End of the Year CRAZE!

Well, it's about that time. 

Thank. You. Jesus. 

This is the part of the year that gets REALLY interesting. Not that the rest of it isn't interesting, but even more interesting than usual. 

Kids are going CRAY because school is almost out. Teachers going nuts trying to finish assessments, fill in report cards, do summer school paperwork, finish RTI/etc  paperwork, plan and send notes about end of the year party, fill out and plan for awards day, and pack up her room. Classrooms are a PIG STYE covered in papers, books, boxes, crayons, children!  

I literally thought I lost a kid who was just hidden behind a GIGANTIC box I had set on her table (whoops!). Seriously, this box was so big I could have accidentally packed her up inside of it. 

There are stacks and mounds and heaps and gobs of stuff all over my classroom. I know it has to be done but I hate looking at it! It makes me feel anxious and I am so not the OCD "oh my gosh I have to clean everything right now" personality. THAT is how bad the mounds of stuff is. 

**(Side note: I'm assuming its not always like this, but I am moving classrooms for next year. This is HUGE! Bigger room, bathroom, sink, counter space, window, patio, JACKPOT!!!)

So not only am I going totally nutzo right now, but my kiddos are, too. As to be expected. You expect the wild, crazy, animal-sound-making, "I-forgot-the-rules-after-173-days" behaviors. You just do. But what you don't expect is for them to start acting like old men. "How can 5-year-olds act like old men" you ask? Allow me to explain...

I let the kids chat while doing their morning work waiting for all the others to trickle in. This is the conversation I am hearing growing steadily louder coming from Table 3:

"Plant?!"

"Plant!"

"Plant?"

"Did he say plant?"

"No, he said plan!"

"Plant!"

"No, he said plan!"

"Plant?!"

I am not kidding. This went on while I listened and stared in disbelief as they continued louder and louder. Like a bunch of grumpy old hearing-aid-wearing men at a retirement home. Mind you, they are each sitting approximately 1 foot away from each other. After a couple minutes of this, I die. Then I tell them we need to move on from that conversation. 

Also, this story:

We hear a tantrum being thrown somewhere else in the hallway. Their heads all whip towards me and I just shrug and move on to my next "how many cubes is this?" assessment. Then I overhear this conversation at Table 4:

"That sounds like a Pre-K kid."

"I bet their teacher is not happy."

"I am GLAD I'm not in that class."

"I bet they are getting their folders signed and not getting recess."

"Mmhmm."

And:

While calling out partners for a game, one little girl was pleased with her partner pick and shouted "BINGO!!!" And then shrugged and smiled like that was a normal exclamatory word. 

Sometimes, teaching children is like watching snippets of America's Funniest Home Videos. I wish I had time to write down all of the goofy, off-the-wall, you-wouldn't-believe-it-until-you-saw-it things children do and say. 

I know we teachers are crawling to the finish line of the marathon of a school year, desperate for a drink of summer but we are truly going to miss the hilarity that those little munchkins bring to our lives.