I know, last day of the month, no entry since May 5… blame it on the end of the school year.

This was one of the most hectic finishes that I remember in recent years. I had meeting after meeting, report after report, and then end-of-the-year progress reports after that. It was an unending line of paperwork. There were times that I never thought I’d get to the bottom of the pile, and I was literally still writing on the very last day that the teachers "officially" had to be there. Usually I leave at noon on that day, I ended up staying until 3, and still left stuff on the desk that should be sorted and filed.

I had planned to go back in this week, but it got really hot and humid and there was no way that I was going to sit in out office of no air and swelter. I have been given paid time to write my reading and math units for next year, so I want to get those things going. It’s nice to get paid to do something that I’d end up doing for free during the school year!

I’ll find some day to go in. Maybe next week.

I did manage to do one thing at the end of the year that was a lot of fun (although ended up causing some controversy). I had six classes of kids dancing and doing choreography for the end of the year assembly. They were awesome, especially at the finale when 144 kids were dancing and singing in perfect sync.

The controversy is that the music teacher should have done all this.

I sort of ended up falling into it when I went into one of the rooms where I teach reading and the teacher was freaking over trying to teach a song and choreo to her class. She handed the music to me, and suddenly I was back in showbiz mode!

I had a great time teaching her class, and she conned me into teaching it to the other 5th grade class that she teams with. So the next day I had the two classes together and had them all singing and moving in about a half hour.

Word got out that I had done this for two classes, so the other four teachers who were involved in this assembly and the finale then recruited me, and suddenly I was Busby Berkley!

A couple days later I was back with the two original classes watching them rehearse their skit, and realized that the kids were singing out of sync on a counterpoint number that they had to do as part of the skit. I didn’t have enough time to fix it then. (And the principal came to find me to tell me there were sync problems, and would I be able to fix them?) So I got the classes the next day and sat them all down and made them listen to the tempo and beat it out and sing it until the had it internalized.

Now during all this teaching of music and tempo, the music teacher hid in the back of the cafeteria and watched. She watched me doing her job. And why didn’t she do all this? Because she said that she was too busy and didn’t have the time. We have 40 periods during our school week. The majority of us teach 35 of those periods. She teaches 22. How could she not have time?

Meanwhile we were rehearsing in the caf, which is across the hall from the office, so the secretary and nurse were singing my praises as they heard the improvement each day. They made sure that the principal knew what was going on, and he even talked about how talented I am (pat, pat, pat, boast, boast, boast – hey it felt good!)

In any case, I helped these classes get through "dress" rehearsals, and fixed and tweaked for the end of the year assembly.

And they were spectacular!!

I was so proud of these kids and what they did. The principal was beside himself, as were the teachers. The rest of the faculty didn’t realize that I’d done the teaching of the music and choreo (the music was a kind of karoke recording, so I didn’t have to worry about instruments- another thing the music teacher didn’t have to do), and they were very impressed and trying to hire me for all the assemblies next year. Several told me that I’d missed my calling, but then they didn’t realize that I’d spent ten years directing high school musicals that had casts of 90 or so kids.

It was a great way to end the year!

Meanwhile the music teacher was whining that the teachers weren’t willing to work with her. Fortunately the principal had been at the meeting where she said she didn’t have time to do this kind of assembly (in other words what the teachers and the committee wanted to do.)

They asked me to be on the committee next year, but I declined. I think the way to do this is to help the teachers who ask for help, but see if the music teacher steps up to the plate.

So now I’ve been out of school for a week.

I have done some stamping and made (and sent!) my 4th of July cards. I made a bunch of shrink plastic charms to use on a pendant watch that I want to make.

I made an envelope book.

I played with some of the new stamps that I got at the convention at the beginning of the month.

I read a book.

I ignored the cleaning that I need to do.

I took a stamping class.

I’ve gone shopping.

I’ve taken naps.

It’s been swell.

I still have a bunch of stamping/crafty things I’d like to do. I want to try to make an altered book and an altered doll. I also want to work on the organization of the stamp stuff (of course I ALWAYS want to do that!)

I bought a piece of furniture at a garage sale yesterday; it’s a lingerie-jewelry dresser thingy. I plan to use it for stamps. Of course it’s too heavy for me to get up the stairs, so I have to call my brother for help. But I think it will be great for stamping supplies.

But the best thing is that I can do what I want when I want, because I’m on vacation and my time is my own!