School's out, but it's hard moving on

Yesterday was bittersweet for me as it was the last day of school. Teachers everywhere always celebrate the last day of school,but this year I was kind of dreading it. I had such an amazing class this year that I didn't want to give them up. I wish they could stay in 6th grade forever. But alas, they must move on.

So I will always treasure my year with this class and yesterday was the perfect ending to a perfect year. We had an hour to hang around before going to church so I took the entire class to the music room and I sang and played the piano for them. They listened and they sang along with me and I realized that there are very few classes I would allow myself to be this vulnerable. I didn't just teach them, they taught me how to be a better teacher and how to loosen up a little bit while still maintaining order. I will always look back fondly on this school year. Teaching can be such an exhausting, thankless job, but this year was a small reward for all those thankless, exhausting moments from my previous four years. As I sat at the piano yesterday and had this wonderful group of 6th graders singing in unison with me, I could only hope that, come September, my next 6th grade class will work hard to fill the shoes of the one I just lost.