pomp and circumstance

i think i speak for a lot of teachers when i say this time of year is the WORST for us. the students that we have taught lessons to,whether it be life or academic, for the past 9 months are moving on to bigger, better things. for some students they're promoted to the next grade, others they're moving to completely different schools, and then there's the ones who are graduating college and going into the "real world".

as a first year preschool teacher last year, i only got to experience watching the children in my class transition up to prek which is, quite literally, across the hall from my classroom. sure, i see my old class every day, but it's not the same. they have their new teachers and new lessons to prepare them for kindergarten, and i had my new class of bright and ready-to-learn 3 year olds to focus on.

this year i get to experience something i didn't experience last year...graduation. my very first class of preschoolers are now prek graduates and will be moving to kindergarten in the fall. i'm so so proud of them because i know they worked hard and will be the best kindergartners they can be, but it makes me so so sad because i know once they leave the center it is quite possible that i will never ever see them ever again. not only that, but the chances of them ACTUALLY remembering us teachers when they're older are pretty slim. apparently i was in preschool, but i don't remember that at all, let alone any details about my teachers.

fortunately i was able to attend one of the two prek class graduations. my heart swelled and my eyes welled up with tears (yes, i know that doesn't take much) as each student came up and accepted their prek diploma. i thought back to how these children helped to build the foundation of what kind of preschool teacher i wanted to be, what i wanted my students to know, how i wanted my classroom ran, and taught me how to love 20 little hearts, all at the same time.

every 6 months we take a class picture. every six months i write the first and last name of every child on the back of those pictures, because i don't want to forget a single one. my hope is they continue to want to learn, and soak up knowledge like sponges, and want to share, whether it's stories, snack, or a hug. but most of all i hope they continue to want to be "big helpers" as productive members of society who do good things for other people. and if they don't... i will find out! cause in 13 years i'm totally looking them up on facebook.