First Days and Last Days

One of the first things I learned as a teacher is that you only get one chance at the first day of school and one chance at the end. It is kind of like Christmas. If you don't have it done when the stores are closed, then you didn't make it. You can't do over the first impression as a teacher on that important first day of school. When the end of the year is here, you can't go back. End of level testing comes whether you are ready or not. I have a race to get to the end of my year. Though no longer teaching, I still have certain things to finish. I have plenty of time, but not much wiggle room in case "something comes up". I finished my "groups" last week. That was a big relief. No one can do that for me. We always finish up our eight weeks with a root beer float party. I can check that off my list. I have two classroom visits in May. One is a final lesson and the other is a "Review Game". I only have three more "final lessons" to give. Two of these were rescheduled by the teacher, or they would have been done. Two tomorrow, and one on Friday. Hopefully achievable. Next week I am doing all of the visits in one week. The game is all set to go. I have someone that can fill in for me. One of the remarkable blessings that I had this year was a lovely lady that wanted some intern hours. She helped me out for a good part of the year. Right after Christmas she was hired as a long term substitute, but now she is free. She has offered to finish up whatever I cannot do. This is a great comfort.

Last night I had a rough night with puppy Maddie, so I was a bit tired today, and more emotional than usual. After the doctor I went in to work to finish up some things. I did have a mini meltdown as I thanked our secretary for all of the support I feel from her and the rest of the staff. There are so many people that ask me how I can keep my job with all that is going on. Truly there are some days that Debbie looks at me and says, "Why are you here?" This is so incredibly comforting to me. The staff at Oak Hills has been supportive of me since the day that I arrived. My boss is amazing. She does the work of 20 and supports everything that I have to do. The first year that I was there was when Mom was having such horrible hallucinations. I was always running out to "save" her. There is a phrase in a really pretty song somewhere that says something like, "I loved you before I met you". The staff at Oak Hills supported me even before they knew anything about me. It is an amazing place to be. I have relationships there that I will always treasure. I am so grateful for that turn of fate that led me to educational psychology and the never ending blessings that have come from it.