8 Years

8 years....
The age at which you are responsible enough to be baptized.
That is the length of combined time that I spent in high school and college.
That is the age difference between myself and most returned missionaries.
And that is now how many years I have taught.  That is a great sum of years, and in fact, it is hard for me to believe that I have that many years behind me now.  I have taught two years of second grade and six years of third.  Friday, June 1 marked the conclusion of my eighth year of teaching.  As I stood outside with the entire school singing the school song just before dismissal, I realized that it had all gone by too quickly for me to get sad.  I felt that I was just beginning to really enjoy this group of kids.  They were a pretty well behaved bunch of kids for the most part.  I would like to share a couple of memories from this year....
- I had one parent who went into my school principal before the year began with concerns that she had heard that I wasn't very compassionate.  I enjoyed reading letters over the course of the year that she thought I was such a great teacher.
- I had four of the most competitive, cute boys in my class.  There were times that I took great pride in this fact.  One day, we were playing a class that wasn't so athletic.  My class gave them a good beating.  These boys were pretty small, but could jump as high as needed to win the game.  Secretly, I loved having a class that could represent me well.  :)
- I had one student come in the middle of the year and had the impression that she didn't like me. Then, she seemed heartbroken when she found out I was leaving after this school year.
- I had a student who came in at the beginning of the year who was awkward and painfully slow. It was such a joy to watch him grow into himself and make great progress.
- I had the most grateful family in my class this year who made me feel very appreciated.
- I had a walking encyclopedia in my class this year. One day, he made me chuckle as he told me he could never be a teacher because he couldn't deal with whiney brats.
- I had a student that really needed resource, but past teachers had never been able to get parental consent. I was able to make a connection and get him into resource.
This time of reflection brings to thought my senior quote, "Beginnings are usually scary. Endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts."  The end of the school year is sad as you say bye to those that you've spent a lot of time with over the last year. It's also exciting as the next year will bring time to improve as well as have an impact in the lives for a new group of kids.  My next year will mark the beginning of a new adventure which does bring feelings of excitement and nervousness. I will be teaching second grade on a year round schedule at a Title I school. This will be my first time teaching at a Title I school, but I'm hopeful that my eight years experience will ease the transfer.
I will take time to enjoy this break and have faith that there is a reason for taking on this new adventure.