Last Day

There were tears today. At least two of my students were crying when Miss M left for the last time today. We pushed off our celebration/gift giving time since one of the girls was at a dentist appointment, but eventually we couldn't wait any longer. That student had been the one who was supposed to give Miss M the flowers, but since she was gone, we had to pick someone else. They did a decent job of keeping the surprise a secret up until the last minute.

Finally I announced it was time. The people with jobs stood up, walked calmly to the closet, and came out in a single file line to hand Miss M her presents. They were so serious about it! Then they gave her individual cards and read parts of them out loud. She was very touched. They gave her so much stuff she needed help carrying it out to the car, so everyone except the new girl escorted Miss M to her car and gave her one last farewell hug... and that's when the waterworks started. Miss S said when she saw my class at lunchtime, all crying and red faced, she first thought they had gotten a really stern talking to until she remembered it was Miss M's last day.

In other news, everyone made their NaNo goals! Only one student hadn't met his by the end of the school day, and he told me today he was able to write the last words he needed in the car before the basketball game. Woohoo! Our final tally was: 67,309/65,400, or 103% of our goal. I handed them a winner certificate and Miss M handed them a noveling sticker (provided by the NaNo site) and a NaNo pin (also from the NaNo site). Last night I baked gingersnaps for a celebration snack today and I too finished my novel. Whew! Now on to Christmas...