Countdown to Summer 2007
May 23, 2007 - Wednesday
 | Current mood:  calm Category: Jobs, Work, Careers The official countdown to summer usually begins four weeks before the last day of school. I make a four-week calendar on my computer with the dates, the senior countdown days until graduation, and the school days countdown for the rest of us. I print it off and then very ceremoniously I post it on the board for all to see. It's a very effective tool in showing the students they only have a little bit of time to make up for time squandered over the past quarter. It's also a great way to boost morale. When kids can see clearly that the "end" really is near, they're spirits seem to lift a little. I should have started the countdown on the 14th of May, but I must admit my mind was on other things. As it stands, I posted the calendar on the 21st. It was okay because it was kind of cool to be able to immediately cross off a whole week. Somehow it messed things up, though. My students are a little bonkers. Actually, they're a lot bonkers. The vibe in the classroom is weird. I can't put my finger on it but something is in the air. Perhaps it's the sudden change from cold to warm then back to cold again. Or, maybe it's the high allergen count. I don't know. Even so, I must hearken back to one of my favorite movies and say, "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K." Well, strange things are afoot at BCS. I have to admit I don't just feel it from my students. I feel it from within me, too. There is this urgency to have the school year be over. This has been a good year in many ways but it's been rough, too. My eyes have been opened to a lot. I have lost some of my innocence, in a sense, because of the words and choices of others. I have not come out of this defeated but I haven't come out unscathed, either. I need this time, this summer, to heal and regroup and refresh myself. It's not like I won't have stuff to do over the summer. I'll be helping out family doing office work and probably helping my roommate fix up some stuff in her house. I hope to make some trips north for some badly needed face time, some trips south for some always hilarious "Case" time, and some trips to the coast so I can breathe in some ocean air. But at least I won't be in class. I'll have an opportunity to grow fond of things, again. It will be a break. I'm looking forward to it.
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