I don't quite know where to begin today's post. I'm at a loss for words. 180 (school) days ago, I was nervous to begin this crazy adventure of teaching. Today, I shed tears for the passing of this year. I turned off the lights in my room, shut the door, turned in my keys and felt a little pang in my heart, knowing that it'd be a few months until I saw it again. I got a little sad....
Then I realized I have the summer OFF and I wasn't so sad anymore!! Wahoo!!! I made it!! I will no longer be called "the first year teacher!" Next year will be a cake walk!!
The last few days have been kind of surreal for me. I've had all sorts of emotions leading up to this last day and thought for sure I was prepared to say good riddance to my students. Some, true, I couldn't get out of my classroom fast enough, but it was very difficult to say goodbye to some (especially my 9th graders.) The 9th graders actually had their last day yesterday and it was truly a sad moment. I took lots of pictures of them. We talked about all the good times we shared this year. Then each and every one of them (17) gave me a side hug on their way out the door. The girls were in tears; I came close myself. They were a great group of kids to start the yearbook/journalism program with and I am afraid I will hold future students in this class up to my first group and they will pale in comparison.
Today was kind of a crazy day. First off, they reversed the schedule on us, so the kids started the day in 7th period and worked their way back, ending in advisory to receive their $10 refund. In my 7th period I had 6 students show up. Of course the ones that showed were the quiet ones and I couldn't get them to speak, so I turned on the tv and we found Dora the Explorer to watch for 25 minutes. Each class got a few more students; other students from other classes were coming in with their friends. I know, I'm a horrible teacher, letting students sluff in my room. I had lots of students in my room and it ended up being kind of like a party. I was playing music, the kids were playing LIFE, CLUE, and my new favorite, Apples to Apples. It was just, as they said, a 'chill' day. I quite enjoyed it.
All week I've been preparing my room for the summer. I've heard all sorts of horror stories about leaving anything out, so I basically took everything down and locked it in my closet. We had to cover all of the computers will plastic bags because they are re-tiling the floors over the summer and want to keep the computers free from dust. It was kind of an eerie feeling, the bareness of my room...but, again, exciting because I have the summer OFF!!!
This is a picture of my room right before I walked out of it for the last time this year. I only kept up my checkered bulletin board and the one I covered in newspaper, but you'll notice how bare and boring the room looks. After all the students left, we had a big faculty luncheon in the cafeteria. They honored the two teachers who are retiring this year and also all the teachers who are leaving to other schools. It was sad! I became quite close with a few of these teachers that are leaving and it was kind of sad to say goodbye. They handed out geraniums to all the teachers and we had a catered meal from Costa Vida (the culprit of my food poisoning a few weeks ago...). It was a fun time; I was out of school by 2:30.
It's a weird feeling knowing that I won't be back there for a few months. I'm looking forward to a little break; a chance to recoup and prepare for another year.
Monday I fly to Las Vegas for a week. Wahoo! My birthday is on Wednesday. Another Wahoo! Then I will start ESL classes on the 11th; they go for two weeks every day from 7:30-3:30. Since I'm a teacher on a break, I think I will go back to blogging on "Wife's Tale," which you can still access from this blog. Then, come August 27th or so, I'll start up again here...you know, just to keep things straight!
Adios from a 2nd year teacher....
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