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I know May is supposed to be my favorite month of the year. There’s Teacher Appreciation Week with its gifts and food, food, food. There’s Mother’s Day with more gifts, more food. And then there’s this end of the school year count down. How many more days are left?
The end of the year is not a joyful time for me. I am looking back on the year and thinking; Did I do all I could? Did I make a difference? Are my students ready to move on?
I’m faced with packing up the classroom (make that three classrooms), making them stark and uninviting, covering computers, cleaning out cubbies, trash, trash, trash…
But the hardest part for me are the last days when my students come sporadically (I teach gifted pull-out). How can I plan anything with substance? We review for summer reading. We create writing anthologies. We play games.
Then there are the goodbyes. I teach my students year after year, so when they leave me, I’ve usually had them for multiple years. Letting go is hard.
Here I am looking at the countdown my students have written on the board, 7 days left. Seven? Seven! Where did the time go? I’m not ready.
Reflections on the Teche 