School's out!

A friend wrote yesterday, "The last day of school for teachers is like Christmas for children.  You wait all year for it, and then once it's actually here, you can't believe it."

Yesterday was the last student day of school in my county.  We have a few traditions at my elementary school, at which I'm the art teacher, on the last day of school.  

One, class parties.  I don't get to do these.  What I do get to do is try to accomplish some sort of art with the kids either after they get sugared up, or right before, when their excitement cannot be contained.  In both situations, it's loud and chaotic, two things I hate in my classroom.

Two, day-long talent show.  We did it a little different this year than in years past.  This year, each grade level went to the gym at a specific time to perform.  Any other grade level classes were allowed to come and go from the gym as they pleased during other performances, which led to a very relaxed and lenient talent show.  Before, with 750 kids in the audience, we had to keep a pretty tight reign on behavior.  This year, with just a couple hundred at most, we could let them get up and dance with the performances, lay around on the floor... pretty much whatever.  MUCH better, and easier on the teachers.

And lastly, one I LOVE, after walking all the kids out to the bus lot and on to the buses for the last time of the year, all us teachers and assistants line up at the end of the lot and wave to the buses as they leave (peel out).  Kids hang out the windows yelling teachers' names and waving.  Yesterday, one kid teased us by waving his half-eaten doughnut out the window.  Some were crying, mostly fifth graders.  

I love the energy on the last day of school.  The promise of summer.  I have to babysit for 5 weeks this summer, 11 hours per day during those weeks.  I've been babysitting these girls for 16 months now, after school and last summer, and it's an easy way to earn lots of extra cash for little lentil.

I'm also doing 4 art camps.  This is something my principal lets me do, thankfully.  I don't have to pay the school or give a cut to the PTO.  I pocket all profit, and this year I'll make just over $2000 for 24 hours of teaching.  That technically could pay for over 2/3 of our birth center fee (more on that later)!  That's really exciting!

And I'll have a few weeks at the end of summer, right after I find out if little lentil is a boy or girl, to stay at home and craft for baby.

Summer break is sooooooo nice.