The Last Week

I will admit it, I am really looking forward to the last week of school, as in: Friday, 3:15 PM. This has been a very difficult year. Really bright students have had a hard time settling into learning. I've struggled myself, trying to find something that will work so these kids will be as prepared for high school as the two previous classes I sent on from this junior high. I'm not sure I've been successful. I guess I'll know next year. But I do have some thoughts on why this year has been so difficult.

Fear. Anxiety. Stress. I don't remember a time when it has been so evident. I know our country went through a difficult recession in the mid-to-late 70s but the lack of non-stop, multiple-channeled, cable TV and the constant message of fear allowed us to focus on other things. I do think we have been bombarded with the things that sell cable news and most of that has been negative. There is proof positive that our nation is working its way out of the mire we found ourselves in in 2007-2008 but the good news does not sell like bad news does. This fear has become a factor in the lives of our school families. I teach in a private school and most of our families have experienced little change financially but they don't act like it. Their stress levels deeply affect their children, who bring their internal pressures into the classroom. Everything is exaggerated to the point that marriages are crumbling like we haven't seen before this year. Were they cracking before this? Probably. They just needed this last push to break them apart. It absolutely breaks my heart to see students hurting so much. No wonder they are having a hard time with school.

Regardless, we've all worked like slaves, doing our best to give our students a quality education and a ton of support. And I am ready for a break. I am ready for summer sunshine that has not yet appeared for more than a few hours at a time. I am ready to sleep past six in the morning. I am ready for bright flowers, walks near the lake with the love of my life, chats with my mother, hugs from the grands. Five days and this should begin, my summer reality. I am just so ready!