

After hearing the story, we passed our writing notebooks around the circle and everyone wrote the nicest thing they could think of about each of us in our book. At the end of class everyone was excited to read the messages, but I asked for their attention one last time.

"Today is our last day together," I told my students, "and I will miss you. But you are all going forward together," I paused and gave them my best teacher look. "Try not to forget to be kind to each other."

We're Still Learning!

But online quiz sites are definitely some of my best friends this week! Thank you Kahoot!

Final Equation

   2 days left of school
+ 2 substitute teachers on the team
   4 goodness' sake, you guys!

Superlative

The big field trip for this year is in the history books-- we had another successful selfie scavenger hunt today. 47 sixth graders and 8 adults made our way downtown and around the Tidal Basin searching for fun objects and enlightening information as we went. Each find was photo-documented and posted to a blog created especially for the occasion. An IMAX movie in 3-D completed the experience.

Riding back to school on the bus I asked one of the chaperones if she'd had a good day.

"Yes!" she answered. "I had the best group!"

"Wait," said the teacher beside her, "I thought I had the best group."

We laughed. "That's the beauty of this trip," I told them. "The kids really like it, and so everybody really does have the best group!"

Lady Peeps

One of Lucy's favorite toys is a large lavender peeps stuffie, and although the squeaker gave out long ago, she still loves that filthy bunny. Today Heidi saw another one on clearance and couldn't resist the purchase. Oh, Lucy was thrilled-- chewing and squeaking away until she suddenly stopped, ran to her crate, dug through its contents, and produced the original. Then she gave a contented puppy sigh and flopped down with Mr. Peeps and his hot pink lady friend.

Miss Congeniality

For her entire life, our last dog was terrified to go to the groomer. Every visit was an ordeal filled with trembling and whining, and although she always looked great at the end, no one was happy in between.

It's hard to say why the experience was so negative; we have speculated considerably over the last 13 years. Could it have been that first time when they blew her out into a gigantic puff ball, and we laughed when we picked her up? Oh, the groomer scolded us soundly, but perhaps the damage was done. Or was it that time Heidi's mom and I gave her a bath because she had rolled in something? My mother-in-law is no one to be trifled with, and Isabel learned that lesson then.

No matter the cause, in an effort to avoid such distress with Lucy we made an appointment with our groomer for a puppy bath today, and Cassandra couldn't stop smiling when we picked her up. "She's so happy! She loved everything!" was the report. "I really like her personality!"

And although such praise made us sad that Isabel never showed her loveliness to the groomer, we were also thrilled that Lucy had no such challenge.