Last Week of School

This week I complete my fifth year of teaching, and Kyle completes his first year as a student. Quite frankly, Kyle got off pretty easily with only having to attend the last three weeks of school! Most of my students would love to sign up for that deal.

Monday was the last day of classes. As a special treat, my students asked if they could tie Kyle down to their desks instead of mine. His tie down ended up being passed from desk to desk over the course of a class period. Kyle really needs to learn to spell one word: S-P-O-I-L-E-D.

(Kyle is standing in the middle of several student desks and getting petted by two kids at once.)

Tuesday was yearbook signing day, which translated to all kinds of fun. My classroom tends to be a hang out spot for several groups of kids, so Kyle had constant entertainment.

I knew it would be a laid back sort of day, so I brought extra toys for Kyle. Several students took turns playing tug with Kyle. Without fail, they are all amazed by the effectiveness of his "that's enough" command. Jake especially had fun playing tug with Kyle. Because my classroom floor is so slick, Kyle slid every which way during tug, but he didn't mind.

(Kyle is sliding while Jake plays tug with him. Jake didn't realize I was recording the game while they played.)

On a personal note, I got to sign yearbooks for tons of students. Since I teach tenth grade (the lowest grade in our high school) I know a large percentage of the students in the building. I love when kids come to visit me year after year. As a result, I get to sign a lot of yearbooks. That is always a bittersweet experience because I miss my daily contact with kids as the move to eleventh grade. Even worse is knowing I probably won't see them at all once they graduate. Little notes, like the one below, make the journey worth it though.

 (This is a sweet note from a student thanking me for being her teacher.)

Kyle couldn't be left out of the yearbook signing fun. He was the most popular student in my classes after all. A paw print with his name ended up in multiple student yearbooks to prove that he is already making a mark on people's lives.

Since yearbook day is so laid back, students get away with all sorts of things that wouldn't be allowed on a regular school day. Kyle wasn't the only puppy in campus as a result. One former student brought two of her six-week-old Yorkie puppies to school with her. They were tiny! I would have liked to show them to Kyle to see how he reacted to little dogs, but they were both wrapped in a blanket and sound asleep. As any puppy raiser can attest, it's exhausting going on outings when you are a young puppy.

(The Yorkie puppies are curled up and sound asleep in a white blanket.)

By midday everyone's yearbook was signed, and students had cleared out of the building. That left one very forlorn puppy without any playmates. Poor Kyle had to spend the remainder of the day tied down to my desk and relaxing like a good service puppy should.

(Kyle looked at me with his big puppy eyes and goughnut in his mouth as if to ask where all his friends and playmates had gone.)

Today is a fairly laid back day. The seniors are on a class trip to an amusement park. Since my stomach cannot tolerate most rides and guide dog rules state that Kyle cannot ride any rides, we declined to be chaperons. My classroom is already clean and packed up for the summer, so we are just relaxing. I actually closed my door for a while, took off Kyle's puppy jacket, and let three straggling students (probably the only three in the building) play with Kyle to the point that he is exhausted. I haven't ever seen him collapse like this before. It's kind of nice.

Tomorrow I have to work graduation and cannot focus on Kyle, so after our club meeting tonight he is going to a puppy sitter's house over night. They have a nine-month-old black lab named Christina, so Kyle should have fun playing with a friend tonight and tomorrow. Kyle won't even be gone a full 24 hours, but I'll miss him none-the-less.