This is the end

The end of year one of teaching is approaching me as fast as a third grader who sees that I am holding a box of donuts. It is wildly and recklessly upon me and I'm not quite sure where it came from. But it is hurdling towards me with all its might.

2 more days.

As the end is nearly upon me, I am saying my farewells to students and beginning to come up for air after drowning in this crazy first year of teaching. I am starting to reflect on what this whole experience was like and whether or not I actually succeeded in teaching them anything. While I am not entirely sure that anyone learned what a noun was or how to actually read Shakespeare... I think they made some progress. My testing data shows that my 8th graders grew 3 years in their reading levels, which is a huge improvement.

When I asked my students to reflect on what they've learned this year and tell me anything that they still have on their mind, they said some pretty amazing things that make my cynical, cranky teacher heart melt into a million ooey gooey pieces. Some highlights for my own self-preservation...

"Your not a good teacher, your a great teacher. A good teacher just teachers. great teacher inspires and you were one of those great teachers. So Thank you, Thank you for everything you've done for me and my collelges. Truly."

(I did not teach her the difference between you're and your, but still, pretty cool... and I am impressed by the attempted use of colleagues... I think?)

"Thanks for teaching me about similes. Grown ups use similes all the time I think and I never got what they ment, but now I do so now I feel smarter and more grown up."

"You tought me how to go deep into discussions and not just think outside the box but to expand it too. You know that story you made us read with the teacher who has students who are like the three blind mice? ["See How They Run" by Mary Elizabeth Vroman]. Well, it's kinda like at the beginning of the year I was like those three blind mice we all where kinds but you gave us eyes to see."

And my favorite...
"Don't take this the wrong way or nothing, but you are a very beautiful woman and the hottest teacher I've ever had"

So, as I fumble my way into summer vacation and begin to think about this first year, I think that maybe more good came of this. There were so many times when I was buried beneath the heaps of the "shoulda, woulda, coulda's" and the failed teachable moments, and the times when I felt like I was the most ineffective person ever to step foot in a classroom...but maybe I was mistaken.

And now... glorious summer vacation. Posts for the next 5 weeks will hopefully come from a state of blissful boredom.