The end of the school year always makes me pause. I’m ready for it, and yet I’m really sorry to see my students leave. As part of their final, I asked them to write some reflections on their year and I was thrilled to see how many of them wrote that they came into the year feeling like they didn’t know how to write, but now they have more confidence and are proud of some of the work they did this year!

The end of the school year always cracks me up. Students get nostalgic, suddenly, about how great a teacher you are, even though two minutes earlier they were whining about how hard your class is! They tell you that you are their favorite teacher which is news to you. And you smile and nod and know that when the school year begins again in the fall, they won’t even smile at you in the hallway.

The end of the school year leaves me thinking about how to do things differently the next year. I think about what I can do to better engage my students, to build relationships with them, to help them see that they are incredible thinkers, writers and readers. I want them to understand how much they have to give the world to make it a better place, a joy-filled place, a safe place to be who they are meant to be.

The end of the school year is all about beginnings.