There's Always Something

And so it goes. Today is the last day of school for this school year and what a beautiful, messy, joyful, painful, ambitious year it's been for both teachers and students. What a privilege it has been to be a part of it. And, oh, how I will miss being a part of it here next year. It's the last day of school and in any year, I think for some it holds unmitigated joy. It's the culmination of a year of work. I look back and see how much our students have grown, what they have learned, and recognize who they've become and I smile and nod to myself because these are the students who finally "got it." Some of the students haven't yet. Some of the students still trudge through each day, hoping the day will end so they can go home. Some students dread coming to school. Not many. But some. I look at these students and wonder if I missed an opportunity. Was it a choice I made or she made? Did I miss an opportunity? Did he? I don't always know the answers t...

There are only 3 more weeks of school. I can hardly believe it. The cyclical nature of academia is something I have adored since I was tiny. I might have been in the 3rd or 4th grade when I started to really look forward to the first day of school, and then in May, looked forward to the last. As I got older, the cycle became my life, a stable force of anticipation and expectation on both ends. Sometimes I wonder what it is about teaching that I love so much. I know for sure that I love the kids, especially these high school kids, but I also know that I love the idea and reality of teaching, too. The idea of "imparting knowledge," "creating lifetime learners," sounds so impossible that I want to know how to make it possible. Learning and teaching are such organic processes and sure the basic ideas of learning and cognition remain somewhat the same, but as new generations of children grow up, the world around them changes and so learning and teaching must change. I ...