*Warning: Long post
The end of semester is only one week away which means that I am finished with my senior practicum. My last day in Mrs. Brinton's first grade class was Wednesday and it was the saddest day ever. I had to say goodbye to 24 6 year olds, several of whom were crying and asking me to stay.
This has been the busiest and hardest semester of my life. I have never worked so hard in school. However, it has also been the most fun and the most rewarding semester so it balances out. I had the privilege of spending the last three months in a first grade classroom and I swear these kids taught me more than I could have possibly taught them. Thanks kids for teaching me patience and that you are the most successful teacher when you leave your personal problems at the door and get to know the students and love them by putting them first always.
I decided to teach on my last day at Rimrock. So taught reading in the morning which was great. The kids were very aware all day that it was my last day so every time I started to help someone new in the morning the conversation began with "Mrs.Epperson this is the last time you'll ever help me"...well that just made me want to cry. We go through the teaching in the morning though and after lunch it was party time. We spent the afternoon (except a 30 minute math lesson) playing games. We started by sitting on the floor in a circle and making a web with yarn. Each child had to get a turn to hold the yarn and throw it someone else to make a web. The catch was that when you got the yarn, the student had to say one thing that they would miss about me or one thing they learned from me. I was surprised at some of the comments. Some remembered specific lessons that I had taught and activities we had done. I guess they were listening after all.
Some of the comments from the kids were:
"I liked when we learned how to tell time"
"I'm going to miss reading with Mrs. Epperson"
"Thank you for always helping me"
"Thank you for teaching me how to read"
"I liked when we played bingo with our math facts"
"I'm going to miss Mrs. Epperson because she is a great teacher and she is always really nice to me" (comment by one student who I didn't think liked me much)
"Mrs. Epperson taught me that I can read by myself"
"I like when Mrs. Epperson teaches reading because she lets us read with a friend"
"My favorite lesson was when we went on a treasure hunt"
"I will miss always having Mrs. Epperson help me with my math but not just giving me the answer"
After that game, the children presented me with cards they had made for me.
The little boy who wrote this one, couldn't write his name at the beginning of the semester. He wrote this all by himself and if you look close you can see where he erased and started over. He told me that he wanted it perfect for me.
Just a few others :)
As if this wasn't enough to make me never want to leave they also gave me a sign with all of their hand prints on it. I felt so very loved and spoiled.
At the end of the day we had a huge group hug but of course a few had to give me personal hugs. I don't think I've ever received so many hugs in one day before. I was receiving them all day long but many of them had to get one on the way out the door. I am going to miss them so much. I had the best students and the best cooperating teaching ever. I learned so much and I am a much more confident teacher because of this semester. I'm grateful for all I have learned and the experiences I have had and especially for those hard days that I just wanted to throw in the towel and give up. Thank you for the hardest and more rewarding semester ever. I hope that I get to go back and visit these kids very soon.
These kids taught me that the only people whose approval I need is the kids. If they learn from me and think that I'm a good teacher then I don't really care what anyone else thinks of me.
