The End / The Beginning

It's the end of the quarter. That means the last day of classes with these students. I feel like we have finally gotten into a "groove", know what I mean? And now, POOF they are all done, gone and onto the next quarter class. 

I teach in a school that have block scheduling. While there certainly are times that it's nice to have an 80-90 minute class period, I do not like that my classes are only one quarter long. The longevity of developing a relationship with a student is not there. I do my best to make an impact in the 42-45 days we have together, but it does not always happen, I must confess.


But as we all know, an ending is only sad if you let it be, because each new beginning started with an ending of something else. So I'll come to school tomorrow, I'll take down my walls, put up new things, finish grades and prepare for 4 new groups of students to come through my door on Monday. 3 new classes to teach, to engage students in the content of my area, to start scaffolding relationships with these students (that I will have for 47 days in Quarter 3). 

It's at the end of a course that I really look at what we accomplished, what I would like to have and what I want to change for the next time. Of course that next time will be a year away, so I have to be sure to make good notes. I start my summer work notes at this time, what can I do then to improve the classes. 

I'd love to hear from other teachers how they reflect after a course is over, and their process for improving it.