Last week finished up my regular schedule of classes. Unless they are in my winter camp or extra class, I won't have these students in class again at all. It was genuinely tough for me to see some of them leave my classroom as I have really invested many of them as students but also as vulnerable, discovering teenagers. However, even though this probably goes against what I'm supposed to say as a teacher, I'll be honest, I was not heartbroken to see some of them (the attitude ones!) walk out. It's so strange that I was their teacher for an entire school year! Man, how time flies! I think of how scared and insecure I was in front of those classes in the beginning and how confident, determined, and unafraid of the lil high school attitudes I am now.
From now until I leave, my days will be filled with vacation, deskwarming (where I just have to be at school but no teaching involved), an extra class that i'm assisting with, or running winter camp. Winter camp is similar to what I did during the summer if you remember that - It's themed classes for a small group of students (less than 20) that signed up and will be with me for a total of 20 hrs over 3 weeks. All of the lessons are completely created, themed, etc. by myself and I had a blast with my summer camp classes and am genuinely looking forward to winter camp!
We had an end-of-semester all school rally/performance. It was so much fun! There was a magician, singers, a jazz band, dancers, an MC who called up students and made them do ridiculous things, etc. So much fun to end a semester like this!
Anyway, this last week I tried to take pictures with every class (I think I missed one class because I forgot my camera) and I was only going to post one or two pics, but I just can't pick and choose like that - so here are all of the students I have taught this year - minus one group of 40 girls!
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| hilarious class. |
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| the talkers. |
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| She always stays after class and talks to me :) |
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| goofball class. |
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| a fairly serious class (minus the sassy ones on the left) |
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| the troublemaker class (group on the left!!) |
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| the "I could care less about English" class |
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| an eager class. |
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| the "make Rachel Teacher laugh so hard she cries" class |
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| one of many gifts from my students!! |
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| love, LOVE this funny class. |
I ended up not having a last class with one of my favorite classes (I know, I know, no favorites, but I can't help it!!! They're the most eager, attentive, hilarious, engaging class I had!) so I went up to their classroom during lunch on one of the last days and caught most of them for some pictures. These girls will have a piece of my heart when I leave.
Looking back at these pictures of my students reminds me just how incredibly blessed I have been to have met each and every one of them. From the student who sits up straight in the front of the class and nods attentively to my entire lesson to the group (it's always a group) in the back that is incessantly talking or trying to play games on their smart phones to the one who even after 10 months of seeing me at least once a week still giggles when she says hello to the ones who stay after class just to talk to me about random things....they have all impacted my life greatly, and I can only hope that I have made even the most insignificant change in theirs also.
"Learn and grow all you can; serve and befriend all you can; enrich and inspire all you can."
-William Arthur Ward
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