it's the most wonderful time of the year

May is 'round the corner, which means JUNE is in sight. You might be surprised to know that it's not getting rid of this bunch that makes me look forward to June - I will miss this class so much. They're full of heart and they make me laugh. (See above. Sigh.)

Oh, and the same kid ... Yesterday at the Blaisdell field trip, when the boys had regrouped outside the men's restroom after a mid-program bathroom run, I asked him if there were any more boys still in there. He replied: "Yes." I said, "Who?" He said, "I don't know their names. They go to other schools."

In case you're wondering if he's being sarcastic, pulling my leg, or just playing dumb ... no. He's always serious, and that's what gets me.

Anyway, it's not their departure that I look forward to. I will, in all seriousness, miss them a lot. I just so look forward to the StartOver. The beginning of every school year brings a clean slate, and I really need that right now. Things are a MESS around here. Not a bad mess, not an unbearable mess - it's a wonderful mess, even! I love my math board, my bookshelves are overflowing, and for the first time in years, we've got art everywhere - math art, science art, and thanks to a wonderful RT named Carol Toda, pure art for art's sake. It's a wonderful, colorful explosion of evidence that these kids have learned ... but all the same, it's all a mess, and I want my tabula rasa. I want to spend my purchase orders on clean erasers and new filing systems. I want to implement new management systems, to reconfigure this horrid seating (which must stay this cramped way out of necessity for the rest of the year), to start fresh, clean, and new.

Can't wait for JUNE.