Where did the summer go?

It is early Saturday morning and I finally gave up on sleeping. I'm just doing some computer cleaning-up activities, wondering where the summer went. June was busy with Dad in the hospitals (yes, plural), Nancy and Tyler here for a few days, then off to Missouri, a day with grandkids in SLC, then just trying to get things done around the house and yard. Garth was busy building a large shed in the area that once was our garden spot. I had to move all the stuff out of my classroom at the end of May, then back into the classroom in July, so getting things back into working order has been time consuming. Now it feels like autumn is in the air, the morning air is quite cool and brisk, but I love it. The days aren't so hot you can't stand it, and dark comes before 9:00 pm. I do believe summer is winding down.

This past week I spent three days in my classroom assessing my students. Some people think I am a bit crazy doing this before school starts, but I enjoy it. I remember back several years ago when we were first asked to do formal reading assessments for each student. It takes time to sit with each child, listen to their reading, assess what their strengths and weaknesses are, learn exactly where their reading level is, and do all the other things necessary for teaching them at the level that is beneficial to them. Since it takes time for each student, that means time away from the group of students, leaving them to work on their own, or just do activities that they can on their own. I didn't like listening to one student and leaving the rest of the class on their own. For one thing, it isn't a good use of their time. Students are in school to learn, not just keep busy for three-five days while the teacher spends one-on-one time with each student. We could ask for a substitute for the class to keep them organized and busy, but that is just more work for me to get ready for the substitute, and then one day usually wasn't enough, so a substitute could stretch into more days, which isn't for the good of the kids. Not a wise exchange for 15-20 minutes of un-interrupted time with the teacher, in my opinion. So I decided a few years ago that I would schedule 30 minutes of time for each child before school started and have all my attention given to each student during that time. I love it. I get a few minutes to talk with each child about their activities during the summer, get to know them just a little bit better, actually associate a name with a face so I can identify them on the first day of school. I listen to them read, watch them as they try to spell difficult words, and learn so much about their reading and word knowledge. It is fun to watch them decide if there is a silent e at the end of the word, or if they are so confident on all the spellings of such big words, even though they are way off! It is great to see how they attach words in their reading without worrying if another student is attacking their neighbor back in the classroom! I got 17 out of 25 students assessed, so I feel really good about that. One mother told me her son was so excited to come to school to spend time with his teacher all my himself. He was as excited as the first day of school. That really makes me feel great, that perhaps the students are a little bit more at ease and excited to come to school. They are a cute bunch of kids and I am looking forward to this next year.

Yesterday we drove to SLC for eye exams and then picked up Tammy's kids to bring them here for the weekend. It was so good to hear kids laughing in the yard again. They couldn't wait to get on the trampoline, ride the "4-riders", play in the sand, and just be kids. Lexi thought she needed a crib for her baby dolls, so Grandpa got out some scrape wood from the shed, along with his saw, and built her two little cradles, just the right size for our old dolls. She was in heaven, and now we have two cradles, one for her and one for Morgan, to put the babies to sleep in. We played with play-dough, ate waffles, drank pink milk, and said our prayers. Then played musical beds all night. Right now Koy is on the hide-a-bed, Lexi stayed on the love seat, Kayden is in his third bed along with Garth in the extra bedroom, and I am sitting here listening to them all snore. What fun! Today we will work on cleaning out the storage unit and arranging things into the shed, if Lexi will allow us to move around in her play house. (She has swept it all out and loves to be in there.) I am sure we will keep busy on the tramp, riding the John Deere tractor up and down the drive-way, shooting the bad guys hiding in the trees, and just being kids. We look forward to days when more of our grandchildren can be close enough to spend more time at Grandpa and Grandma's house each summer.

Next week we have our first faculty meeting, our anniversary, and then, summer will be gone. Kind of sad, but a good start to a new school year.