The words that everyone remembers hearing their teachers say. Some of us heard them throughout school, but ALL of us heard them at our high school and college graduations! I can honestly say that until this year I assumed that teachers had been "just telling us that". What purpose would it have served? After becoming a teacher I now know they made these claims with honest hearts!
I loved the personalities of the class I taught my first year and shed a few tears the last day of school... Not sure who I was more proud of. Them for working hard OR me for surviving the first year (just barely). Then last year I felt I had the best class I would ever have and they took a little piece of my heart with them to second grade. I claimed at the end of last year that I would NEVER have a group like them again(and I won't) and they were "the best class ever".
Then this year began. We have had MANY growing pains. There were days I thought if I heard one more child say, "Mrs. Lewis, he/she..." (followed by an obviously life altering problem) I may explode. Days that I thought, "if they do not learn to raise their hand...". I'll what? Love them to death? This group of students is by far my favorite yet. And my group next year will probably knock them out of the running. Why? Are they perfect? No! They make mistakes but so do I. We learn and grow together. I love my job because each year is truly more rich than the last. And to those of you who questioned your teachers... They truly do believe you were the best... That is until the next group arrived and melted their hearts! And to the teachers out there who fear you will never have a group like this year's ever again... You won't... And you will be glad of that because you will fall in love with the next class for a whole new set of reasons!
