School's Out!

I think I will have to introduce my students to Alice Cooper - School's Out, today. It is their anthem after all! The room is packed, the walls are bare and the party will begin shortly. I am not sorry to see this group go. For one, I will have about 2/3 of them in 5th grade next year. But secondly, they have been a very rude group of kids. I know they live in South Central LA and they have a rough life, but I live in Pomona, another tough town. One reason I think it was so tough, is that at the start of the year, there were four 4th grade classes. They were combined into three classes after a 5th grade teacher was dismissed for too many DUIs (he has lost his credential PERMANATELY...OUCH). So, a 4th grade teacher went to 5th and that just screwed up the dynamics for the rest of the year. 20 kids were easy to manage. 30+...God, shoot me. Next year I have to take the dismissed teacher's place in the 5th grade. That's OK, though. I made a deal with my principal to keep my same classroom. It is a bungalow and much larger than the other traditional classrooms. So here's to summer vacation, even if I do have to teach summer school!