Another Chapter Closes

It is a little after 1 on Thursday the 30th of May, 2013. The students have been gone now for about 2 hours, and my teacher friends and I had a chance for a rare treat...lunch in the real world. No sack lunches or school trays and it was relatively quiet at the establishment we chose. Ironically... the food was on a throw away plate and served on a tray.... but still we teachers don't get that opportunity too many times It is something so small to most, but we kind of get excited about it on half days of school. Oddly enough though, I missed the swell of the noise as more students enter the cafeteria. I missed having to send students to the bathroom, the nurse, or back to the lunch line to retrieve the fork, milk, straw, napkin, or ketchup pack that they forgot. I missed having to monitor the "talking time." If I didn't monitor it they would talk and forget to eat. I missed having to inhale my food. It felt weird to take so long today.

Simply put, I missed the kids. It is so hard to believe that another year of my work is coming to a close. Tomorrow is day 180. The long awaited day of the year for just about everyone. Am I excited? Well duh... of course I am. Who wouldn't be excited about 10 weeks off in the summer. (Ya'll know we really don't get the whole summer at the beach right? That's another post.) But even as I sit here typing this, I am already preparing for next year. I am thinking about all the students that I had this year... Destiny, Seth, Joe, Makyah, Kaziah, Maia, Dasia, Jake, Brady, Matthew M., Wesyleie, Alana, Ryan, Jinsen, Dawson, Tamiah, Matthew S., Davin, Samiar, Elijah, Kyle, Ma'Kayla, Starla, Caroleen, Heer, and Le'Nir. All of them helped shape a part of my life just as much as I shaped theirs. I will remember how they excelled in programming Lego Robots. I will never forget the day they discovered blubber and how it really worked. I will smile every time I think of them "celebrating" at the end of the day. I will beam with pride as I remember the 4 different days news crews were filming our class. I will sing loudly in the 2nd grade program next year when my new class performs the song that this year wrote for them. I will giggle next year on the first day as I read the letters they wrote to my new students. I will call on them when I need help next year with the iPads. I will most certainly show off their beautiful decorating skills when we do gingerbread houses next Christmas.

I will always remember how one student in particular thanked me every single day of this year as he left the room at the end of the day. Thank you Kyle! There is a certain sock monkey that will forever be a part of my life too thanks to Elijah! I will always tell students how Jake said drama and acting out plays in class helped him not to be shy because he could just pretend to be whoever he wanted. Seth and his "fluffy" hair performing in Joseph, Ma'Kayla and her snaggle teeth and dimples, Makyah and her sweet old soul, Destiny and her cute dimples, Kaziah and her epic last name cheer, Dasia and her most amazing handwriting ever, Maia and her constant help with Dojo, Starla and her amazing friendship to others, Brady and his awesome attitude about everything, Mills and his tender heart, Wesyleie and her big smile, Dawson and his world wide recorder tour, Tamiah and her sweet spirit, Sisk and the way he helped his K5 brother every morning before he came to class, Davin and his thoughtful afternoon goodbye as he left with the walkers, Samiar and his amazing technology skills, Le'Nir and his big trip to zoo, Heer and her helpful sweet personality, and Caroleen and her awesome ability to speak another language surely have made a mark on this teacher! I will always remember them and our time together.

Best of luck to all of you as you venture to 3rd grade. Don't forget about me! Have a great summer!