Doing Unpleasant Things for the Last Time

I promise I am not going to finish this year with each blog being about what I just did for the last time, but for me this was a big one. I took the stools off the lab tables for the last time.  At the end of each day the last class puts the stools up on the tables so maintenance can clean. In the morning I take them down. Today is the last day the kids come to the lab. When the 6th graders put them up this afternoon, I can just leave them up.
Today will be my last lunch duty. The last time I stand around trying not to catch students speaking Spanish. It is a school rule they are to speak only English on campus. The school is 99% Honduran native Spanish speakers, so speaking Spanish is the forbidden fruit. If we catch them, we are supposed to have a consequence. If they are repeat offenders (which they all are) we can send them to the office and they get an after school detention or possibly a suspension. My consequence has been that they get a 250 word essay on why they should practice English as much as possible. If they don't write the essay, their team loses points. The points have increased each time I have caught someone speaking Spanish. The system started in January when the principal became adamant about enforcing this rule. I am now up to 53 points off for the 7th grade and 24 for the 6th grade. After they write the essay, I edit it and they have to rewrite it correctly. If they don't do the rewrite, their team loses half the points. This consequence has been very successful in making sure those that either refuse to speak English or have problems communicating in English stay well away from me while I am on duty. I'm not sure if it has inspired anyone to speak more English even though most of the essays contain excellent reasons on how they should take every opportunity to practice their English.
The main reason I think such a rule exists is so they begin to think in English. The English they practice with their peers is not pronounced correctly and often the grammer is incorrect. Often I have caught students speaking Spanish, and they were not aware they were speaking Spanish because they just say what they think and they haven't developed the ability to think in English. Anyway, today is the last day I will have to enforce this rule.
I was going to have a big idea of something I've learned over the years with each blog. I think I missed one in the last blog. I heard this in a movie (Burn after Reading) I was watching recently. "Don't sweat the little stuff and it's all little stuff" - except it is not all little stuff. Once in awhile in an essay I get thanked for caring about if they speak English or not.