Bluesy

Summer is my favorite season, if it wasn’t I would be in big trouble because I live in a state were it is summer from May to October. But June is a rough month for me and mixed in with all of the happiness there is just enough sadness that I end up feeling blue and I usually end up with a migraine at some point during the month. The migraine sends me to bed and I end up dealing with my blues in my dreams.

June to me is a month of endings and some years the endings seem more final than others. June is a month of school years ending with students moving on and some graduate. In 05 and this June I watched my own sons graduate from high school. I know this is how it is supposed to happen but as I Mom I watch them growing up and the end of high school means they are grown up.

June is also a month when I am reminded of my Grandmother’s death. She has been gone for more than 10 years now but I still ache for her at times and June seems to be when it is the worst. It’s funny I don’t believe in ghosts but there are times, especially when I need guidance, I hear my Grandmother’s voice. The first few times it happened it was startling but now it just is and there are times when I find myself listening and waiting for her voice.

I get restless in June; I want to do something but I can never quite put my finger on what it is that I want to do. This is when I start to think about moving even though I don’t really want to move. It is when I think about taking a long trip to nowhere in particular but I usually don’t go too far or anywhere, money and other commitments keep me where I am.

This June did have bright spots that accompanied my blues. My youngest son graduated from high school in the top 25% of his class. Had he taken all regular classes he may have finished higher but he would not be college ready. All of this from a child that did not speak before he was almost 4 and was in the special education program until he was in 6th grade. He plays 2 instruments and sings in a beautiful deep voice that is very soothing. He has decided that he wants to become a professor of music history. If you would like to see pictures of his graduation go to doohickie's blog.

My parents were able to make the trip to Texas to see their grandson graduate and they spent three weeks with us. We went antique hunting, ate at some great restaurants, Mom and I played scrabble and we went shopping. I cried when they left, I hate good-byes.

I was very nervous about my son’s choice of college. He was accepted to three schools and his 2nd choice was my first choice but I tried really hard not to heavily influence his decision. This past week he had freshman orientation and I went with him. After the orientation was over I felt much better about his choice, I can see how he will fit in and that they will be supportive of his educational and personal goals. So in August I will help my youngest child move into his dorm and he will start the next chapter of his life.

In a couple more days another June will be gone and when July starts my blues always seem to lift and fad.

Test Scores

The unofficial results are in.

I did not have a 100% passing rate this year on the state standardized test. One of my students failed so my passing rate was 98%. I was not thrilled with this but I can not take the test for them. None of the other teachers had a 100% pass rate. In fact I and one other history teacher have had the 100% pass rate. He now teaches government and economics which are not tested.

The good news the tutoring camps paid off for the 10Th graders we saw a 10 point jump over all with some of sub-categories going up more than 10 points.

The fair new our 11Th grade scores went up 5 points over all. I was hoping for a bigger increase for the 11Th graders because this is the class they must pass to graduate. The good new we have less than 30 students that will need to retake history portion of the test over the summer.

Our special education scores also went up so the modification guides that we put in place seemed to help. We will implement these guides earlier in the year so the students really learn how to use them.

On a different note son number two graduates from high school tomorrow night. I am really not ready for this his senior year has gone by quicker than I ever thought it would or wanted it to.