goodbye, park lane

i know i haven't posted in a couple of days. that's because i've been busy leaving park lane.

thursday, one of the kids' mom asked me if i'd take a picture of my class. then she took the sd card because she needed the picture of my class. that's why i didn't blog thursday night.

photo of the day #272

my homeroom

and yesterday i didn't blog because i was just plain wiped out emotionally. i haven't cried that much in a long time! i was only 5 minutes into the school day when the tears started flowing!

on the morning announcements, spencer was given the mic one last time to say his good-byes to park lane. that's what started my leaking eyes! i felt so sad for him because he really enjoyed being a part of PNN (Pioneer News Network). {they gave spencer a surprise going-away party!}

PNN Crew

then one of my students walked in with a little cake that said, "will miss you". she handed it to me and said this was not for the class. it was a snack for me to enjoy with my teacher friends. how sweet is that? more tears.... so our team had one last meeting while the kids were in specials and, yep, i cried some more.

i finally had myself back together when the kids came back from music. one of my students brought 3 ghekkos to show the class. he said he normally brings them at the end of the year, but he wanted me to see them. i was thankful for that distraction.

halfway through the morning, the mom who'd borrowed my sd card the night before came in my room carrying a large framed picture of my homeroom class. there went the tears again! she'd even hand drawn lettering around the picture! it is so cute {and thoughtful}.

right before lunch i ran into colby and his class in the hallway. he was sitting with his best buddies, and i got misty, but not leaky!

caroline, colby and griffin

colby and mrs. durbin

lunch finally came, and my awesome partner teacher allowed ALL 52 kids to have a going-away-lunch in her room! she even brought lunch for us. another teacher bought a spongebob cake for ALL 52 kids plus teachers! but she couldn't be there because one of her kids was sick and she had to stay home with him. such kindness from those teachers.......but i didn't cry that time!

partners in crime

i managed not to shed anymore tears for several hours until right at the end of the day when leah and her mom walked through my door. {happy sigh...} leah was one of my kids 2 years ago. when she first came in my class she wasn't very sure of herself, she didn't smile much, and she struggled with math and science. but leah worked hard that year, and something finally clicked. she was more confident, she made some good friends, and her grades started to improve. i wouldn't let her give up on herself. i knew that if she just stuck with it, she could understand math.

i immediately started crying when i saw her walk in! she has grown into such a beautiful young lady! she's more sure of herself and she's making an A in pre-AP science!!!! that's why teachers love their jobs. when we see that we've made a difference in just one life, it's all worth it.

photo of the day #273

leah

by the end of yesterday, i had seen kids from all the years i've taught at park lane. several parents of former students also stopped by along with many teachers. by the time i left school yesterday around 5, i was exhausted. and my day was far from over!

i drove the boys to bartlesville to go to the men's retreat/camp-out. then i met some ladies from church at red robin in owasso for dinner at 6:30. after that i drove to geeg's house in jenks to hang out with her. we were going to watch a movie, but we ended up just talking. i needed to decompress.

i finally made it home around 11:30, and i just went to bed. my mind was too wiped out to think about blogging. i slept until 9:30 this morning!

then i went back up to school and cleaned out my classroom. it took several hours, but it's finally done. now my car is loaded with boxes to haul to bartlesville tomorrow.

photo of the day #274

today's snack

this is our last night at this house for a while. we are moving in with family from church in bartlesville. it's kind of sad. i really like our house, but i'm glad we're all going to be together every night again instead of just a few nights a week.

quote of the day: The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. ~Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook