May!

I love May in my school. May means testing is done. We have given it our all, packed the tests into boxes and sent them away. We will try not to think about them until we get the results next August. The kids are almost spent from a year of cramming for, then taking high stakes tests. So May is a time to relax.
I have not been on my regular schedule (of going into classrooms and working with students) since February. We spend from the middle of February until Spring break conducting the standardized test that every ESL student (so about 85% of our school) has to take. After returning from Spring break, the other ESL teachers and I were asked to pull small groups of students to help provide last minute help before the big tests in April. Almost all of April was spent proctoring the tests. Due to our high ESL numbers, a majority of our students qualify for accommodations so can take the test in small groups. It is a great benefit to the students but if very time consuming.
So, having spent February-April thinking almost constantly of high stakes testing, it is SO nice to be back in the classroom. Everyone, the students and teachers alike, seem so relaxed. The weather is nice. With the pressure of tests off, there is time for extra recess, and field trips. It is a time to just enjoy being a teacher. A time you can teach something - even if it is not on the test.
At least for me, the school year moves in a very similar cycle from year to year. Come August, we will expect the kids to be fully in the routine of school by end 2nd week of class. We hit the ground running. By the time conferences come around in October, it seems as though we have always worked with each particular group of students. Thanksgiving and Christmas are fun simply from a nostalgic point of view, even though the time we are able to spend on such things is greatly limited. After winter break it is a mad rush to make sure everyone is ready for the high stakes testing. Feb-April is testing, then comes May. I like my job year round - there is always good to be found in any season. But I have to admit- May is one of my favorite parts of the school year.