A Farewell to First Semester

First semester went out with a whimper this week.

Well, maybe it wasn't so much as a "whimper" as it was the sound of teachers' weary sighs as they rolled over and went back to sleep after receiving their "snow day" phone calls at 6 a.m.

Yet another round of snow canceled the last day of school in our district, but lucky for us at the junior high, our end of course assessments had already been given and final grades were ready to go. And speaking of the end of course assessments...Captain Study Guide has once again led of group of studious 7th graders through the valley of the shadow of grounding and into the promised land of Christmas break.
With Captain Study Guide's help, the kidlets were able to bury the mean, fanged, hairy, slobbery test known as the End of Course Assessment under an avalanche of good grades.

But the last week of the semester isn't just a time to go toe-to-clawed-toe with final tests...it is also a time to celebrate the semester's accomplishments with class parties. My classroom hosted two very different shindigs on Wednesday that pointed out one of the differences between regular kidlets and honors kidlets.

First we had the Communication Kidlet's final "cast party". They watched the various plays and skits that they had filmed over the course of the semester and then munched on snacks that they had brought.

The next party was the Yearbook kidlet's semester finale. But because the yearbook kidlets are also honors kidlets, their high-achiever-ness was evident in all of their preparations. From the life-sized Guitar Hero competition...

...to the chocolate fountain buffet they set up on the other side of the room.

Their party was so well planed and executed that I am seriously considering hiring the whole group of 7th and 8th graders to be my future wedding planners. Really. Their class party could give the whole of Obama's inaugural balls a run for their misappropriated tax payer money.

But once the parties were over, the video game wires disconnected, the chocolate scrapped off the ceiling, and the final grades entered into the computer, it was time to focus on the other aspects of the semesters end.

My little tree is now surrounded by thoughtful gifts from my thoughtful students. And judging by the amount of soaps and scented lotions I received, it would appear that most of those thoughts center around me being smelly.

And after all of my hygiene-related gifts were tucked under my tree, I started packing my bags in hopes that the snow will let up long enough for me to get home for Christmas.

And once my bags were packed and my apartment cleaned and my last Sunday school lesson for the year planned, I was able to participate in one of my favorite end-of-the-semester activities...

NAPPING!

Ahhhhhh....I love Christmas break.