Completing the Countdown

It was a little ambitious of me to assume I could write a blog a day, especially knowing that I was volunteering for TFA's induction of its newest corps members all week. After my mother threatened to stop paying my phone bill if I didn't produce, I figured I needed to finish the countdown. It doesn't hurt that my boyfriend is blogging just feet away and, as always, I feel that subtle urge to post and prove how much better of a blogger I am. Here it goes:

5. Field Day- as much as I dreaded the idea of kids going through a slip n' slide and throwing balls at each other, it was the most fun day of the year. I should've known it would be "the best day of my life."

4. The Hundredth Day of School- another "fun" day of school. Normally, the "fun" days at school are awesome for the kids and hell for teachers. Fun for kids has only two possible results- they get so excited the start screaming and touching each other or they get so excited they forget to go to the bathroom and use their pants as a toilet. Either way, the teacher is left to clean up the mess. But this fun day actually was a fun day, mostly because it was a milestone for both the kids and me. We both got 100 days smarter.

3. Student Growth- seeing a kid learn how to read is a pretty special thing. I can't even describe it.

2. Success stories- you might be thinking that this one pretty much falls under number 3, but I'm thinking of the kind of success that's outside of what's on their report card. I'm thinking of the kids who had barely made any progress in February who ended the year with way more confidence (and on grade level), of kids who can go a whole day now WITHOUT throwing a tantrum. I'm thinking of the kids who still came to school and learned with shoes that didn't fit, with faces that weren't washed, with bruises and cuts and scrapes that did not come from tripping at the park. As many times as I felt failure this year (sometimes through my kids, sometimes on my own), there are a few that never ceased to amaze me with their strength and resilience in spite of the circumstances of their reality.

1. The Final Goodbye- on the last day, all the teachers lined up on the bus lot and each bus drove away, windows down and horns beeping, with the kids waving goodbye. It was melodramatic, but gave me this weird kind of closure, a feeling that I could let go of whatever happened this year, good or bad, and start over. There's no better feeling than that, especially when you know the new start will be 400 times better.