Over and Done

Today is the last day of the year and the first day without students.
We ended the year with our final field trips, having sent the graduating class off to Oaks Theme Park near Portland and Shipping the 6th and 7th graders off to a fun filled day at Skate World and Fall Creek.

I wasn't slated to join either of the ventures and was looking forward to a peaceful day sorting electronics in my room. At the last minute, I was discovered enjoying the calm silence in my room and immediately recruited.
I was put in charge of bus three, which boasted more than it's fair share of misfits.
Not looking forward to the 10 hour adventure, I drug myself out of bed and prepared myself for my post.

The morning was filled with popcorn and movies, starting the countdown till we headed out on the buses to take over a forgotten skate park that has frozen itself in time and ignored progress at all costs.

I recall visiting skate world as a child and was surprised to find that the rumors were true that they had not done a thing to update it in the last 20 years....
The very same retro carpets, stained with coke and iceys were right were I left them, and even the prices had gone unchanged.

The students really impressed me with their skills, flying around the rink and crashing into the walls.
I was very impressed to find that some of our teachers are also master skaters and make short work of showing up the kids every chance they could.
I opted to wear flip-flops and guard the munchkins instead of injuring myself in any attempt to pretend I could skate.

Finally towards the end, I noticed the air hockey table in the corner and wandered over to see what was going on...
From there I took on each of my students and dominated them in an undefeated streak ten kids long.
I had a great time destroying them on the table and taking on a few of my favorite students, especially the one who took the time to write, "I had a good time annoying you all year"in my yearbook.
I was finally taken down by one of the smallest students in the entire 6th grade, who took his rightful place as the air hockey master.
It was nice to actually be good at something for once, and I had a great time.
From there we headed out to Fall Creek Reservoir, where the students swarmed the cement lined pool of water that we call a lake.
Even though it was freezing out, the kids dove right in and had a blast.
It was nice to see all the students enjoying their last day with their friends and showing a new side.
We got back at around 6 in the evening, and I immediately went home and passed out from all the excitement.

I am happy to see the year has made it's way to a close and the rest of the summer is in sight.
Next up for me will be a dizzying schedule of activities and events that will lead right back up to the return of school in the fall.
This week is my only time to prepare for the events that will follow.
I have today and possibly a bit of the coming week to shut down the lab, get all the equipment in summer mode, take 350 batteries out of all the computers, deconstruct the lab and get ready to leave for Denver where I will be attending the ISTE conference for 4 days.
I will be on the outskirts of town and be traveling by car to reach the event each day. It is my hope that I will even be able to find the place, let alone find parking...
As soon as I get back to town, I will be right in the middle of teaching Super Summers, where I have 6 hour classes daily for three weeks straight...
After that I will be working in a lemonade stand until it is time to get out of town, on what will be my only break, traveling to Peru.
We have all the pieces together for the final excursion and as soon as I get back I will have about three days to design 12 classes for the fall and get back to work, imaging and resetting all the computers in the building and significantly increasing the stock of the company that makes our labeling tape.
Looking forward to making the lies come true and getting a minute to relax when it is all through.