Year 5

Today was another one of those moments when I just sit back and wonder why God sometimes lets things work out exactly how we desire for them to.  Back even when I started teaching, before we were even thinking kids, I somehow got it in my head that 5 years would be the perfect number of years to teach before staying at home with our kids.  And today, that came true.  After one year of teaching high school and four years of teaching middle school, I'm transitioning jobs to be Aedan's mom! :)

As always, it's my goal to end the year liking teaching and liking my kids, and this year I would say I was successful--though it took some work with some kids, ha!  I just have to step back and remember that they're young and their lives are crazy and they don't, in many cases, have anyone at home teaching them right and wrong and how to be.  So, I do my best with them and then pray for them.  And, often times, when they come back to visit during their high school years, they've gotten their act together, which is so fun to see.  That's my huge prayer for some of my kids this year--they've got such potential, but they need to learn how to make choices that are good for them in the long run, not just fun in the moment.

In some ways this year is a bit of a blur.  I think back to the beginning of the school year and it seems like about 10 years ago.  SO much has happened this year, both in my personal life and work life.  But, I learned a lot and grew a lot and survived pretty much intact--and without having the baby early, which everyone I work with kept telling me I would never be able to do! :)  So, I'm going to remember the good, the successes, and let the rest, the hard stuff go.  I'm going to remember the smiles on the kids faces today as I told them they passed the 2nd administration of TAKS and didn't have to go to summer school.  I'm going to remember the kids who were so bad in my class but told me today how much they were going to miss me.  I'm going to remember the good days throughout the year, when kids were successful, were working and were into what we were doing.  I'm going to remember the moments when we had fun in class and the really cool projects they did, like our Inquiry Clubs and our debate.

As the kids left today, I wished them a happy summer and good luck in high school and got many hugs and well wishes and sweet things about Aedan in return.  Even from the ones that I had to get on to daily and the ones that I wrote up multiple times and the ones that I found myself not liking at times.  Underneath it all, they're pretty much all sweet kids, and hopefully through it all, they know I care so much about them.  And, as one of my students told me yesterday, I'll always remember my kids from this year because they were the group I'd been thinking about for years--they're the kids I got to share my year being pregnant with, which will always make them hold a special place in my heart.

So, good bye to year five.  And, hello to year one of teaching who I'm sure will be my favorite little student ever. :)