As we approach summer, it's hard for students and teachers to focus. We're all getting restless. With the innumerable state tests, administrative paperwork, and service hours that need to be handled in the next month, teachers earn their break. In my situation, I'm transitioning immediately from a twelve-year career as a school teacher to a new opportunity as a full-time writer. My summer will be a little different.
I should probably start cleaning out my classroom--determining what needs to go home, what needs to be thrown away, and what should be ceded to another teacher. However, I can't do it, not yet. My classroom may be an absolute mess, but it's my mess.
There's a certain finality to ridding my room of its excess. My retirement becomes more real and my purpose at this school increasingly obsolete. For now, I'm moving through the final weeks of school as if nothing has changed. Maybe next week, I'll start taking the posters down.
