The last day of vacation.

April 16th. Happy birthday, Dad!
We had a BBQ this afternoon and it was yumazing. It was also 90 degrees and wearing shorts reminded me that my pale legs have seen better days/months.
Speaking of warm weather, if your school does not have AC (mine does not, so if you're in the same boat I feel for you), there are ways to make life less sweaty for you and your students!
1. Get a spray bottle and fill it with cold water. If you can get one of those bottles that has a fan at the end so the water comes out misty that would be splendid. If you can't afford that, a dollar store spray bottle will do just fine. After coming in from recess, transitioning to a lesson, before snack, if it seems the munchkins need a movement break...spray your kids! Make sure to ask each one of them if it's okay before you spray. For some reason, they love it and the water really cools them down.
2. Get FANS for your room.
3. Popsicles. I haven't tried this one yet, but doesn't it sound like a great idea?

September can be pretty uncomfortable heat-wise and May-June can get rather brutal as well. It's not fun to teach or to learn when all you really want is to be sitting in an igloo. Do what you can to make you, your classroom, and your kiddos cooler.

So today happens to also be the last day of vacation.
With all the vacations we've had so far this year, the day before going back to school I get slightly uneasy (mainly with making sure I have everything prepared and getting myself as psyched up as I can for the week). This happened to me last year at grad school as well, so I don't think it's a first year teacher thing. Guessing it's more of a "holy shnikeys, I'm no longer in the safety of my undergrad bubble?! How did this happen?" kind of thing. To describe this odd feeling, it's kind of like, on Sunday nights or during those last, precious moments of vacation, I try to soak it all in. Prepare for whatever is to come during the school week. It's an unnerving feeling. From ages 0-22 I never experienced it. So the last year and a half of this nonsense is/was getting to me.

However, I'm proud to say that we go back to school tomorrow, since April vacation ends today, and I'm NOT feeling as anxious as I had in the past. Not entirely sure why this is...but I'll take it.