Rumor or Truth?

If you've ever spent time around a school, you know that rumors have a tendency of just flying around. Towards the end of the year, everyone takes a look at the job postings for the district to see who is on their way out. I had a teacher come up to me after a faculty meeting once and said, 'Oh, I thought it was you.' Confused, I replied, 'What?' She explained that she saw a posting for a fourth grade position and assumed it was me as she thought I would be going into the Leadership Academy to become an Assistant Principal. There was not even going to be a Leadership Academy that year and while I have thought about the idea of administration, I have always wanted to wait until my own children were done with college (for more Summer flexibility). Started hinting to students...

Needless to say, rumors fly around the school.

I wanted to keep the looping move to fifth grade quiet as I know how things can change, and I didn't want to disappoint my students. That said, if I had it to do all over again, I think I would tell the students and do certain things to get ready for the following year. I could do activities like having them write a letter to themselves in the future (two months) or decorate their desks, etc. 'The Looping Handbook: Teachers and Students Progressing Together' has examples of letters and materials that teachers can send to families to prepare them for another year.

I started to quietly tell people that the move was happening. One of the first was a student's grandma. This student was new to the country from Guatemala just a couple of years ago. His conversational English is strong enough to communicate with classmates, but his written grasp of the language, his writing and his math skills are such where he needs extra support via an IEP. This student, partially due to his work being too difficult for him (at the time) had challenges with behavior in third grade. By the end of fourth grade, he had moved from K to 1 in reading and from K to 3 in math (an extroadinary leap). We sat down with grandma for his yearly IEP meeting and we went over his progress. Through an interpreter, grandma explained that it is basically her raising the two boys (I had the older son in my class two years ago). Their dad is disabled and mom is still in Guatemala. My student is the one she worries about the most, and she was so happy with the progress he made and thanked me for helping him so much during the year. I explained to her, that it was a secret, but that I was going to be moving to fifth grade and I was going to be taking her grandson with me.

She burst in to tears and said, 'God bless you. Thank you so much. This means everything.' I got up and gave her a hug. She then said, 'Can you be his teacher every year?' To which everyone in the room laughed.

Other teachers started asking me, to which I confirmed, but explained...please keep it quiet. Yeah, right...

The next thing to establish was what classroom would I be taking over. The second floor, that I was currently on, contained third grade classrooms, a self-contained room, the Assistant Principal's office, a library...and one fourth grade classroom. The third floor had the other two fourth grade classrooms, the Principal's office, three fifth grade classrooms and another self-contained room. One of the fifth grade teachers was retiring, one was moving to second grade, and the other...

I had become friendly with Rachel Smith throughout the year. She was new to our school, but she fit in right away. She was tough, but loving. Her classroom was built with intentionality and her class was so well managed that when I came to visit my former students, they were always quiet and working independently or in small groups. There was good stuff happening in that room.

Rachel had mentioned to me that she was thinking about leaving the school at the end of the year (for a number of reasons). I did the hard sell and told her that we could be grade level partners. We could turn fifth grade into a powerhouse team. My sell did not work and Rachel decided to move on to another school.

'But you can totally take my room. I'll leave up all my boards and I'll give you some of my prep stuff. Anything you need.' said Rachel. Also, Rachel's room was right next to Andrea Luisi's, so I could be back near my old neighbor even though we weren't going to be grade level partners anymore.

The next curveball I was going to be thrown was a doozy. Our Principal, Courtney Monterecy, called a last minute faculty meeting. When someone plans as much in advance as Courtney does, there are rarely last minute meetings...unless it is something big (like moving a school to a temporary swing space or the death of a child - both of which had unfortunately happened over the last couple of years).

With tears in her eyes, Courtney told us she was moving on to become the Assistant Superintendent of another district. My world was shook. Courtney had been my Principal for five years. We had a good rapport. I was appreciated. I was supported.

Now...I was moving to fifth grade. New classroom. New curriculum. No other grade level partners. And now...brand new administration.

The only things that were the same...our hundred plus year old 'swing space' and the majority of my class.