What did you MISS over the summer?

The idea for this post came out of no where, but once I thought about it and reflected on my ideas it made sense. Like many other educators I have been busily preparing over these last couple of weeks for the return of my students. While doing this, I found some humor in the knowledge that in June, even though I will miss my students that I can not wait for the last day of school. Like the students, I count down the days till summer vacation and usually play this song during the last week, for sure on the last day the students are present.

On that last day I excitedly pack my projects for the summer, say my good-byes and depart. Flash back to the last couple of days, I am planning, setting up my classroom and getting ready for the return of students. I am actually excited to see my students from the previous year, and even more excited to meet and interact with my new ones. To tell you the truth, I generally get barely any sleep the night before the first day.

However, this year before returning to school on the FIRST day back, one of the staff at our school organized a little staff get together. We usually have similar occasions over the school year, like at Christmas, or our annual golf tournament, but this was different. We just came together to see each other, no shop talk, just talk about ourselves and about our summers. While sitting there with the staff that attended, I remembered why it is so difficult to settle students those first couple of days. Like our students, we were excited to see each other, to talk about our summer adventures, to see familiar faces, to smile and laugh with each other, after having been apart for a summer.

Sitting around a table, across from my colleagues, a realization came to me. That although there may be some that I work with that I call colleague, and there are also many that I call Friend. These are the people that I share my life with for 10 months a year. During which time, they are the ones I share my struggles and achievements with. That help me up when I am down and congratulate me when I am up. That motivate me, challenge me and when needed center me. That most likely, these are the people that I will see for years to come, that will be at my retirement and that I will hopefully be sitting with one day talking about “the good old days”.

I realized that through out the year, I expect to see them everyday and generally do. However I also concluded that it wasn’t just the classroom, the students, the learning, and the atmosphere that I am so excited to see at the beginning of the school year. It is my Friends

So to all my Friends that I will see in two sleeps:

and I MISSED YOU!