End of the Year Blues

It seems everyone is excited for summer break. I get it. Time away, stress relief, fun, vacations. I'm a little less excited because I still work full time in the summer and get zero days off in between school and my summer program starting. I also don't get too pumped because I absolutely love my job, and this was a very special year in my room. I know I'm a new teacher so maybe this love will wear off in the coming years, but for now I will embrace it. Now, not everyone was ready for the school year to be over, and surprisingly that group of hesitaters included many of my students. The last day of school was filled with tears from both the kids and me.
I was tearing up for many reasons. Of course I will miss each child from my room, but even more than that, I will and already do miss the community we built. I miss hearing about their weekends. I miss how they understood and appreciated my sarcasm. I miss how they weren't embarrassed to tell me, and plaster all over my whiteboard, how much they loved me, even though they are almost in middle school.

I miss how comfortable everyone was with each other and with me. I really miss how I could totally be myself. I shared my own weekends with them, good or bad. I made jokes and laughed with them. I listened to their stories and connected to them with my own experiences. I gave them a high five or hug and listened to their answer to the question of the day at the end of each school day so I could learn more about them and show them that they matter to me. Yes, I will get new students. Yes, I will try to create the same culture and atmosphere next year. This was a special group though, and we all will never be together in that classroom again. That is the hardest thing to accept. We will never all be together again, in our room, in our community. That cannot be replicated.