The school year is coming to a close, which is always so exciting (and needed). But it seems like after all of the hectic end-of-the-year parties and celebrations are over and we’re sitting alone in our empty classrooms, that’s when the reality sets in.
They’re gone. They’re really gone.
Your students aren’t coming back to your classrooms again, they’re moving up and moving on.
For so many months, the routine was the same. Your students walked in, took their seats, and your school day started.
Together, you learned new concepts and reviewed the old. As a team, you worked to problem-solve within your classroom to create the best learning environment possible.
There were so many hours spent in the classroom that you all became a family, functioning together as a family does.
And yes, times were hard, deep breaths were taken (by everyone), and problems were dealt with.
But at the end of the day, your classroom dynamic was still a family dynamic, and there you all were, sticking up for each other, advocating for each other, and learning together.
So as you sit in your empty classroom in the silence to follow the crazy end of the year… take it all in. Remember all of the good times and bad times you had. Appreciate those students for everything they were and weren’t. And feel good knowing that they walked out of your classroom a better person than they were when they entered.
It’s okay to feel sad and to feel happy at the same time, there’s space for both.