Rainbows, Dr. Seuss, and Tears.... lots of tears

Ever have one of those days where your emotions are just ALL over the map??? That was my Wednesday...

First off, everyone knows that Wednesday was the best day to be a first grader; it was Dr. Seuss' birthday!! We got to celebrate and do fun activities and make Cat in the Hat hats and even sneak in a couple of great Dr. Seuss videos throughout our day. It's times like this that really make me loooove first grade!

However, in Room 108, our day was a little clouded. It was one of my kiddos' (Jake, we'll call him) last day in my room. We have been collecting data on this little one since Kindergarten, and the trend was showing a huge rise in daily aggression and use of inappropriate language. This data led to his team deciding that we needed to pursue a more specialized placement for his IEP services. In our district (only 6 elementary schools), we have one building that houses the ED program, and that's where we decided he'd be best served. Even though I know that this is the best placement for him and his needs, and I know that the rest of my class will be able to learn in a safe, calm environment... well, I still cried that day.

I teared up when telling my class (before he came in) that it was going to be his last day. I cried with his mom when he came in from breakfast and the kiddos swarmed him with "We'll miss you, Jake!" and all the hugs one could ever want! And I cried the hardest when I watched him walk out of our building at the end of the day with his grandma. The little stinker was walking away and he stopped, turned, and looked so wistfully back at the building he'd never come back to as a student. The look on his face will forever be in my brain. And I'll probably tear up every time I remember it. Like now. :(

Buuut, we did our best to celebrate Jake in our classroom that day! The kids made him ALL sorts of great handmade things to take with him on his way. We took class pics and buddy pics to compile into a memory book (that we sent over to his new school today to help him through this transition). We even had a cupcake celebration at the end of the day!!

While I was too emotional to snap pics of the class eating the Dr. Seuss-themed cupcakes, I made sure to keep one at home for me to capture the hard work of my hubby and myself. The kids loved them! And Jake felt like the most special kiddo on the planet. And that's just what I wanted him to feel - because, for yesterday, he was! :)

Here are the fantastic rainbow creations! If these don't scream Dr. Seuss, I don't know what does!! (Just picture a laughing class full of 6-7 year-olds in red & white striped hats unwrapping these beauties and eating them!)