Closing Time

As we draw the curtains on the summer sun, scrub the last crayon marks off the tables, pussyfoot around the cereal snack still littering the floor, and switch the lights off on yet another school year, I feel the need for a bit of introspection.

I often express the wish that I could write children's literature. I admire the creativity, simplicity, and power of a well-written picture book. Regrettably, I don't have the talent for working in that genre, but with a lifelong love of teaching and fostering early literacy, I can impart the skills necessary for children to tell their own stories instead.

This time of year is particularly rewarding because I get to see the fruits of my labors. Students who came to me in August knowing nothing about books, speaking very little English, and writing nothing more than their names (if I'm lucky), now fluently read and write.

We completed our bout of testing (don't get me started!) with a test to determine students' reading level for first grade.  One of my comrades in arms was concerned because with so many distractions, reading instruction has been spotty lately.  Regardless, all of the children except those with severe learning disabilities are reading on a first-grade level because these are skills we've worked on since day one.  It makes me pleased to see children who once struggled to recognize their own name in print reading confidently.

These children inspire, uplift, and entertain me.  I can't wait to see where they will go and what they will do next.  Though I am the educator, they have taught me so many things that I will always carry with me.

And as the one and only Pig Queen, I wear my big, green, bejeweled tiara with pride and confidence. After all, who wouldn't?

For more about teaching and how I survive it with my sanity intact, revisit Run, Forrest, RUN! Plot Twist! The Power of Fairytales