Let this folksy compilation of American classics be the soundtrack to your memorial day, I know it’s all I’ll be listening to today.
Make sure to check out my favorite, #4, an incredibly rendition of Cheap Tricks “I Want you to Want Me”, complete with some great banjo and soulful voices.
(Source: justlittlethings)
4503(Source: friendsoneepisodeonescene, via tarvertalkshere)
I’d say it’s been a pretty successful school year….
Top Left - Two of my seniors during the first week of school… they dub this as the day that they realized that we would always have too much fun in science. They were fantastic students, and their graduation this morning is making me feel quite old.
Top Right - Those two fellows pretty much hold the key to my sanity. They’re on my varsity Academic Team and are basically the only things that keep me going sometimes. They’re also my two state champions for literary. And they’re all-stars on the football team. Basically the most well-rounded guys at the school. And I can’t wait to be their real teacher in the fall .
Middle Left - Just a little snapshot from Thing-A-Thon. Be sure to note those photobombs.
Middle Right - I spent many an afternoon/Saturday at the baseball field. And these two lovely freshmen were almost always there. I’ll miss them next year, but I’m sure they’ll stop by to visit often.
Bottom Left - It was during Spirit Week that we confirmed that I looked remarkably like one of my students…. and I’ll take that as a compliment any day! She’s a gem.
Bottom Right - Once upon a time, before I knew anything about anyone or anything, one of my freshmen boys asked me to be his escort for the homecoming court parade. He’s another one I’ll dearly miss next year.
Here’s a throw back… Quite possibly one of the greatest shows ever.
(Source: Spotify)
525,600 Minutes
A year ago I had just graduated from UGA… I was nannying for sweet baby Adam, hoping to find a job… Any job. Anywhere. Teaching anything.
As of today, I’m officially a home owner (!!!!!). I just chaperoned the end-of-the-year dance for my sweet baby freshmen. Tomorrow morning, my seniors graduate. And this is the last week of my first year of teaching. I’m not sure quite how all of this happened, but I’m so thankful it did.
Signing on my house today meant something else wonderful: I took a personal day at school. Why didn’t I do this before now?! If I could do my first year of teaching over again, I’d definitely take a day every now and then. I’d also know that nothing’s going to go as planned… There are always fire drills, surprise ceremonies (like Make-A-Wish coming for one of our sweet, sweet boys!), and other interruptions. Being frustrated won’t change anything except your attitude… I’d be sure to go to bed earlier. I’d say no more often (which is something I’m really terrible at, but I know that it needs to be said every once in a while). I’d be stricter in the classroom to start with. And I wouldn’t be afraid to be ridiculous for my kids. (Let’s be honest - wearing a panda suit was probably the best decision I made for my first year of teaching.)
3When someone tells my friends they are going to get frozen yogurt
This one is for Bethany Lewis…
842(via beemickygee)
Friday held one of those moments that I’m pretty sure I’ll look back on for the rest of my teaching career and think Wow. That’s a defining moment. If for nothing else, this whole year was worth it for that single moment.
In the hullabaloo of the last day of school for seniors/second-to-last Friday for everyone/general epidemic of Spring Fever, one of my favorite sophomore boys had a major lapse of judgment and decided that it would be funny to yell something not funny down the hallway. As soon as he did it, he knew he was wrong. He also knew I had no choice but to write him up. We talked about it briefly after class while I choked back tears. I was terribly saddened by what he yelled, broken by having to reprimand him. (I was reminded all the while of the truth: He disciplines us because he loves us.)
Thirty minutes later after I’d had a conversation with the principal, this seventeen year old boy arrives back at my door. All he can say is “Can I talk with you outside” before tears start streaming down his cheeks. He then goes into the most beautiful and encouraging word vomit I’ve ever witnessed. By the end he was weeping.
Miss G, I’m so sorry for what I said. I wish I could take it back. I wish I could take it back more than I wish I hadn’t rear-ended that car yesterday and totaled my truck. In the moment, I didn’t think. In the moment, I thought I could get a laugh. And I thought a laugh would be worth it. In the moment I put your reputation on the line. I tried to trade what you’ve shown us all year long - that you’re a loving, Christian young woman, and an incredible role model - for a laugh. It makes me sick to think about it. You don’t know how much I love and respect you. I’d do anything for you. I can’t tell you how much it’s meant to be in your class. The way that you’ve loved us, shown us grace and discipline, trained us up in the way we should go… it’s rubbed off on us. And I put that all on the line for a measly laugh. And I did this all in my final week with you. I hope that you can forgive me. And I hate that this is how you’ll remember the end of our year together.
By this point both of us were weeping. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed. (And for the record, no hard feelings. We made each other laugh until we cried today in class. And while I wish it hadn’t happened, I’m so glad that this part did. He learned a lesson that many people learn far too late in life.)
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(Source: justlittlethings)
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