The Last Week

Tomorrow is the last day of school!

Today, my students had their end-of-year party. I let them bring board games and food, and they played while I filled out cumulative folders and English Language Development portfolios, packed a little more, and threw away things that could go.

Teachers who are moving from one grade level to another are also physically moving to other classrooms. (At my school, all of the third grade classrooms are close to each other, all of the fourth grades are close to each other, and so on.) So, there has been a lot of talk this week about the way teachers "hoard."

It's true. We hold on to what we have, and we amass more. When a teacher retires and puts out a box of freebies, we take all that our arms will carry, and we run back for more. We stuff our cabinets. When we are made to move from one classroom to the next, we take all we have and discover that the previous teacher has left things behind; we keep those too. We never know when we might need something. We fear that one day we will be made to change grade levels and so we take and hold onto books and supplies for grades other than our own; we might need them. We save all sorts of little objects because we might need them for crafts. We take items when they're offered, because we fear they will never be offered again.

But in thinking about Charlotte Mason, it's easier to let go. What is the best book I can use? Is this the best material I have to teach this topic, or do I have better?

One more day...