A New Class

      A few nights ago I logged into my email, only to find a message from one of my students from this past year. It simply said, "I miss you. I wish you were going to be at our school next year." I couldn't reply since he had used the message form on the website, but it made me realize something important. I don't necessarily lament back-to-school as an ending to my summer vacation. If anything, summer is more busy for me. Back-to-school means having to accept that my class from last year is no longer my class.
      In his book 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny, Phillip Done discusses what the first day is like for him.

"On the first day of school, kids usually fall in love with their new teacher by first recess. But for me it takes about a week until they are mine. I always miss the old ones. I look at row two, second seat from the end, and I still see Jesse from last year leaning back on his chair. I look at row one, right on the aisle, and I still see Alexandra with her hair in her mouth. I look at row three, middle seat, and I still see Mark surrounded by pencil sharpener shavings. But Mark is sharpening his pencils, Alexandra is eating her hair, and Jesse is falling over in another classroom this year. They all have their new favorite teachers now. And that is how it should be."

      It's hard for me to accept a new class each fall. During the Back-to-School Open House, I always hope to see my students from the previous year. I always have to consciously tell myself to pay my attention to the new students; the purpose of the open house is to allow the new students to acclimate to the classroom, not for old students to catch up with their old teacher.
      But it's hard to think of my students from last year in a new teacher's classroom. I always wonder how they are doing on the first day. I always worry about what the teachers might not know about my old students. It's hard. And mostly, I can't possibly imagine that my new students will ever be able to do what my old students could. But they always do.