When we thought it was all over...

the D.O. drops a bomb on us this week, and states that we need to administer one more test- the DRP ( Degree of Reading Power).

I have currently ten out of my nineteen students present, with two other them already asleep after attempting to answer the first ten of the sixty questions.

Goodness gracious. Last minute tests are never a good thing, esp. with only half of the student population is representing ( and not all are firing on all four cylinders) at the end of the school year.

But the good news is that we are all one week away from...
no more tests
no more desks
no more  tardiness

no more "cheaps"
no more "whys"
no more "I am going to do this assignment on the fly"

no more screams
no more yells
no more behavior extremes


But I also have only one week left of spending time with the class that has literally taught me that after 9 years of teaching, I still have a lot to learn about teaching in a cross-cultural setting. I find that out in rural Alaska, it's not about what happens out and about in the community... it's what happens in this very classroom day in and day out.  I was brought to my knees in many instances and floored by all that was happening around me from DAY 1... and I am still saying to myself on a number of occasions, "Did that just really happen?" But it is by the grace of God that I am about to finish this year off with enough knowledge to start next year off hitting the ground running:)

I now know a little more of :

-the importance of when to dig in the heels and when to just walk away.
-when to sit and listen and when to speak into something.
-when to be serious and when throw on America's Funniest Home Videos.
-when to be by myself, and when to walk into the first grade classroom and observe the little ones to just gain some additional insight. 


Five more days....and then seventy more days of rest...and then back to reality of it all.