Not a Typical Summer

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating a place to share our Slice of Life. Read more slices or add you own here.

The end of this week marks the half-way point of my summer vacation.  I was looking forward to the typical summer.  You know, reading, writing, blogging, going to the pool...

But not this summer!

The end of the school year found me at a point where I needed to make an important decision.  I was offered a 6th grade ELA position at our middle school.  I just finished my 6th year in 4th grade, and teaching was like wearing my favorite pair of sweats.  It was comfortable.  I knew what I was doing.  I had been offered the position last year, but turned it down because it was the week before school started, and I had everything ready!  I thought being offered it again was a sign, one that I could not ignore.  I said yes!

This was not an easy decision to make, because it is hard to walk away from a place where I have been going for the last 17 years as a parent volunteer, a substitute teacher, a classroom aide, and a teacher.  

Many things went into the decision, but it always came back to the fact that I get to teach the two things I love most, which is reading and writing, to almost four times as many kids - a dream job!

My one little word for this year was REACH and when it found me, I had no idea that it would lead me to this.  I am very excited, but I will miss the friendships that I have with many of my colleagues.  They were the hard part of the decision.  Many of them were why I became a teacher in the first place, and many of them kept me going each day, even when some of those days were difficult. There are many memories contained in those two buildings, and packing up my room has been very emotional. Walking out last week for the last time was definitely an emotional level of a Hallmark commercial!  It was tough.

My home-away-from-home for the last six years.

I am moving from a school which is 100 years old to a school which is going on five years old.  I began unpacking my room yesterday, and it was overwhelming, but exciting.  I kept saying "one box at a time...just one box at a time."  It is hard for me to envision because right now, my room looks like this.

But the next few weeks, I will be settling in and creating a new classroom.  No, it has not been a typical summer, but I am OK with that.  I know new stories are waiting for me, and I can't wait to share them with you!