It's May

(photo from here)

Hey.

Another school year is coming to a close, both rapidly and not nearly soon enough. With less than a month to go, the tug-of-war for my students' attention - okay, fine, for my attention, is becoming apparent.

My English class took their state tests last week:
"What are we going to do the rest of the year?" one of my students asked as he passed the booklet forward after the second section.
"Go back to Romeo and Juliet," I replied cheerfully (and sincerely - I am enjoying discovering that play again along with my students).
"But we'll be done with the state tests!" he exclaims.
"Yeah, but I don't teach for the sake of the test. I teach to make you a well-rounded, literate person."
He groaned and let his eye-rolling propel him farther down into his seat.

Speaking of Romeo and Juliet, the Shakespeare festival went well. I've got photos, but I've lost my card reader yet again, so the photos are stuck on my camera for now. But we had fun and my three actors did a fine job performing.

We also finished selecting next year's stage crew. I had 18 applicants, a good mix of 7th and 8th graders. I based the decision on GPA (they had to have a 3.0 to be considered) and on teacher recommendations, and wound up selecting 5 students to join the one (two, if she looses the SBO elections) eighth grader I have this year. It'll be a good group, I think, although my techies this year are shaking their heads in dismay that next year's techies are almost all girls. Granted, they're not your typical stage-crew-types, but I'm still excited. And, hey, nothing wrong with breaking stereotypes, right?

So, yeah. I'm tired, for a Monday. The changing weather (80s, 50s, snow, 70s, 40s, and now warming back up again) isn't helping, but it's keeping me on my toes. The rainstorms Saturday set up a mood to suit my latest reading ("The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte), while the sunshine Sunday let me walk to church. Both were pleasant.

16 days to Ikea. 18 days left of school. I can make it.