Ten Things I Will Miss About Teaching

Just because it's that week... the first week of school for teachers, here are the top ten things I will miss the very most about teaching in no particular order...

1. The week before school starts, yes it's full of boring meetings but it's also the time when everything is still exciting and all your plans are coming together, setting up my classroom and pondering all the new ways to teach the same old things.

2. The night before the first day of school, it's like Christmas eve...

3. Light bulb moments - when that one kid who has struggled all year finally just gets it.

4. The hilarity of day to day classroom conversation (see my Facebook for examples of this)

5. My colleagues - I was lucky to work in an environment where my fellow teachers felt like family, walking into our coach's office always felt like coming home in a sense.

6. Teaching, simply standing in front of a room full of fully engaged kiddos and spouting knowledge. (while it is a rare occurrence for them to be fully engaged it happens sometimes...)

7. The relationships with the kids, having an impact on their lives and the thank you that comes at the end of a long hard year with "that kid" you know the one I'm talking about.

8. Making a difference - I have a feeling it's not long before I'm volunteering with at risk teens while the boys are in Mother's Day Out.

9. Lunch - some days it was a time to get out of school and visit/commiserate with friends, other times it was spent furiously taking care of last minute things and sometimes just 30 minutes of quiet in an otherwise crazy loud day... either way I'll miss it.

10. Learning; I will miss this the most - learning new innovative ways to do my job, learning new material and subjects, and most of all learning new things about myself each year.

Top Ten Tuesday

Because I missed last week - you will get two top ten lists this week! One today and one on Thursday.

Today the top ten reasons exam week is the best...

1. There is always food everywhere, literally kids always have extra food I can't explain it, I just reap the rewards.

2. Double conference period - I should use it to be productive but instead I use it as the one time a year I don't have to scarf lunch down over my computer or hurried conversation, and actually enjoy a long lunch with colleagues at a nice restaurant.

3. Saying goodbye to 1-2 classes each day, it spreads it out and somehow the last class is always one of my favorites.

4. Everyone is so relaxed, except the borderline failure kids and the frazzled teachers who haven't quite realized the end is in sight... I could do without both of these...

5. The hilarious lack of filter my Seniors develop (not that they had much of one before)

6. All of the "last" - last final graded, last class uploaded, last signature on the checkout list - so many mini celebrations.  (I have to admit this year is a little bittersweet)

7. The great purge! How liberating it is to clean out a classroom and discard mounds of paperwork that you never used but had to keep "just in case..." to "CYA"

8. All the fun stuff you find during the great purge, like a brand new unopened box of expo markers or a team of computer paper - it's like winning the school supply lottery.

9. The amount of online shopping, Pinterest posting, buzzfeed reading, Facebook checking etc. that gets to happen during the study/exam time. Normally this would be used for planning/grading but there is none of that to be done. Especially if you already graded projects during presentations or are smart and give scantrom exams. (I did both this year)

10. Teacher work day the last day of that week, when everyone shows up breathing sighs of relief because we did it - we made it through another year in the trenches and we can all rest for a couple months before doing it all over again.

Any teachers able to add to this list? What are your favorite things about exam week?

To my students...

image credit

Dear Students,

I owe you a bit of an apology. Until now, you were my main focus - you were my kids - your successes, your failures, your learning was my top priority. You are still so important, but if I'm being honest, you just aren't number one anymore. You've been replaced. You used to consume my thoughts all the time, even when I was not at school. I would spend hours wondering how to make my classroom environment more welcoming, how to make my teaching more relate-able, how to help the few of you who just don't get it and the list goes on. My Facebook feed was filled with articles and witty blog posts about education. I would worry day and night about all 100+ of you.

Don't get me wrong, I still do all of those things, just not as frequently. You've been replaced by two little boys who need me more. Two little boys who are going to make an appearance this summer and steal my heart forever. This will happen after you have graduated, after you have moved on from high school and all your teachers, myself included, but that doesn't mean you weren't affected before then. Even now, these two little boys need me - they need my focus and my time outside of the work day. They need me to get ready for what is coming and they have already made their presence known in so many ways. They have stolen my energy, my attention and my sleep. All the things I need to be an effective educator.

To each and every one of you I am grateful; grateful for your concern when you didn't know what "was wrong with me" those three months that I was too nauseous to stand up and teach every day. For your encouragement on those days I was too tired to function, so I utilized student led learning or small group discussions to teach you. For making me laugh by suggesting I see the doctor because, "I didn't look too good" (morning sickness for 9 weeks will do that to you). To some of you for not pointing out the obvious and for having the grace to let me share the news in my own time. For being so understanding when I had emergency doctor appointments, and needed to move deadlines or throw together a sub plan at the last minute. Thank you, for embracing me and sharing in the joy when I was finally able to tell you the news. For always telling me I look cute and "oohing and ahhing" over my belly (for real, y'all are my self esteem boost on a daily basis). I am especially grateful to those of you who continue to challenge me as a teacher and hold me accountable to doing my job. For those of you who expect things from me and raise the bar by being so on top of your work. Thank you for still asking the hard questions, but also for not faulting me when I don't have the answer or have a bout of pregnancy brain.

I hope that my experience has taught you a few things, most of all a lesson in priorities, responsibility and humility. It's okay to shift your priorities, but not to abandon your responsibilities. It's okay to admit you can't do it all and to focus your energy on what REALLY matters. Sometimes the bare minimum might be all you can do but make sure that minimum fulfills the requirement and don't be afraid to admit when you are wrong or need help. You don't have to be superman/woman just be you and let that be enough. I will miss you class of 2015 and you will always hold a special place in my heart.

Love,

Your Very Pregnant and Emotional Teacher