End of the year reflection

School is officially out in 3 more days and I AM SO SAD!! I have really loved my school and my students. They are so bright and thoughtful and hilarious and I cannot imagine doing any other job and being happy. These students become such a large part of my life; it seems so strange that people in my "normal" life don't know these kids. Anyway - here's a little glimpse of what happens in my World History classroom.

Here is View 1 of my classroom. Notice the "We Can Do It!" poster and the "School of Athens." Two of my favorites! These pictures of my classroom are mostly for my mom - she keeps asking to see my classroom!

And here is View 2. On the blue bulletin board are some of the kids' World War II posters. Can I also say how much I love white boards? In fact, they are the reason I'm a teacher. When I was eight I got a white board for Christmas and decided that I loved writing on the white board so much I should make it into my profession. Thus started the endless hours of teaching animals and my poor little brother.

This is my freshman class with parts of their final projects. Aren't they cute?! Their final project was to create their own civilization - down to jobs, religion, clothing, and even food. It was a great way to end World History I.

I'm a little bit "famous" at my school for always being cold. I often stand outside my room with my little blanket and I even occassionally lecture with it around me. I'm serious, my school is FREEZING! So -- this is a common site of me with one of my cute students.

One of the most rewarding "teaching moments" from this year was when I taught about genocides in Armenia, Germany, Cambodia, Rwanda, Croatia, and the current situation in Darfur. We discussed what it means to be an activist and many of the students got "Save Darfur" t-shirts to support the refugees. We all wore them on one Friday. It was really gratifying to see the small impact I had made by watching students grasp onto a cause and actually care about it.