Time To Say Goodbye

As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, today was a very emotional day.  First and foremost, all of the Village School students performed at the second annual dance show, Dolphins Like To Move It!  My third graders did an AMAZING job and I was (and am) simply bursting with pride.  Seriously, check out their sweet moves here.  I also had a great time collaborating with our school's dance teacher on making the show happen this week.

Just look at my sweet tiny darlings.  How cute are they???

But all that excitement and pride was tempered with bittersweet sadness.  Unlike in the American school system, the Korean school year starts in March.  This means that our big season for student withdrawals is...well, right now.  Today we had to say goodbye to two third graders:  one from 3A (the class I worked with first trimester) and one from 3B (my current class).  We celebrated these transitioning students with gifts, cards, snacks, and promises that this isn't goodbye - it's just see you later.  BK from 3B was devastated to be leaving; we've seen a lot of tears from him this week, which was just so hard to watch.  My co-teacher and I gave him all the reassurance we could.  He is such a sweet and sensitive boy, and I know he'll make wonderful new friends and be remarkably successful.  We've promised to share the results of our upcoming science experiments with him on Edmodo (like Facebook for classrooms).

I got to give BK one last hug before he went home at the end of the day, and was worried I wouldn't catch my 3A kiddo, KL.  As luck would have it, as I rushed out to catch the bus after my parent meeting, there he was!  I got a big hug and a promise to keep in touch.  He was such a lively, spirited, funny kid - a real presence in the classroom and the school.

I hate goodbyes.  (To be fair, I don't think there's anyone who really likes them.  But you'd think given how much and how far I've moved in my lifetime, I'd at least be a little better at them.)  I spent the bus ride home crafting emails to both children, expressing my sadness to see them go, my positive vision for their future, and my hope that they will email me from time to time and visit whenever they can.  My heart was overflowing as I typed out my good wishes for them, but it never felt like quite enough.  I only hope that they - and all of my students - understand how deeply I care for them, no matter how far they go or how long it's been.  I truly believe that as a teacher, my greatest strength (and sometimes my fatal flaw) is how much I love my kids.  I am so incredibly invested in each and every child's success and well-being and happiness, and I will do everything in my power to try and help them toward a good life.

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Currently reading:  The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson - who will visit CI next week!

Current high:  my kids' dance performance, I seriously couldn't stop grinning my face off

Current low:  not knowing when I'll see those munchkins again :(