At the end of each school year I do a small happy dance of victory. I'm not sure why, but I'm always - ALWAYS - surprised and impressed at how much my students grow during the course of a year. This is one reason I love teaching second grade. My students come in as tiny first graders at the beginning of the year. Then, after countless hours of hard work and tremendous effort on their part, the end of the year arrives and they are ready to leave me and begin their lives in third grade. Now, when I say that my students grow, I mean this quite literally. This past year I had a student who grew a full 3.5 inches during the course of the year! Of course, they grow in other ways too. They learn to work collaboratively, sharing ideas and their own passion for learning. I watch as their personalities come to life, each one so different from the next. My students teach me so much about life and learning over the course of a year, and I thank them for that. My classroom gets packed up so the floors can be waxed and I head home for the summer. I kicked off the summer right this year. My family came down to visit from WI, and we all vacationed together to Charleston. That lasted for one glorious week. I always give a small chuckle (oh, who am I kidding - usually it's a hearty laugh) when I hear someone comment on how nice it must be to have the summers completely free. I am looking at my calendar. There are 17 days that I will be either at school for some necessary purpose, or in some sort of district training/meeting for school related things. This doesn't count the few days I'll go into school just to "get some things done." In addition to the days spent at school, I have posted a picture of what my couch looks like right this second. What you are looking at are some of the things I've been working on this summer (this website being one of them). I don't say these things to complain. On the contrary, I actually love it. Friends of mine will attest - I have a hard time turning my brain off. I love this time during the summer where I can clearly reflect on the year and have actual time to make changes for the coming one. Don't get me wrong. I love a good day at the pool as much at the next person, and rest assured that I will probably read over 10 books "just for fun." I might even squeeze a few movies in there or a day trip to the mall. But if during one of those activities an idea for school strikes me, you'd better believe I'll get my phone out faster than you can say iOS 6, and jot that idea down in Evernote so I can remember to work on it later.
2 Comments
christian
9/4/2012 09:45:41 am
Hi Mrs.gaffneys
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christian
6/6/2013 09:35:58 pm
thank you for teaching me.Thank you for having me in your class.I love you! p.s have a nice day
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AuthorMy name is Carrie Gaffney. Someone once asked me a question that remains in the back of my mind and helps to shape my life: "How will you be remarkable?" I am continuously trying to discover new ways to answer that question. Archives
August 2016
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