Faith's Findings

The end of the school year is a funny thing. It's bittersweet.   It's exciting, yet nostalgic.  It's the ending of families. You want summer so bad you can taste it, but you want to savor the last moments with this family because even if you teach the same group next year, the family will be different.  It's a clean slate. For 9 months, you have spent countless hours with these people. You've shared things and made memories that changed who you are as a person. Everything about you changes from year to year as a teacher. The kids force you to see the world differently, and yet isn't that why WE are there---to make them see the world differently?  I could not be happier with how this school year ended up. My kids continually wowed me. I'm not going to act like it was all rainbows and unicorns because believe me, there were plenty of times I wanted to quit. I allowed myself to get caught up in everything that is wrong with education, until one day a kid said &

There are no state standards to measure the growth you have shown this year. And furthermore, there are no state standards to measure what I really hope you learned.  I hope you learned to appreciate differences. I hope you learned to see the world with new eyes and to talk about the tough stuff like Ferguson, racism, hate crimes, you know all that stuff that you are told are taboo. But yet, we tackled them in class and my heart swells with pride on how well you all handled it. I must say, you handled them with knowledge and grace better than most adults! Stay informed.  I hope you know that these are not the best days of your life. A lot of people will disagree with me and a lot of people will call me Pollyanna; but, the best is yet to come. You are young and have just been given your first set of wings to explore this great, big world! Have these days molded you and taught you valuable lessons? Absolutely! But remember, the best is yet to come.  I hope you always continue to grow. Gr