Well, year #28 as an elementary school teacher is now in the books. I have spent this last week, packing up my classroom for the summer. Taking down bulletin boards, packing up supplies, throwing away outdated files. I have also been giving hugs, signing autograph books, and wiping tears (my own and others’). These are the end-of-the-school-year rituals that teachers everywhere are immersed in right now. We are in a world of mixed emotions.
While there are a million reasons why I love this profession, one of the less obvious (and less interesting) is that it has perfect, built-in, restart opportunities. Every school year ends, with the next one just around the corner. A chance to reassess and reinvent. To try new things. A chance to set new goals and stretch myself a little more.
To me that means:
- Being able to look back and take stock of what went well and what did not during this last school year.
- Identifying those big successes and big failures of this last school year.
- Setting goals for next year, while this year is fresh in our minds and hearts.
- Gathering ideas for new bulletin boards and classroom decorations.
So to all my fellow teachers out there, after you have done all this reflecting and planning and packing, set it aside and take a moment to congratulate yourself on another year well-spent.
