end of another year

School is over. I went and finished packing up my classroom today. Many years this day makes me feel nostalgic - it makes me want to loop up to the next grade level with my kiddos because I will miss them so much.

It was kind of strange not feeling that way today. The group I had this year was rough. The last days of school could not get here soon enough! I kind of felt guilty for not feeling sad that they were moving on... but that feeling of sadness was not there.

I came home exhausted nightly. Lessons that were normally taught in 1-2 days took 5-6 days. Even though they all made tremendous gains this year (academically and socially/emotionally), they aren't where I expect third graders to be when they leave my classroom. We were warned last year at the end of the year that this group was a tough one, that they had made great gains in second grade, but they were still behind.

I remember that we, third grade teachers, were like, "Oh. They can't be that bad!"

They were. They still are.

I have heeded my warnings to the fourth grade teachers. I told them, "We didn't listen to the second grade teachers last year.... Listen. We know what we are talking about!!"

I hope they listen.
...Cause it is a much worse feeling to not miss a group than it is to miss them.