Field Trip, Testing, and Moving Forward

We have a field trip coming up this week! I  both love and hate field trips. They are the best and worst days for me as a teacher. I love them for the kids, seeing their excitement, experiencing their joy, and basking in their happiness as they learn new things. The happy excitement on the bus on the way there, and the sleepy faces on the way home. I love all of these things. But I also hate field trips.

I hate them because I become a nervous wreck. I worry about losing a child, I count them, and count them, and count them again. I worry about how they are behaving, about all of their possessions. Making sure all the lunch boxes and jackets that left the school return with us. I worry about how our students are perceived by others and how they are feeling. I have had students have accidents on the bus and get sick away from the school. It is no fun dealing with these events at school, it is even harder to deal with when you are away from home. These are the nightmares. Thank goodness they are rare or unheard of occurrences.

This field trip comes in the midst of our MAP testing. Which is a welcome relief from the pressure of testing. I know it is a necessary evil but I hate it all the same. While the data is valuable for the students who take the test seriously, there are those students who rushed through each test in less than 30 minutes and therefore will have to retest. Finding the time to do this, as well as a means of motivation for these students is a struggle, but it is one I know we will find a way to do.

And so it goes, testing, field trips, and moving forward in our school year. It is hard to believe that there are only 69 days left in this school year. It seems that we have so much more left to cover, so much more left to do. 69 days is not enough time. It doesn't seem like we should be getting ready to have these students move on yet. So for now, I will take in each day and be happy that I have these days left with this class and I will enjoy each moment of these days. Third grade is magical and I am so grateful that I get to be part of it each year.