Ahhhhh! 40 something days left until we leave. I remember when we had 4 months left. I can't believe that it's already the last day of May. This month FLEW BY.
I'm not just ending a stressful school year, but I'm realizing that I won't have much of a summer vacation this year. Turns out I only have about a month. I finish teaching this week, have final exams next week, and then 2 teacher work days to tie up my loose ends and move out of my classroom by the end of the week next week. That means a lot of grading, putting the finishing touches on my students' final exam, grading the exam (but I'm smart - it's multiple choice on scantron), and saying goodbye to my co-workers and students. Then we know what's next....
Once school's out I can focus on our moving preparations "full time" for a month before we leave. I've made my appointments to cancel our services, take care of the cat's business, and we've sold most of what we advertised on-line. That's what takes most of the time and energy and is not fun. Packing and sorting is not a big pain because I get to walk down memory lane as I do it. We also need to take yet another trip to the consulate in Miami and we have a 5-day vacation, if you will, to New York to spend time with my family and friends.
I want to be careful that this post doesn't just turn into a list of what I have to do before we leave. I was just thinking about how time flew. Maybe it's because it's the last official month of school. I think that's it. My job was tough this year and part of me can't believe that I survived the school. Makes me really think about what my experience will be at a private, international school in Brazil. I've been working at poor, public schools for years and that's what I'm used to. Leaves me wondering how my experience will change in Brazil....how will I cope with teaching students who are more dedicated? Who come from education parents? Who have educated parents? Who really do want to go to college? It makes me anxious. I'm just going to have to be very observant and learn what I can about the school, the students, and the parents beforehand to try and prepare myself. I just know that if I can survive in an environment like where I'm working now, I can make it anywhere.
It seems simple making the transition from students who fight you when you try to teach to teaching compliant students. I hope that it'll be easy and that I'll be able to modify all of my lesson plans to accommodate my students' needs and the school's expectations. Somehow I believe I will.
Right now I need to get back to grading papers on "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet", Act II, Scene I.
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