student-teaching: final edition.

Funny and sweet things that happened in my classroom before I left:

• One girl (we'll call her Joanna), has been been practicing reading strategies, one of which is summarization. I have been teaching three of the students that in order to summarize what a book is about, we just share the basic and important information, not the unnecessary details. One day, Joanna was telling me a story about her mom and part of the story included her mom calling her "Jo." I said, "Your mom calls you Jo? That's cute." Joanna said, "Yep, Jo, that's my summary name."

• I worked full-time at the school except for on Tuesdays when I had to leave at noon in order to get to campus for class. I was getting ready to leave one Tuesday when Joanna said "Where are you going?" I responded, "I leave early on Tuesdays, remember? I have to go to school." I made a face that indicated I didn't want to go. She shrugged in a very motherly way and said, "You have to. You have to go to school and learn."

• During my last week, the students consistently expressed their sadness about me leaving and attacked me with group hugs at least twice a day. 

• The teacher assistant had a birthday recently and she brought in cake and cookies for a little birthday party in the classroom. She brought in Entenmann's mini-chocolate-chip cookies which are some of my favorites because they are super chewy - the only way I truly enjoy any cookie. When the box got passed around, one boy (we'll call him Sean) said something about soft cookies and I excitedly said, "Wait, you love soft cookies?" Sean got excited and said, "Yes, I love soft cookies! You love soft cookies?" Then I got more excited and said, "Yes! They're my favorite!" Then he got excited and said, "They're my favorite too!" So there I was, excitedly relating to a nine-year-old boy about our shared love for soft cookies. 

• On my second to last day, the kids were "secretly" working on my goodbye cards and my class gift. When Joanna asked me what my favorite color was, I told her I loved green and purple. The next morning, she raced into the classroom and came straight up to me and showed me her outfit. She had worn all purple and green for my last day.

• During lunch duty one Thursday, one of the boys from my class was hanging out with me on the side of the playground instead of playing with friends. Keep in mind: his mother just had a baby in the last few months. Nearby, a girl from our class was playing on some steps. This girl is overweight and has a bit of belly that hangs out. At one point, the boy walked over to the girl and poked her belly, then turned to me and said, "There's a baby in there."

•  The cards from my kids: