I have had a good group of kids this year and will miss them! Each year I am sad letting my babies go and anxious of what the next year may hold! Plus when my kids leave me they are trained in my ways :) and then I have to go through the training all over again at the beginning and forget that these new babies don't yet know my routines! So like all summers (except last summer...I was a little more preoccupied with my newborn :)) I will be getting ready to do better in my classroom and have some fun new ideas for the next group of students I am blessed to teach!
Corbin had a good year in 3rd grade! His behavior improved and he made A/B Honor Roll up until the last nine weeks. By making the Honor Roll 3 out of 4 nine weeks, he will get to attend the Hickory Crawdads (our minor league baseball team) game on Tuesday with the school! Robert is getting to go with him! He also made enough AR (Accelerated Reader - a program where students read books and then take comprehension tests for points) to earn a t-shirt at his Awards Day on Wednesday! However, he had to take the "dreaded" EOGs (End-of-Grade tests) that tests students on Math and Reading. It is a long grueling tests that can take up to 4 hours. These tests begin in 3rd grade! Corbin struggles some with reading due to he's a boy and his attention span is not what it should be and he does not enjoy reading at all (which I can't imagine as I am an avid reader)! So, we made a deal with him to make him give his best effort! He set his own rewards. 3s are passing, so if he made two 3s, we would go eat at Applebee's and go to a movie (without Garrett, of course)! If he made a 3 and a 4, we would go to Carowinds (an amusement park on the NC/SC border) and if he made two 4s, he would get to go to Carowinds and ride go-carts in town. As a 4th Grade teacher, I had given this test multiple times, but this time I was seeing it from the point of view of a parent and I was nauseaus! He was at his mom's during testing week which meant he would get up at 5 am and be at before school daycare at 6 am each morning of the tests. Robert and I discussed seeing if his mom would trade weeks just for the sleep factor, but felt like we had nothing to support this request. So, we held our breath and said our prayers and waited for the week to be over to know results. The reading test is the first day and is only a one day test. He took extra time and worked really hard and applied the strategies he had been taught. So, we felt good about it. Then Math was the next two days. One day is calculator active and is a longer tests and the 2nd day is calculator inactive and is a short tests. Each day he took his time and worked out problems and was one of the last ones finished. So, we were breathing a little easier and hopeful. Scores came and Robert went to find his teacher. He passed Math with a high 3...1 point from a 4 (above average). Then the tear jerker, he missed making a 3 in Reading by 5 points. He was devastated and we were crushed. We pumped him up and told him he had tried his best and that's what mattered and he would have another chance to pass. And we would still go to Applebee's because he had worked so hard. So, he went through a week of Reading Remediation at school and at home (at our house this week). We went to eat at Applebee's on Sunday before the restest on Tuesday. Memorial Day was Monday so no school and he had to retest on Tuesday. Not a good scenario! However, after working hard during remediation week, we were hopeful. He took his test on Tuesday, but we had to wait until Thursday, when all retests were over, to find out his score. On Thursday afternoon, as I came in from car rider duty, Corbin met me at the door. I needed him to take a lunchbox to a classroom that a student had left, but his teacher said wait Corbin, you need to tell her. I held my breath. He said I passed! We hugged and hugged and celebrated. I told him how proud I was for him! His confidence had really taken a beating when he did not pass and I was so relieved that he was able to pass on the 2nd try and regain some of it! Needless to say, we will be making a trip to Carowinds this summer! :)
We have a membership to our county pool and it opened on Memorial Weekend! I took both boys on that Saturday. Corbin loves it, but Garrett is more skiddish this year as he is now big enough to get in the kiddie pool. He still clings to me most times!
I am excited to be coming home to Arkansas twice this year! Garrett and I will fly home on June 19th and be there until July 1 and fly back to NC! Then on July 23rd, we will drive back with Corbin and Robert and stay until August 6th. I am ready for vacation!
Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer! Enjoy some quality time with those you love!
