Like this:

So the end of the year is here. If one is to believe thank you notes, yearbook comments, and the few cards I’ve received, the year went better than I thought it did! These kids are truly the hardest kids to read of any I have worked with in the last ten years. So all in all, how was this year in hindsight? I survived! I guess that’s step one. Albeit not a true “inner city” school, my school is definitely a tough one and definitely has a changing population. And more than anything it was just a huge adjustment in so many ways for me. I forget some times that I took on an entirely new curriculum and area this year along with teaching a different population. 10 months ago I had no idea if I could survive teaching ELD and yet now I really enjoy it. As I’ve said before who knows if I’d enjoy it in the traditional setting where the kids can’t move when they make progress, but in this setting I really like it. The kids are a challenge and there are way more issues involved in educating our EL kids than I ever could have imagined, but the rewards are also huge!

There have been some great people I’ve worked with, and like every school some teachers who need to teach in a different environment or just need a new career. My guess is that teaching 10-20 years ago was a whole different world. Too many of the teachers who started at that time and are still teaching are not able to adapt to a new world and environment of teaching. There are too many teachers at this school who just don’t like kids and definitely don’t like kids who are a challenge in any way shape or form which is unfortunate. I don’t think these teachers give kids enough credit for being able to figure out that they don’t like kids!

Anyway, I will miss some of these staff members and some elements of this school and of course many of the kids. More than anything I’m irritated that I’m moving AGAIN at the end of the year and not able to just sit back and “enjoy” the end of the year with the kids. I am cautiously optimistic that things will turn out at some point this summer I just hope I end up in a setting where I’m happy. I worry that too many moves may eventually get me burned out – I guess we’ll soon find out.

Here’s to the end of yet another year. . . many (?) more to come . .

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