… I had just told all of my 8th graders that I would not be returning for the second semester of the year. They were shocked. We were all devastated. It was a weird situation in which I wasn’t sure what was happening until the week before the end of the semester. I wasn’t fired. The possibility of not working the second semester was there from the beginning. But it was awful. For everyone.

I left that school with my backseat FILLED with gifts. Thoughtful gifts and cards, and completely random gifts and cards that only 8th graders could think of. It was all amazing.

This year, I teach at the high school and have many of the same students as freshmen.

This year, I left the school with one card and one bag of cookies. And I’m so much happier with that. It means there are no goodbyes, no sad faces. They’ll see me in January, and they know that. Whether they like it or not. :)

Here’s to break!