8 Years Under My Belt

The school year is coming to a close and this was my 8th year of teaching! WOW!!! Where did 8 years of my life go?!?! It was a really great year and my kiddos are wonderful! This is a very special class to me because of everything I went though in the fall. They knew I was going to the doctor a lot and that I was having some kind of surgery and they all asked me if I was ok and if I was going to fnish the year with them. They even made me cards to say get better soon when I missed the whole week in the fall. They truly are such a caring group of students and I will miss them. :)

But I'm also so proud of each and everyone one of them and all of their hard work this school year. All but 2 of my kiddos made their reading benchmark of 47 or more words per minute. One of the two that didn't make it, is at least reading 14 words per minute and he started the year at 0! The other student joined our class in February and had never been in school before. She is up to 5 words that she knows now. She might have been at 10 or more had I had her for longer. Anyway, I'm proud of their hard work and all of their growth as well!

The year wouldn't be complete without some great teacher stories right!?!?! So I thought I would share some fun memories/quotes from this school year!

One student in particular had many stories this year. Student J started off on Meet the Teacher Night. He saw the front office staff after meeting me and told them that I was his teacher. They all said that he was lucky to have me for a teacher and he responded with, "Yep! I got the big one!" I'm going to believe it's cause I'm so tall and not that I've put on a few pounds (although there is some good news to share about weight later in the blog!). :)

Another time this year he comes running up to me and sticks his finger in my face yelling, "Mrs. Syler I have a plant wart!! Probably because I touched a plant! The nurse said I have to sit all by myself so I don't touch anyone and give them a plant wart too!" I told him that the nurse was partly right. "You can still sit at your table with other friends. You just need to keep your hands to yourself." "Well that makes sense!" he finished! :)

Student J also had his share of being in trouble and testing to see what he could get away with...not much when Mrs. Syler is around! He has to have a buddy accompany him to the restroom because we've had multiple bad trips by himself and three different teachers bring him back to our classroom with some crazy story about what he did while in the bathroom/hallway. His parents and I are good friends and he had more than one time when he called home in the middle of the day to tell them why he was chaning his behavior card to yellow! This past week when we called he started to cry when he got on the phone. Through his tears he says, "Hold on Dad. I'm trying to get myself together. Then I'll tell you what I did." I had to bite my lip and not laugh it was too cute. One time when I was writing a note he leans on my desk, crosses his legs and says, "So, I hear next Friday is the 27th?!" I said back to him, "Why don't we concentrate on the 19th since that's the day you had inappropriate behavior and I'm having to write a note to your parents!?"

While he had his share of ups and downs I know I will forever remember Student J from this class!

Another friend, Student S, was quite the opposite. She was my top student in all subject areas and just as socially smart as she was academically smart. Wise beyond her years. She wants to be a scientist when she grows up, so doing anything with Science was a HUGE thrill for her! She even had a science themed birthday party where every kiddo wore a white lab coat and they did experiments for games! Anywho, at the beginning of the year I always stress keeping our desks and room clean to the kiddos. We clean up at the end of each day because I believe it teaches responsibility...even in 1st grade! :) We have had the Desk Fairy come and visit. She leaves treats in clean desks and tips over desks that are messy with trash and loose papers. It works! :) Well Student S came up to me one day and said, "Mrs. Syler, is there really a Desk Fairy? I think it might be you." To which I replied, "Well she even left some candy on my desk, so I think there is a Desk Fairy. I believe in her." I could see the wheels were turning and I knew our conversation wasn't over. A few days later she comes up to me at recess and says, "I've been thinking about this. I think you are lying about this Desk Fairy thing. I think it's you. You can tell me the truth and I won't tell anyone else in the class! I promise!" Well how do you answer that! I am fibbing a little bit and she totally called me on it. What to do?!?! So I responded with, "Well I'm sure that if you think about it really carefully you'll know the truth about the Desk Fairy and I would just ask that you keep that information in your heart and not share it with anyone else. Does that sound ok?" She got a huge smile on her face and said, "I won't say a word to anyone!" And she hasn't and the Desk Fairy has been in business all year long. We always seem to share a smile the morning when the Desk Fairy has come to our class and everyone is excited with their gifts!

It has been a great year and I'm looking forward to next year already. #9!!!! I will continue to be in 1st grade and I'm so happy to be with my team of amazing teachers! We work really well together and share some great strategies throughout the year. We are actually working on writing some math curriculum for our district this summer that matches/supports the Common Core Standards that Arizona finally adopted and is implementing. I'm also helping to write the 1st Grade Reading Benchmark Assessments for my district this summer. We had a few days of working during the school year but are finishing up in June when we can relax and focus a little bit better. I'm really enjoying stepping up and having some of these roles as I'm becoming more comfortable with teaching and sharing what students need to leave 1st grade knowing! I was surprised about a month ago when my principal called me into his office. He was looking forward to next year and asked me to move up to 3rd grade and be Team Lead. I was sooooo flattered and honored and really considered it. However, in the end I turned it down. With Jay and I moving forward with our frozen embryo transfer this summer or possible adoption in the coming year, moving back up to 3rd grade and helping to implement those Common Core Standards, but having to take some time off for (hopefully) maternity leave is not the way I want to start as a leader. But I told him that I'm not saying no for good, just for now. It's definitely a possibility for down the road! :)

So I'll share about our upcoming transfer later...this post is going on forever it seems! But before I go, I wanted to just mention some good news!! After our unsuccessful attempt in the fall, I enjoyed the last two months and first few months of 2012 a little too much...and put on some weight. For some who might not know, I had lost 70lbs when I first moved to the valley in 2004-2005. After getting married some wieght started to creep on and then after October 2011 my weight had really gotten back up. I got an e-mail end of February at work telling me about Weight Watchers doing an At Work Group. I figured that was the sign I needed and I signed up. We met as a group every Thursday and for 11 weeks and I'm happy to report that as of this morning I've lost 26lbs and I'm still going. My fertility doc was happy to see the weight loss and I'm feeling the best I've felt in a while! I'm starting to slog (slow jog) and just getting back to those good eating habits I knew and followed before being happily married and just enjoying my husband! :) I'm hoping to lose another 4lbs before our transfer, if not more, so that I really am in the best possible shape (or as close to it) when that procedure comes!

Well thanks for reading this...if you did make it all the way down to the end! I do really want to blog more and I continue to have that as a goal! Maybe then I wouldn't have these long rambling posts! :)