Each semester (or year, if you’re an elementary teacher) is a fresh start, a new life. You have new students, new personalities, and new dynamics. There is so much to learn, and it’s all so exciting! Wonderful young minds come into your classroom every day, and you are thrilled by the challenge that they present: what wild, fun and clever ways can you meet your curriculum expectations, make learning fun, and explore the personalities of every student in your class? Like a child, everything is a wonder; you are a sponge, soaking it all in with an unquenchable thirst.
Impossible as it may seem, childhood gradually fades away as adulthood becomes your new reality. The semester is well under way, and your students have begun to make themselves quite comfortable in your classroom. Their personalities, as lovely as they are, become that much more real, exposing not only the teacher-pleasing qualities they possess, but perhaps some of their less-than-stellar traits as well. But this is a good thing! Now you’re really getting to the good stuff, growing past the frivolous nature of learning activities that would suit any group of students, your projects begin to be shaped by students’ interests.
Your golden years set in toward the end of the semester, and you begin to reflect on all of the experiences you have collected and treasured. You remember the good times and think of all the wisdom acquired in the tough times. The relationships with your students have developed because of so many shared adventures. You smile because this journey has been a good one, and in so many ways, you have all learned so much. The grey hairs have a brilliant shine in the silver that is reflected in the light. On the last day of class, your heart swells with pride when the last student walks out your door.
and then,
a new semester begins again.
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Northern Art Teacher 