“Ms. Singh, wait look at this. Look. No! Ms. Singh! Look!”
I laugh and pause mid-staple-removal and watch a student show me the new choreography he learned last week.
The last days of school—that liminal time after finals and before school officially ends—is always dancing and cleaning and sadness and sweetness. It’s enjoying the warmth that was cultivated over the school year. It’s reflecting on the joy that we shared as a group. It’s always like this, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
At the end of my first year teaching, we cleaned and made drawings and danced to Beyonce’s recently released self-titled album.
Today it’s Shawn Mendez. It’s Khalid. It’s BTS. It’s sliding around on rolling chairs.
It’s milk tea and mango crepe cakes, just like last year in San Francisco. It’s freestyling to a ukulele while watching your language because Ms. Singh doesn’t like cussing. It’s sweet letters and reassurances that we’ll stay in touch. It’s Vans Old Skool instead of Nike Roshe One.
I wasn’t sure what my relationships with students would feel like this year, because the strategies I use for relationship building are embedded in being a classroom teacher. This year I don’t have a classroom. And, at the same time, I have hundreds of classrooms.
I knew it meant I had to be visible, I had to sign up to advise clubs, I had to do what I know I know how to do well. And it worked. This year feels the same in all the important ways.
This year is also hard in unexpected ways.
Shifting enrollment in the district meant that teachers were displaced (i.e. transferred to schools with increasing enrollment, to balance class sizes and make sure no classroom was needlessly burdened) and my school took a particularly large hit. Over 15 teachers were displaced, including two-fifths of my role. I was able to get a full-time position in the same role at a school I know will be a great fit, and for that I’m grateful.
But right now, I’m grateful for our cover band that is performing hits from the Disney channel original film: High School Musical 2, Sharpay's Revenge. Gotta go, my solo for “Bet on It” is starting soon.
I laugh and pause mid-staple-removal and watch a student show me the new choreography he learned last week.
The last days of school—that liminal time after finals and before school officially ends—is always dancing and cleaning and sadness and sweetness. It’s enjoying the warmth that was cultivated over the school year. It’s reflecting on the joy that we shared as a group. It’s always like this, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
At the end of my first year teaching, we cleaned and made drawings and danced to Beyonce’s recently released self-titled album.
Today it’s Shawn Mendez. It’s Khalid. It’s BTS. It’s sliding around on rolling chairs.
It’s milk tea and mango crepe cakes, just like last year in San Francisco. It’s freestyling to a ukulele while watching your language because Ms. Singh doesn’t like cussing. It’s sweet letters and reassurances that we’ll stay in touch. It’s Vans Old Skool instead of Nike Roshe One.
I wasn’t sure what my relationships with students would feel like this year, because the strategies I use for relationship building are embedded in being a classroom teacher. This year I don’t have a classroom. And, at the same time, I have hundreds of classrooms.
I knew it meant I had to be visible, I had to sign up to advise clubs, I had to do what I know I know how to do well. And it worked. This year feels the same in all the important ways.
This year is also hard in unexpected ways.
Shifting enrollment in the district meant that teachers were displaced (i.e. transferred to schools with increasing enrollment, to balance class sizes and make sure no classroom was needlessly burdened) and my school took a particularly large hit. Over 15 teachers were displaced, including two-fifths of my role. I was able to get a full-time position in the same role at a school I know will be a great fit, and for that I’m grateful.
But right now, I’m grateful for our cover band that is performing hits from the Disney channel original film: High School Musical 2, Sharpay's Revenge. Gotta go, my solo for “Bet on It” is starting soon.
