Third Grade: Saying Good-Bye & Passports

The way we usually blog, it must seem like all we do is travel, but I assure we actually are working, and this time, I actually have a work-themed blog (AND the blog is actually about something that happened today, something I'm sure you can't believe, either). Today (Thursday) was my last day to work with my third grade classes (I have five sections for one class each week, all on Thursday), so I said good-bye to them, which was sad and yet satisfying at the same time. One of the really disappointing things about leaving Georgia when we did was not being able to say good-bye--we left after my first school year, when I had planned to come back for the second year and teach the same students, but I just never came back. Although I did get to say good-bye to one counterpart, I didn't get to say good-bye (in person) to anyone else other than our family in Akhaltsikhe. Here, we will get to say good-bye.

I've also done a project with my third grad class that came to an end today. At the beginning of the school year, in March, I made them booklets with space for stickers. Each month, I gave them a specific set of tasks (usually three, but one month, it was four), and for each task they completed successfully, I gave them a sticker. If they got all the stickers for a particular month, I gave them a bigger, special sticker and a piece of candy. This was a big deal, and they were really excited about it (I don't really give out candy at any other time). I called this booklet their "passport," and the passports became wildly popular in my third grade.


I told them in April that any student who got ALL stickers for March, April, May, and June would get a special prize from me (like those two girls in the picture above). On Wednesday, I put together those special prizes, and I'm proud with how they turned out:



Each student who got all stickers (since my spelling quiz in May was probably too hard, I actually was more generous, and allowed students who were missing only one sticker to get a prize, too) got one little package (which contained candy) plus another special sticker (this time, stickers with positive affirmations like "Excellent!" or "Great job!") and a San Diego postcard with a note from me on the back. It all turned out very well, so I was happy, even though it was a crazy day for a multitude of reasons.

Now for the rest of the good-byes...

- Carissa