I feel that the end of this school year is a bit like the end of that book. Don't get me wrong. I was so beyond ready for the end of the term. I had given up writing real lesson plans by the first of April and just had assignments/project steps jotted on a calendar around all the days we were out of class for this and that. I definitely don't feel like I did any real meaningful teaching the entire month of May except perhaps to my juniors who did the This I Believe project. I had my classroom packed days before the semester tests. My inventories were done. I was ready to walk out the door.
Really the last day for me was going to The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence banquet with one of my seniors who was awarded Academic All State. I was so honored to get to see her accomplishments acknowledged. Haley is one of those really special students that I will miss, though I can't wait to see all the amazing things she will do next. I am also saying goodbye to the best sophomores and juniors I have ever had. I don't think I have ever enjoyed a group of kids more. But these kids leaving means that my window of opportunity for teaching them what they need to know is closed. There is something bittersweet about the end of something we work hard on. It feels good to reach the end, but I also wonder how much better I could have done in this and that. It's also anticlimactic. We work so hard to get them to pass state tests, to get our at risk kids to simply pass the class, and then, POOF! they are just gone.
It was also the last year of elementary school for Bell. Compared to elementary, middle school seems daunting, threatening all sorts if pitfalls from mean girls to mean teachers. I remember very little good from my own years in those grades and I worry that my already awkward kiddo will get lost in these years.
It was also the end of a job for Jack. He was discontent with his job for various reasons, but it was a pretty stable pay check for three years. The job market is a scary place right now. My dad has been out of work for over three months with no prospects. Jack is almost at the two month point. He did go to an interview for a job he wasn't sure he would want or be able to take because of the distance from home. Of course now, he really wants it and they haven't called back. I am praying the boss just took a long holiday weekend instead of deciding they needed someone closer and younger.
On the last day of school, a dear friend drove away to Alaska. Alaska! That is so very far away for someone I hold so dear. Suzanne made sure I was invited to the first girls' night of the year when I came to a Elgin. She kept my kid when things were so bad with Jack's back a few years ago. She has made me laugh so much, made me laugh till I cried. We have vented about old people problems and chanted at the Capitol together. We spent hours talking while our kids swam at the pool. A year ago, one of crew moved away, and now with Zann leaving it feels like the end of this circle of friends.
It is not all bad when we finish a book or come to the end of a phase. Surely there is more to be discovered. I am eager to see what wonderful adventures await my students. Some of them are off to college with exceptionally bright futures ahead of them. I am curious to see how they will shape our future as they become adults who contribute to industry and science and social progress. They will be old enough to vote in the fall and so much depends on them. I am optimistic that Bell will enjoy band and will perhaps find a groove. Who knows - perhaps the best friend she has been waiting for all these years will be there. I pray for that. I am hopeful that not just a job, but a better job is around the corner for Jack. And perhaps our next big vacation will be to Alaska. I know this will be good for Zann even if I miss her.
The good thing about books is that there are thousands of them, just waiting for us to crack them open and let the words wash over us. We just have to find the right book. In the right book, there is a world of possibility, promise, imagination, soul food . . . All just waiting for us.
Really the last day for me was going to The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence banquet with one of my seniors who was awarded Academic All State. I was so honored to get to see her accomplishments acknowledged. Haley is one of those really special students that I will miss, though I can't wait to see all the amazing things she will do next. I am also saying goodbye to the best sophomores and juniors I have ever had. I don't think I have ever enjoyed a group of kids more. But these kids leaving means that my window of opportunity for teaching them what they need to know is closed. There is something bittersweet about the end of something we work hard on. It feels good to reach the end, but I also wonder how much better I could have done in this and that. It's also anticlimactic. We work so hard to get them to pass state tests, to get our at risk kids to simply pass the class, and then, POOF! they are just gone.
It was also the last year of elementary school for Bell. Compared to elementary, middle school seems daunting, threatening all sorts if pitfalls from mean girls to mean teachers. I remember very little good from my own years in those grades and I worry that my already awkward kiddo will get lost in these years.
It was also the end of a job for Jack. He was discontent with his job for various reasons, but it was a pretty stable pay check for three years. The job market is a scary place right now. My dad has been out of work for over three months with no prospects. Jack is almost at the two month point. He did go to an interview for a job he wasn't sure he would want or be able to take because of the distance from home. Of course now, he really wants it and they haven't called back. I am praying the boss just took a long holiday weekend instead of deciding they needed someone closer and younger.
On the last day of school, a dear friend drove away to Alaska. Alaska! That is so very far away for someone I hold so dear. Suzanne made sure I was invited to the first girls' night of the year when I came to a Elgin. She kept my kid when things were so bad with Jack's back a few years ago. She has made me laugh so much, made me laugh till I cried. We have vented about old people problems and chanted at the Capitol together. We spent hours talking while our kids swam at the pool. A year ago, one of crew moved away, and now with Zann leaving it feels like the end of this circle of friends.
It is not all bad when we finish a book or come to the end of a phase. Surely there is more to be discovered. I am eager to see what wonderful adventures await my students. Some of them are off to college with exceptionally bright futures ahead of them. I am curious to see how they will shape our future as they become adults who contribute to industry and science and social progress. They will be old enough to vote in the fall and so much depends on them. I am optimistic that Bell will enjoy band and will perhaps find a groove. Who knows - perhaps the best friend she has been waiting for all these years will be there. I pray for that. I am hopeful that not just a job, but a better job is around the corner for Jack. And perhaps our next big vacation will be to Alaska. I know this will be good for Zann even if I miss her.
The good thing about books is that there are thousands of them, just waiting for us to crack them open and let the words wash over us. We just have to find the right book. In the right book, there is a world of possibility, promise, imagination, soul food . . . All just waiting for us.
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| Zann and I- Ed Rally 2015 |
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| The crew says goodbye to Zann. Haley and I - She made Academic All State |
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