Schools Out for the Summer!

Today was the last day of school. This year has been very tough, very tiring, yet very rewarding. It was my first year teaching and I have learned a great deal (I know that I am going to do a lot of things differently next year.).

This year was a learning experience for me, but I still hope it was a successful year for my students. I did see quite a few of them improve by a great deal. I had one student who moved right from Mexico and spoke no English and by the end of the school year had improved his reading to almost grade level. It seems that every student walks into your classroom like a riddle. It is the job of a teacher to try and solve the riddle, so every student can learn and grow. I think I got closer to solving that riddle for some of my students.

I am ready for a break this summer, though I will be teaching summer school for part of the summer. As for my summer plans, I hope to start a vegetable garden (which would be a first for me), get into a regular exercise routine (that I hope centers around my bicycle), play with my dogs, and relax by their pool.


I also plan on doing a lot of blogging. I would like to attend more campaign stops by candidates. So far, I have seen Edwards 3 times, Obama twice, and Dodd, Clinton, Richardson, and Tancredo once. I also am hoping to do more posting about clean elections and help build support for the VOICE legislation here in Iowa. With the immigration bill being discussed and living in Marshalltown, I hope to present some aspects of the immigration debate that are being ignored. Also, a big topic in Marshalltown is the proposed coal-fired power plant by Alliant. I hope to do a lot of research on the topic and cover any public hearings that take place on the issue. I also have a few other topics that I would like to touch on, if the time permits.

Tonight however, I am going to take advice from this Springsteen lyric...

Think I'm going down to the well tonight and I'm gonna drink till I get my fill