End of year...it's been a journey!

Yesterday at 5:00 PM on the dot I left school for the summer. Long time, no blog. Sorry, it's been long days and nights in these parts. I've school assembled, tested the children, written reports on the children, tried to be memorable and positive, packed, cried, cried some more, hauled books, filled out endless paperwork and it's done. Stick a fork in me. Done. At least until August. Errr, July. I have a math conference in Houston. Errr, June. I'm helping with Vacation Bible School...first grade.

Here's how it went. I felt like a failure all year. I left a dreamy job where I got to be the boss. I like being the boss. I came to a new town where it seems everyone knows everyone and I know no one. I went from working with the very privileged where challenging them was the challenge to a very eclectic group of learners...mostly low income. Eye opener.

Those children are some of the sweetest, hard working children I've EVER worked with. My jaw hit the floor often as they just wanted to hear about my life. You know the life I take for granted all the time. They think stories about Micah and Dodger are the greatest. I cannot tell you how proud I am of those kiddos. The last week of school I had my kids all write kind words about their classmates and I typed them up with fancy fonts, matted them and passed them back as a reminder of how special they are. They wrote about me. I typed a list for me up, too. The word that struck me the most was "admire." I cannot believe that I could be admired.

I worked my tail off. Where I taught before, I worked really hard raising money. And, man, I'm pretty good at getting cash out of people. And, it wasn't a question of whether my kids would pass, but could I get more commended scores than anyone else on this benchmark or that?!?

Well, after hours upon hours of tutorials and crying at night because I didn't understand why this on or that one wasn't getting it...my TAKS scores arrived! Mrs. Malouf's class scores 100% passing in math (half were commended!), 91% passing in reading, and 91% passing in writing. I cried when the results were read. I cried for how hard I worked. I cried for how hard they worked. I cried because for my kids, being good at school is cool, and I wanted them to feel successful. I dressed up like a frog (head to toe costume complete with hopping, ribbiting and singing) yesterday in the all school assembly to reward the children for their hardwork. I told my kids about the frog in my toliet at the beginning of the year, and it's a favorite so I thought it would only be fitting. My fellow 4th grade teachers dressed as a cow, rabbit, and chicken. We even climbed onto the roof of the school to wave goodbye to our students as they left for the summer.

So now, I'm surrounded with gifts as I type from the kids. More importantly, I've been given a chance to be a light to some very deserving children. I learned more than they did this year. I learned lessons that you don't fill out Scantrons for. I learned the life lesson that it really doesn't matter where you come from, it's the inside that counts (seems simple, but how often do you judge on the outside). So to my child yesterday that asked me, "Who's going to tell us funny stories when we go to 5th grade?" My response was, "Everyone has stories to tell, they may just not want to let them out." I appreciate my kids letting their stories change perceptions in my heart. I am a changed person. And, I'll be going back for more changing in August.

Much love,