No Time to Write Lately

I have had absolutely zero time to write lately. Things are crazy busy at the moment. There have been severeal things I have thought about including in my blog, but haven't been able to stay awake long enough to blog...

#1 State Testing
We completed our state testing in math and language arts for our particular grade, there are other tested subjects depending on grade level. I tend to get very nervous during test time. I'm always worried that the work I've put into teaching my students throughout the year will not be reflected on the test. I also worry that I will mess something up during the administration of the test and will cause my students to have to complete a retest. (Not something a Principal or the students would be happy about.) During the test we also have to have a proctor in the room with us to ensure that we do everything "by the book." Last year we received our proctors straight from SOI (School of Infantry - the next place young Marines go after bootcamp)....which means it was an interesting time having these young men who were training for war and around Marines 24/7 come into a middle school. Needless to say there were some issues and the school decided that they were not going to use Marines as proctors this year. There is a huge difference between having a Marine as a proctor and having a civilian. It was brought to my attention this year when on the first day a civilian volunteer was in my room. He wandered the room and was happy to leave at the end of the testing session. The second day I had a Marine friend of ours in my room. He started the testing session no problem...after about a half hour of wandering my room he started "police calling" (it's when Marines pick up all the trash around a place and straighten it up) my classroom. Every little bit of paper he found on his trips around the room he picked up. Once he had found all the trash I could sense the boredom. He started to appear almost as a caged animal. It reminded me of a joke about putting a Marine in a round room with three ball bearings for awhile. When you return one of the ball bearings will be lost, one will be broken, and I forget what will have happenned to the third, but it is a very true joke. Having a Marine in my room reminded me of all the funny quirks unique to Marines. Quirks that I am sure I will miss once we leave the Marine Corps version of Monopoly.

#2 A Husband Without a Purpose
I Love my husband dearly. That is important to point out. He picked up his official paperwork (his DD214) from the Marine Corps on Sunday. He is once again a "free" man and a civilian. This transition has only just begun and I am sure it will be trying at times. The man is a Marine without a mission....ladies who know and love Marines know that this is never a good thing. It leads to the aformentioned boredom problem. My darling husband is now home by himself all day all week while I am taming the lions and lionesses of the 6th grade for a few more days. He calls me on Tuesday at 3:20pm and says "what are you doing?" My reply, "I'm driving home, but I have to stop and get gas first." His response, "well hurry, I'm bored." Ugh. He has been packing a bit at a time, cleaning my car and taking it to get an oil change, and cooking dinner nightly--but the man is still bored. We have about a week left until his Dad comes with the moving truck to entertain him... I'm hoping my husband finds some sort of job quickly once we get to Alabama so he will once again feel like he has a purpose.

#3 End of the School Year
It is a bittersweet time right now. It is yet again the end of the school year and I am looking forawrd to it, but I will be sad to say good-bye to all my wonderful colleages here at JCMS. They have been an amazing group of teachers who have guided me through the uniqueness known as JCMS and my first two years of teaching. I've blogged about only a few of the many joys and sorrows of the first two years of teaching. This group of 6th graders will always hold a special place in my heart for helping me journey through a deployment and a school year (from beginning to end). I am looking forward to new oppurtunities, but am also wondering...will I find such great co-workers elsewhere, will technology be so readily available in a new classroom, and a myriad of other things.

#4 Moving
I hate moving. That should sum up the whole ordeal in that one sentence, but the English teacher in me feels the need to elaborate. I am excited about the new possiblities the move will bring. I hate trying to put all of my belongings into neat little boxes. Most belongings don't fit neatly into boxes, you have to carefully wrap them in paper so they don't get damaged. A pain. So far I have packed two boxes. I need to pack a ton more before I will be ready to load the trailer in a week. Too many belongings and not enough time...

So I'm off to work on packing a classroom and a house all in the same week.