Year Number 4 of Teaching Accomplished

April 22 - First Mosquito
April 23 - An insect hit my windshield on the drive home
April 23 - The last of the snow melted off the roof
May 19 - Small chip in windshield turned into a big crack
May 28 - Small Mosquitoes are out, the take no prisoner type
May 29 - School is out

Where did the year go?  Looking back it was a rather intense one.  We almost didn't get to leave the island due to the main ferry having some sort of structural damage that had to be repaired.  Not to mention the volcanic eruption/ash in the air.  We managed to get out on the ONE substitute vessel and had it not have been for that it could've been a rougher start.  Then I interviewed for a lot of positions, got a 5th grade teaching job, taught for 2 weeks, and was moved to another school because of low student numbers. From there I taught kindergarten.   Then in October we got a dog, got married, and buzzed through the year.  Later in March we bought a house, got another dog to help calm and entertain the other pup.  And here I am about to begin summer break.

Teaching kindergarten was an experience in itself.  Prior to working with the littles, I had no idea how the little guys learned how to read, they just came to me able to read…  Well, mostly.  Another thing that was a challenge is working with first time parents sending either their only child to school for the first time or sending their last baby.  Though I am not a parent yet myself, I can't imagine what it must feel like handing your child over to a stranger for the first time.  Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and was really overwhelmed by all of the loving support I received from parents.  Make 'em love school, since this is their first go, this has to be the best experience for them.  Someone had told me.  You'll always remember your kindergarten teacher.  Another mentioned.  So much more to teaching than just regurgitating how-to's.  Plus, when a desperate parent touches your arm and says, what do I do? or When a parent says how much their child has learned and how much they appreciated me, really made it all feel worthwhile.  Not forgetting to mention the daily happenings or sayings from the kids.  It was a good year and my most difficult one teaching.  Now it has wrapped up.

One last thought before closing.  Why is it that when one is about to transition or move on, people come out of their shells and connect.  What about the rest of the year?  Ah well, I hope that I can "connect" with more over the summer to make the best of this cool place that we live in.

Cake that one of the parents of my kiddos made for our kindergarten graduation.  Not only did it look good, but it was so yummy.

Cutting the cake during the graduation party.  I so wish that I could have taken more pictures, but it was a busy day.  There was a ceremony, followed by a party, and then a lot of mingling.  What a day and such a success.

Our new son, Grayling.  He's a Vizsla.  They call them the velcro dogs.  They are big time snugglers and have a hunter's instinct to boot.  We just love this boy.

Myself with my two boys.  Kona on the right and Grayling on the left.  Because of these two boys, namely Kona, we haven't had much free time.  I love having dogs, but Kona is quite the handful.  Hopefully, I can get back to photography and blogging as he grows up.