Farewell

It's always been hard for me to say goodbye.  It's probably my least favorite thing to do.  I hate missing people, and I hate missing all the fun things I did with those people that will never happen again.  And yesterday, I hated saying goodbye to my very first students.  My first semester of interning/student-teaching is over, and even though I'll be back a few times to sub before the end of the year, it was really sad to say farewell.  These things helped make it a little easier:

*One student (I think I mentioned him in the last post) actually did bring me a pie.  And no, thankfully, he didn't make it.  But he was so sweet to think of me and bring it to me before school started.  I'll never forget it.

*"Miss Larson, do you have Facebook?  Can I friend you?  Will you accept my friend request?" (to which I replied with a smile, "Um, I'll think about it...") :)

*"Miss, can you please stay?  Where will you be next semester?  Can I transfer there?"  (sorry, I'll be teaching middle school in the Fall - don't think you want to do that again!)

*I had a great "pep talk"/goal-setting session with one of my favorite students.  He's been failing all semester, but for the past two months, he and I have worked hard to get his grade to passing.  And wouldn't you know it, last week he finally hit 62% in the gradebook!  This student is an ELL (English Language Learner) who has one of the sweetest demeanors I've ever come across.  Sadly, he has zero confidence in himself and can easily mold to whatever his friends are doing (which is why he ditched a lot of classes in the beginning of the semester).  The growth I've seen in him over the last two months is tremendous... he proudly shows me his work, comes to study with me during advisement periods, and hasn't ditched a class in who knows how long.  I am honestly beyond proud of him.  So, you can imagine how I felt when he came up to me yesterday to say, "Miss, I don't think I can do it without you.  I mean, you're the only person who pushes me...and believes in me."  And of course, I fought back tears.  So for about 20 minutes during his lunch, I sat and talked with him trying to build up his confidence and reminding him that he CAN do it.  And despite what anyone tells him, being bilingual is an absolute asset for people (and to not let anyone tell him differently).  I wanted so badly to promise him that I'd be there for the rest of his high school career to keep pushing him and encouraging him, but I did my best to tell him that he'll need to start doing that for himself because he is worth it.  When we finally said goodbye, he said, "Miss, I really want to thank you for everything you have done for me.  I would be failing without you." 

*And lastly, thanks to a suggestion from a friend on facebook, I asked a couple students I had worked closely with to think about possibly writing me a quick/short letter of recommendation for whenever I start looking for jobs.  I didn't know if they'd be up for it, and I certainly wasn't expecting much/anything.  But when I checked my email at the end of school, this was in it from another of my ELL students (copy and pasted from her email - I didn't edit anything):

To whom it may concern,

Mrs. Larson had always been a great leader. She was also always such a great help.
She has a way of teaching that was always helpful to me. She knew how to help me
understand complicated situations or questions with stories that I could relate to. She
had used vocabulary that I was use to and really made sense to me. She kept at her
work and is very passionate with her work for learning and the study of government and
our rights. She made the learning of government very exciting and interesting to me. I
had many questions for her and she had an answer for every single one of them. I was
never doing very well in class at the beginning of the semester. I was also very shy and
didn’t like to ask questions. As I met her, I had become more myself in class and I was
always comfortable asking her questions. If I still didn’t understand, I was able to have a
conversation with her to fully get my answer or understand correctly.

She’s a fun and outgoing person who I, honestly, look up to. I’ve never met someone
who had experience in Congress or things that were government related. It really made
it a joy to have her in class. I was more than content to have her in class every time
she was there. She was also a very neat and organized teacher. I never had problems
understanding her work or power points. I do think she would make an awesome
teacher. She has really helped me to bring my grades up and feel better about learning
in class. I am now more interested in government because of this class and the way she
had presented the learning of it. I am now very sad to see someone as admiring and as
great as her leave. I will always remember the joy of a smart, strong, thoughtful lady in
my government class that I am now succeeding at. She is a wonderful woman who will
be more than amazing for the position of a teacher.

Sincerely,
xxxx

I am so happy to be doing what I'm doing.