It's finally over
It's finally over.
After donating three months of my life to the kids of my oh-it's-a-long-term-sub-thing-without-the-pay, I finally had my last day. I've taken my classes through midterms, cheered the ones who did well, angsted for those who failed, and worried with them on their ultimate grades.
This last week, I've been helping my successor to get the ropes of this school, show her were all the important things are (copiers, bathrooms, fridges, and offices) and telling her about every single student, trying to help her prepare for class personalities, individual headaches-that-you-love-anyway, and the strugglers-who-give-up.
(I've also been horrendously sick all week, betting better in slow increments each day...)
Somewhere along the way, everyone has told me I've gone above and beyond the call of duty, which I don't quite understand because I'm a teacher, of COURSE I want my kids to do well so I want the transition to go as smooth as possible, so of course I'll stay and help the new teacher settle in. How this is above and beyond, I don't know.
But regardless, this post is about my goodbyes.
We'll start with my last B day, on Thrusday. This is the first class day since midterms and my successor (who I think will do very well in this school) is starting to teach. She's doing a small intro of herself and her classroom expectations, etc.
The first class we have is my sleepy juniors who hardly ever say boo. My successor explains to them (as she eventually does for all my--our--HER classes) that the kids should be very grateful to me since as a sub I did a LOT without the resources of a normal teacher like access to grades or parents and such. Insert me sort of looking down as my eyes well up.
Now in this class is one particular kid. When I started, he was a consistent tardy, always late by ten-fifteen minutes, etc. But, shortly after one of those times, I sat down with him (he was so late he'd missed almost the whole lesson) and did some one-on-one to catch up. It was a minor bonding instance. But after that he made the effort to always be on time and was very rarely tardy again.
So Thursday, my last day seeing his class, at the end after the bell rang and they were dismissed, he walked right up to me and threw an arm around my shoulder saying that he'd miss me.
Then, in the next class, a freshman geometry class, while I was grading their midterms, a card was being passed around that was given to me at the end of class by a girl who often stayed after school to make absolutely sure she knew the material and her friends.
It was an emotional day, to say the least.
And then came Friday, my last A day. We started with my favorite class and they, too, had a card that was quietly being passed around. But unlike the other freshman geometry class, this one didn't just have names signed. "Thanks for Everything! Thank you for filling in and being a great teacher! We actually learned a lot! ~Block 1, 2014"
;^;
Then came study hall which was boisterous and noisy, but something suspicious was going on. I didn't really learn what till the next class when I was given a handmade card that MUST have been being circled around EVERY freshman study hall getting signatures from all my students various students.
And then there was one student.
He's a junior taking Algebra 1 for the third time. He has two problems working against him. One is that he has trouble focusing, and one is that he has trouble retaining. I've worked with him occasionally after school and for midterms we both tried to meet after school before the midterm to better prep him. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, it didn't happen and he didn't do well on the midterm (one I was very sad over). He came into class with an apple in hand and I thought nothing of it.
My successor was going through her classroom expectations and I was sitting at my desk, sweeping my eyes over the students. My eyes happened to meet this boy's. He glanced left and right, and, since his desk was right across mine, he reached over and put the apple on my desk and patted it.
;^;
I'm going to miss these kids. Every single one of them. Even the mean ones, even the annoying ones.
I'm going to MISS teaching them.
I'm taking the next few days off to mourn.
After donating three months of my life to the kids of my oh-it's-a-long-term-sub-thing-without-the-pay, I finally had my last day. I've taken my classes through midterms, cheered the ones who did well, angsted for those who failed, and worried with them on their ultimate grades.
This last week, I've been helping my successor to get the ropes of this school, show her were all the important things are (copiers, bathrooms, fridges, and offices) and telling her about every single student, trying to help her prepare for class personalities, individual headaches-that-you-love-anyway, and the strugglers-who-give-up.
(I've also been horrendously sick all week, betting better in slow increments each day...)
Somewhere along the way, everyone has told me I've gone above and beyond the call of duty, which I don't quite understand because I'm a teacher, of COURSE I want my kids to do well so I want the transition to go as smooth as possible, so of course I'll stay and help the new teacher settle in. How this is above and beyond, I don't know.
But regardless, this post is about my goodbyes.
We'll start with my last B day, on Thrusday. This is the first class day since midterms and my successor (who I think will do very well in this school) is starting to teach. She's doing a small intro of herself and her classroom expectations, etc.
The first class we have is my sleepy juniors who hardly ever say boo. My successor explains to them (as she eventually does for all my--our--HER classes) that the kids should be very grateful to me since as a sub I did a LOT without the resources of a normal teacher like access to grades or parents and such. Insert me sort of looking down as my eyes well up.
Now in this class is one particular kid. When I started, he was a consistent tardy, always late by ten-fifteen minutes, etc. But, shortly after one of those times, I sat down with him (he was so late he'd missed almost the whole lesson) and did some one-on-one to catch up. It was a minor bonding instance. But after that he made the effort to always be on time and was very rarely tardy again.
So Thursday, my last day seeing his class, at the end after the bell rang and they were dismissed, he walked right up to me and threw an arm around my shoulder saying that he'd miss me.
Then, in the next class, a freshman geometry class, while I was grading their midterms, a card was being passed around that was given to me at the end of class by a girl who often stayed after school to make absolutely sure she knew the material and her friends.
It was an emotional day, to say the least.
And then came Friday, my last A day. We started with my favorite class and they, too, had a card that was quietly being passed around. But unlike the other freshman geometry class, this one didn't just have names signed. "Thanks for Everything! Thank you for filling in and being a great teacher! We actually learned a lot! ~Block 1, 2014"
;^;
Then came study hall which was boisterous and noisy, but something suspicious was going on. I didn't really learn what till the next class when I was given a handmade card that MUST have been being circled around EVERY freshman study hall getting signatures from all my students various students.
And then there was one student.
He's a junior taking Algebra 1 for the third time. He has two problems working against him. One is that he has trouble focusing, and one is that he has trouble retaining. I've worked with him occasionally after school and for midterms we both tried to meet after school before the midterm to better prep him. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, it didn't happen and he didn't do well on the midterm (one I was very sad over). He came into class with an apple in hand and I thought nothing of it.
My successor was going through her classroom expectations and I was sitting at my desk, sweeping my eyes over the students. My eyes happened to meet this boy's. He glanced left and right, and, since his desk was right across mine, he reached over and put the apple on my desk and patted it.
;^;
I'm going to miss these kids. Every single one of them. Even the mean ones, even the annoying ones.
I'm going to MISS teaching them.
I'm taking the next few days off to mourn.