Room 131

Today I cleaned my classroom. I took everything down off the walls. I emptied my desk and I cleared my book shelves. I then piled it all into my cabinets for safe keeping over the summer. It's amazing how different a classroom looks once you have stripped away all of the learning. All you are left with is an empty shell. I found myself looking around at the blank walls and the empty space and I couldn't help but imagine what it will look like next year. I'm already taking mental notes of how I'm going to decorate and how I will attempt to get the students' attention. I also couldn't help but reflect on the past year. Before I left for the day, I stood at the doorway peering into the classroom and I was remembering what I was thinking and how I felt eleven months ago when I first stepped into the room. I remember feeling a tad overwhelmed (OK, more then a tad), scared, and hopeful. Today, I felt proud, excited, and ... hopeful. My first year of teaching is coming to an end and although at times it felt unbearably difficult ... I survived and my students survived. Together we learned some valuable lessons ... some curriculum based and some not. We shared laughter, anger, frustration, excitement, and shed a few tears. So, today I cleaned my classroom. The walls are bare and the shelves are empty ... but ... the memories that I made will forever linger.