End of It

So, today was my last day at my middle school out in Gresham. I'm a little sad. I really enjoyed my time there. My cooperative teacher was phenomonal. She totally made me feel welcome, gave me room to breathe and interact with the kids. Backed me up when I needed it, and gave me some time to stretch my wings. She's super wacky, too. She got me a going away present today that looked awfully similar to this. I hope I continue to get to see her. I'd like to start inviting her to bookclub, if we continue that.

I'll miss quite a few of the kids, too. I'm sure I'll get attached to many little squirrels as the years pass... but, this was my first full-time (almost) gig. This was the first chance I had to hang out with the kids for 8hrs/day, most of the week. I'm gonna miss Steve (aka: Humberto), with his crazy, loud colored Mexican Pride, baseball-type tshirts he wore everyday and his nutty little airplanes he kept building out of paper and aluminum foil and tissue paper. I'll miss Courtney with all her anime facination & A.D.D misadventures. I'll miss Brad with his anger and confusion over sexual orientation and how to handle that in Gresham. I'll miss Ivan and his smart mouth (he was using black cottony stuffing to make larger eyebrows and a goatee for himself today. My stomach hurt I was laughing so hard.). I'll miss Scout, with her cute little bookishness and earnest attempts at everything. I'll miss watching the sixth graders just spaz out and end up on the floor all the time. I'll miss Paul with his shyness and cuteness. I'll miss Gabe and his incredible similarity to Napoleon Dynamite. I'll miss Cory with his screwed up life, and Angel with her inappropriate jokes.

ahh... squirrels. I think I finally picked the right thing.