School's Out for Summer... Again :-)

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Final projects have been turned in, final classes have been taught, final grades have been calculated—and now the school year is finally complete. Looking back on September 1st when the school year started makes this year seem like such a whirlwind. Is it really over already? An “About Me” unit, tons of tongue twisters, Halloween Concourse, present progressive tense, need & want, St. Patrick’s Day Concourse, prepositions, Village Map project—and viola! the year passed just that quickly.

And so this is the season for festivities. Most notably, my host sister (Aisuluu) graduated from high school this year. She attends Meerim-Sebat Lyceum, a private Turkish school in Talas city—by far the best school in all of Talas oblast. Public schools don’t have graduation ceremonies like we have in the States (unfortunately, in my opinion), but Sebat students deservedly had one this last Wednesday (they work pretty much non-stop for 5 years at this boarding school where, among other things, they learn 4 languages fluently). It was so exciting to see my host sister wearing her cap and gown, entering the auditorium in procession, and celebrated for all her hard work. All students at Sebat are bright (you have to pass a test after 6th grade to enter), but Aisuluu had the extra honor of being one of 3 valedictorians and speaking at the ceremony (sound familiar??). My host parents were certainly beaming with pride. They have much to be proud of.

Then today was the Last Bell Ceremony at our school in Jon-Aryk. This is less a graduation (though the 11th graders are honored) than a celebration for all students and teachers of the end of the year. It happens every year on May 25th (the First Bell Ceremony, which is like a mirror image of the Last Bell Ceremony, happens every year on September 1st). And yes, they really do ring a “last bell” J. So we all gathered at school this morning in good spirits and our Sunday best, and congratulated each other with the end of the year. I actually think it’s nice to ceremonially open and close the school year like this. But unfortunately, for the 11th graders who are supposedly “finished” with school now, the close of the school year just means the opening of a month of sitting for exams. For them, the real celebration won’t be until the end of June.

I look back on this school year with great satisfaction. I’m happy with how I’ve improved as a teacher; I’m happy with how much my students have learned; I’m happy with the deepened relationships and affection I have with my students. I’m happy with the work we’ve all done, and I feel I can be proud of both myself and my students. I know I talk about my 9th grade girls so much, some of you may not realize that I actually do teach other classes! And my affection for these other students has grown steadily since I started teaching them last year. Honestly, when it comes to real lessons (not clubs, where I see my 9th graders most) I think I actually enjoy teaching my 6th and 7th graders the most. They are so precious and eager to learn and fun to do class with. I’m proud of all of them.

So school is out for summer, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just be lazing around eating watermelon all day long! I’ll take a week off and then start up with summer clubs. Mostly I’ll be working intensively with my 9th graders around 8-10 hours a week. We’ll be working hard preparing for a competition this fall that gives qualifying students the opportunity to study in America for a year. I’ll also do clubs for some other grades about 3-4 hours a week. And then of course there is camp in July to prepare for. So I’ll be staying busy J. But summer busy is so different from school year busy. As a returned volunteer-friend wrote me in an email recently: “Congratulations, you’re home free!... tomatoes, watermelons, swimming, and your best clubs students are all that divide you from sunny California now!” Yes!!

At my host sister's graduation ceremony.

A good pic of my host family together at graduation--I don't think I've posted any before!!

Aisuluu and I after the ceremony.

They got to throw their hats! (I'm still bitter that we weren't allowed to at my high school graduation). Here's to the end of the year!

Me and the girls from 6a. Most of these pictures are of the girls from my classes, because they were the only ones I ran into at the Last Bell Ceremony, not because I don't teach boys! I've also left out pictures of my 9th graders because you've seen them all before :-)

Me and the girls from 7a.

My girls from 7b.

Me and the girls from 6b.

Me and "my boys" from 6b.

The final pic of my classroom... We began each day in all my classes with students learning a new tongue twister (all the learned tongue twisters are above the blackboard) and going over the date and weather (to the left of the blackboard)