Only three weeks left of this school year and I cannot believe it.  Part of me cannot wait for summer and another part of me wants it to stretch as long as possible.

I had one of those "oh my goodness, how can anyone do anything but teach??" days yesterday.  Those are the best :)

The day started off with a bang, what with it being Children's Book Week and Friday being character dress up day.  I, along with 3 of my wonderful friends, dressed up as a Rhyming Dust Bunny, inspired by the hilarious book Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas.  We had a character parade around the school first thing in the morning and as I was walking down the Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade hall I truly felt like a celebrity!  I was waving and they were poking and tapping each other yelling, "Oh my goodness, the Rhyming Dust Bunnies!"  It was like living out the dream of being a Disney Princess, haha :)

Then we had D.E.A.R time (Drop Everything and Read).  I told my students that I would be reading on the carpet and that they were more than welcome to join me there, or just to spread around the room as usual with a pillow or stuffed animal (I have a plethora of both - I think pillows and stuffed animals make reading that much more enjoyable).  As soon as I got to the carpet and plopped down on my stomach to read, at least 15 of my students joined me.  We were all on the carpet, silently reading to ourselves for 20 minutes.  I had an overwhelming sense of joy just being there with my kiddos reading a book.  I read aloud to them every day, but it is a rare occurrence for them to see me reading a book silently to myself.  I can talk about how much I love reading, but for them to see it, wow.  They were silent for TWENTY minutes.  I barely had to do any correcting at all for behavior issues.  They were truly ENJOYING every second of it.  My kids then decided that we should have DEAR time twice a day, for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 in the afternoon.  I am happy to oblige - I love that they are loving to read!  Reading is truly a powerful tool, and I have only just learned that it has proved to be the perfect behavior management strategy.

I will cherish these last three weeks.  They will be fun-filled and BUSY.  We are reviewing so much of the curriculum in these last weeks and it is wonderful to see how much they have learned.  My little sponges :)  What a blessing of a job this is.

The Lord has lead me to this profession and I am absolutely grateful.  My heart for these children is utterly apparent to me, and I thank the Lord for this.  His patience, His joy, and His creativity inspire me and motivate me each day.  I am blessed, truly truly blessed.

Basking in the glory of the Lord,
Amanda/Ms. B