Planning for Next Year

It's finally the last day of school. Every June it feels like we may be the last people in the country still in school. With my southern friends' Facebook posts of summer break starting in May it's hard to focus on these last few weeks. And yet in many ways the end of this year doesn't seem possible. I could use a few more weeks with these kids. We're on a roll, we've got a good rhythm going and there is more learning to be had. Apparently it's not just me.

Earlier this week I was rushing to a meeting during arrival and I ran into one of my fourth grade students coming up the stairs. I worked with this student in two different groups this year, one group for guided reading and one morning group for the executive functioning intervention group where we used the curriculum Unstuck and On Target. As he saw me on his way up the stairs his early morning face seemed to slowly register that it was me. 

"Oh, Mrs. Lipstick," he said slowly, "My mom says I can be in your morning class again in fifth grade."

"What morning class?" I asked, confused. I hadn't offered him a morning class for fifth grade.

"You know, our morning class. I asked my mom and she said I could do it again. In fifth grade."

"Great! We'll have to see if we can do it next year." I replied, not wanting to squelch his enthusiasm but also not wanting to commit since we finished our work for this year and another round of kids will be a part of the intervention next year.

"But my mom said I could. In fifth grade. I can do it again," he insisted, his eyes seeming to get more sincere by the second. 

I'm not sure there is anything more rewarding as a teacher than having a student tell you they want to work with you again, especially in an intervention group that takes them away from downtime in their classroom. Especially when they are a fourth grader who is starting to be too cool for school. I'm hoping he asked his mom if he could do it again because he saw that the intervention worked and he developed problem solving skills from our work.