Last Day of School

I'm alone in my classroom right now. The kids have taken their books and pencil boxes, the chairs are stacked in a corner, and the desks are all pushed to the side. The rugs are ready to be rolled and the bookshelves covered for the summer. It's very quiet now. :) (Well, with the exception of our class guinea pig, Squiggles, who is available for adoption should anyone feel the need for an adorable rodent in their lives!) :) Today could very well have been my last day of school here at Walden. It has been my home, my career... a place that I not only enjoy, I love. It is filled with children I've taught, people that I love, and books to accompany an endless supply of lessons. The walls echo memories that I've shared here with friends, parents, other teachers, and of course my students. We've lived, loved, studied, learned, and grown within these walls and I will be forever changed by my years here.

Tomorrow is awards day, so I will see my kiddos again but I don't quite know what it's going to be like to walk down the halls one final time as their teacher. I'm not sure I fully understand the emotions that I'm sure linger beyond my consciousness right now. My eagerness for what the future holds masks the uneasiness, the parts that I love and will miss. Saint Augustine once said that “The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” It is always bittersweet to close one chapter in your personal book of the world. I am comforted, however, because my hands are all too eager to flip to the next page- to delve beyond what I have read thus far.

I do feel a tinge of sadness when I smile and nod to the now first graders that excitedly tell me they're ready to start second grade, and that they want to be in my class, five of which squished with me on the bench today at recess, ready to begin their second grade experience and share some popsicles. :) I'm sure it wouldn't matter what year you choose to leave part of your life, there would always be some upcoming students that you miss out on teaching, some experiences that you won't be able to have. Those experiences, however, will be filled with new students. Students who do not yet know Mrs. Fiely but will soon be walking through a similar classroom door, into a similar classroom environment, even if it is in a very different location. The learning, the students, the teacher is constant.

So I'll post these thoughts, log off of my computer, and turn the lights off on my sixth year here at Walden. It's time to turn the page and continue reading. :)