If This Is It

Okay, I chose this title and song for several reasons...

1. Huey Lewis & the News is pretty much my favorite band of all time, although Duran Duran is right up there with them.  This is a wonderful summer-themed music video and I'm now officially on summer vacation!
2. I wanted a song title about the end of something and this one that came to mind.  Actually, Michael Jackson's "This Is It" came to mind first, but I like this song and video more.
3. It's the end of the school year and I passed my wonderful little third graders onto fourth grade!  This is a breakup song.  The end of the year kinda feels like a breakup...  Sorta...  Maybe...

This was a fairly eventful year in my school.  Our principal of many years retired / took another job in the district at the end of last year and one of the other third grade teachers was hired as our new principal.  I have to say that last spring I was really nervous about all of these changes, but in the end it all turned out great.  We have a fabulous principal and his replacement in third grade is pretty awesome as well!  We had a pretty great team in third grade, which was hard to break, but it's turned out to be a really great year!

With all of those changes, I ended up taking on a lot of new responsibilities in my building. Once again, I was really nervous about these changes and taking on new things, but I've enjoyed some of my new leadership roles.  i'm still one of the younger ones in my building, but I guess they think I have what it takes to be a good leader with certain things and I'll continue to take on some new roles next year.  (And no, I'm not looking into a career in administration someday...  I get asked that a lot these days.  Admin just isn't my cup of tea!)

I was blessed with a really awesome group of kids this year and really enjoyed this class.  I felt very lucky with last year's bunch and knew they'd be a hard group to top, but I'd say these kids won my heart over as well!  Their personalities were so fun and unique and they were some of the hardest working kids I've ever met!  I was challenged with having a really wide academic range in my class (1 Sp.Ed. and 4 Gifted), but they all worked together so well that it all just seemed to "click."  I was sad to pass these kids onto 4th grade today, but retaining 20 hard working, assessment rocking kids just isn't an option!

So, there's a little year in review...  It was a great year, but I'm glad to have to summer to relax and renew before the next group comes along.  I love the fact that I'm in a career where I get a fresh start each year and have the opportunity to change things from year to year.  I have a busy summer ahead of me, but I'm bound and determined to fit in plenty of chill time before August rolls around again!