It's Over

School officially ended at eleven in the morning this past Friday, but I didn't get home until six that night. I still feel like I'm trying to recover. This morning I fell asleep for three and a half hours, and that's after I went to bed last night at ten. Okay, so I did get up at five-thirty to go to the gym with my husband, but that hardly explains a three hour plus nap.

During that nap, I had a nightmare that I was back at school teaching. It was a new year, but the students wouldn't stop talking and I couldn't get them to stop talking. In the dream, I started off feeling optimistic that things would go better this time, but they quickly deteriorated until I was hysterical (in my dream, not in real life).

So yeah, I'm ready for a break. But all in all, the year ended quite positively. I received several thank you notes and gift cards (three cheers for teaching at a private school). While the gift cards have been fun, it's the thank you notes from some of the students that mean the most.

Some favorite bits:

"I really appreciate the constructive criticism on all my papers and Love
all our conversations about Lost! RIP Charlie!"
"I also liked your jokes.
Even though no one laughed I still did."
"I really enjoyed all of the cool
things that you did with us, for instance
when you took us to the food bank
and when you let us watch Star Wars."

I threw that last quote in because I have to chuckle when I think about the fact that these "cool things" had very little to do with language arts. I did use Star Wars to teach symbolism, but somehow I doubt that's why this student enjoyed it.

Now that the first day of summer vacation is slipping away, I still feel overwhelmed when I think about teaching again next year, but it's nice to feel appreciated. Maybe after a few more weeks away from school, I'll feel better about going back again.