Annie `s Got Her Groove Back !

It`s been a month today.
Some of you were checking the orbituary in the newspaper to see if I had kicked the bucket ( died ).
Then you saw me in the school corridors.
" It`s been a while Annie ! "
" I know, I don`t have much time lately ( back to school and all ) and I really don`t have anything to write about, when I do , I will promise."
I figure, although most of you are loyal readers and commentors, if I bore you once, you won`t come back, right ?
Who would puposely want to bore their reader ?
Speaking of, let`s move along shall we .

I`m having a ball since I came back to school.
Seriously, my 2 groups of Sec.2 and both groups of Sec.4 are grrrreat .
I have nothing to complain about : they are eager, respectful, perfectionists, polite and cute.
I wanna bring them all home.

I have new material ( réforme style ) and am a bit nervous since I`m used to doing my own thing .
I`ll just have to take the new material and do it à la Annie.
Big year.
My kids in 4 chose a new novel.
From the 4 I proposed and exposed, they chose : That Was Then , This Is Now by S.E Hinton.
The other group is reading the also classic The Outsiders from the same author and by the looks on their faces, they`re really liking it.

So as you can see, life is grand.

Today, Paul Lachance and I got some special visitors :
Intensive graduates from last year.
My babies ( although 18 now ) , my darlings, my sweethearts.
Now obviously the 64 of them weren`t ALL there but 3.
Hey 3 is better than nothing AND besides it wasn`t JUST any 3.
Félix Mailly (I promised to hand deliver a jar of caramel on the job at IGA ), Joël -Jean Coutu Chassé and Etienne- Petite Vallée-I`m a great musician-Thibeault.

I seriously thought my mind was playing tricks on me again.
I sometimes see them in the corridors while I stand at my class door to welcome my kids before class, the only thing, it`s NOT them !
IT WAS TODAY !
THEY WERE MY AFTER LUNCH DESSERT.
We hugged, kissed, spoke very fast because we had a class coming up, smiled, told them I missed them, told me their plans at Cégep and off they went.
They`ll be back for sure they said. And they will.
What a great job I have.
How many of my students from last year ( sec.2 and 4 ) come in my doorway while I teach or at the break to say HELLO ?
Lots.
How many smile in the corridor on their way to their English class with ANOTHER teacher ?
Lots.
But you know what ?
You`ll be mine next year.
And to my Sec. 4 :`s I say : I`ll savor every second I have with you this year and will visit you as much as possible next year, and that`s a promise.

Am I lucky to teach English Concentration ?
Darn straight I am .
Do I appreciate it ?
Every day I teach you and every time you stop by and say " HELLO "
Do I miss you at the end of the year and when you graduate ?
You bet.
And I got proof again today .
When you come back, it`s like family you haven`t seen since last Christmas, a family reunion.
Maybe just to us the teachers, but then again, it`s them that come back to visit, that come back home.
Is it a compliment ?
Probably, what matters is seeing them in THEIR new ventures and starting a new life and somehow sown a seed somewhere.
In other words, there`s a little, little , little bit of your heritage somewhere in that person.
You helped them grow as they helped YOU grow as a teacher, and as a human .
Name me a job that does that ?
You don`t do that by working at Wal-Mart !
Do my students EVER get on my nerves ?
Sometimes, like my own kids get on my nerves, we all have our limits.
So if that`s not loving your students, I don`t know what it is.

Some of my darlings from last year have told me they`d visit during their Fall break.
Bring it on, the door is always open.

On that,
I promise my next post won`t take so long.
I`ll have pics to show you too.
Give me till the weekend.

Peace out !
Groove is in the heart baby !
Annie xx