Last Day of School

Today is my students' last day of classes for the year. As much as some people look forward to the end of another year/semester, I don't usually get too excited (and get a little worried when students/teachers look so forward to the end that it's one long countdown for them). On the other hand, I like to take a look at my school year, realize what areas I need to work on, and enjoy the relaxation of the summer, and the new beginning of the next year, to tackle these areas. Without these breaks, it'd be more difficult to have a strong sense of renewal. Our summers are like mini-mourning periods, as we contemplate the loss of our students - many will be missed (surprisingly, even many of the difficult cases). It's good to pause and reflect on what would work better to guide these lives if we were to do it again (because we will be doing it again for next year's crew). I guess this is one advantage that teachers have that parents can't afford - we get to retry our 'parenting' multiple times in order to improve on it each time (although we lack the opportunity to stay with a child until we get it right with that one particular soul).

Enough meditation for the moment. Any other teachers out there with some end of the year thoughts?