~It was what I was born to be.~

My 38th year of teaching has nearly run its course.  So hard to imagine how fast one year could have flown by!  One day you're in the classroom getting things ready for "Meet the Parents" night.  The next day you are taking things down off the walls in preparation to administer the state writing test to 4th grade students.  

March 29th, this coming Tuesday and only the day after tomorrow, 4th graders from all over this great state of Texas will be taking the writing section of their annual test.  It's a day we knew was coming.  In fact, it was a day that they were all well aware of from the beginning.  In everything that we have done this year, we have kept it in mind.  

We will have a pep rally at our school tomorrow afternoon to encourage and inspire the kids to do their best on the test.  Prior to that, I am having a meeting with all of my 4th grade students to go over a few last minute things and to read them the letter that is attached to this blog.  

Testing is a very stressful time and it is surely not just in the state of Texas, but all over this great nation of ours.  I have gone to bed at night with it on my mind and awoken the next morning still thinking of it.   Yet no matter how difficult it has been, I have never looked back at my decision to be a teacher.  It was what I was born to be.


~A Letter From the Teacher on Monday, March 28th~

Dear kids,
     It seems so hard to imagine that tomorrow we will be taking our writing test.  The many weeks of school that we had up until this point in time have now gone away.  They are a part of your fourth grade memory bank now.  We have worked so hard, gone through a thousand pencils and erasers, used up 59 packages of notebook paper, and tried dozens of ways to graphically organize our work.  
     Our classroom word wall became filled with the challenging words that you sometimes forgot how to spell.  It wasn't until after I met you all that I realized the need to add the cities of Dean, Petrolia, Byers, Wichita Falls, and Charlie to that wall.  We practiced with too, to, and two as well as their, there, and they're.  You have seen dozens of expository prompts and written to each of them.  I must have told you a hundred times that whatever the prompt is on testing day, good or bad, that you must write to it and write very well.  
     You know that I've reminded you about a gazillion (and by the way, it's not a real number) times to capitalize the beginning word of each sentence, check for the proper punctuation at the end, and make sure that your sentence makes good sense.  I have reminded you to be sure and stick to the prompt and not veer away from it as you write.  We've practiced with revising and editing stories until I thought I could not ask you to do any more of them.  Thank you for sticking with it, even though I am sure that you must have grown as weary of it all as I have.  
     Inside of each of you, hey inside of all of us for that matter, there is a story waiting to be told.  You have heard me say that you must reach deep down into your belly to find it sometimes.  I want you to know how very true that is.  Use some time to do the thinking and planning part of your composition.  You might not know what to write about at first, but just give yourself a moment.  It will come to you.  I promise!  
     All of us will breathe a sigh of relief when the test is completed.  My desire for you is that you come and do your best.  Please give 100 percent towards passing it.  When it is all said and done, no matter what the outcome is, that is all I can ask of you.  The folks that grade your composition do not know you.  They don't know what your writing ability was when you began 4th grade and they surely do not know what wonderful potential you still have within you to be even greater writers next year.  One thing is for certain.  I do.
     You know where good writing comes from.  I have told you that as well.  It comes from your heart.  You have made this teacher's heart happy.  So get some rest, eat a good breakfast, kiss your brain, and put a fire under your pencil.  You will do just fine on Tuesday!
     Thanks for allowing me to teach you how to write this year. I am so very proud of each and every single one of you.  I love you kids all.

     Your teacher,
     Mrs. Renfro

Mike and I took this picture last summer, right about the time that school was ready to start. Just like he did when I taught at Olathe Elementary, Mike Renfro always made sure that the kids had whatever they needed to have a successful year at school.  He has helped to pay for more pencils, erasers, paper, glue sticks, and a thousand other things than a person could imagine.  He learned early on what it is like to be married to a teacher.

I remember the night he sat there and drew the grids for about 120 writing projects for the month of September.  I couldn't have done it without his help.  He never complained one time.  That's just how he is.