Another year...

...older? wiser? closer to retirement? Not sure yet. It is probably not surprising that each time a school year ends, I begin to look back and think about what the year meant, where I have been, where I am now, and where I want to go. (yes, two years counts as every year, dammit!)

I think I actually had a good year this year. My portfolio evaluation went well (art teachers are audited in my district, to see if we are teaching what we are supposed to be, and how well our students are performing), and I may get to spearhead a new project in our district, if I can write up a stellar proposal soon! More on that later, if it goes through.

I still have one more day of work for the school year, sans students, but I am actually already looking forward to next school year. And not just because my salary will be back to normal (12 weeks of leave, you do the math), but because I have lots of good ideas of how I can do things better. I already applied for one grant (which I recieved the result of on Wednesday "no money for you!") and plan to keep applying for them, until I actually recieve one. I want to document better what my students have done in each grade through the year. And I want to strive to give the students their work back in a more timely manner. My pile of unreturnable work was much smaller this year than last (no names, moved away, etc). And I am also going to try to keep my room more organized, and my lesson plans more decipherable by non arty types - because now that I have 2 kids, I feel that I will most likley have to use all of my sick days next year for "family illness" as opossed to personal. Oh well.

***
NYC, here we come! Late night giggle-fests of 3 & 4 year olds are in the cards, and hopefully a cookout of some sort, even if it is a take-out cook-out.