End of the Year

For nearly 35 years of my life, my 'year' has been dictated by the school calendar. End of the year, to me, means the end of the school year. The first of the year comes in August.

This is my "end of the year". Those many years that I didn't teach full time, I still felt like that August was the real beginning of the year.

I'm looking back on my school year and thinking of all the things I wanted to do but didn't have time for. I think of the mistakes I made and conversations I wish had gone differently.

I'm also looking ahead and adding to my next year notebook. I used to do this a long time ago when I taught...I'd keep activities and ideas in a notebook so I could remember to add them the following year.

It's a hard time of year. The students are ready for it to end. Staff is ready for it to end. The kids know that the end is sooo near that they can be rotten and have few consequences.

Lots of the students I teach start to act out because they know that they will be heading back to their home school. They don't want to go back. They feel safe with us. They are nervous about returning to a school where they didn't fit.

It's pretty much bittersweet. We try to prepare them for going back. A lot of them say that if they go back they'll try to get kicked out again so they can come back. But our program doesn't HAVE to accept a student if the administrator feels it's not a good fit.

It's the end of the year and I'm really happy it's over. And I'm also hoping the my kids make it through the summer.