Does May Exist?

May could be the most elusive month of the school year.  November reels from the sugar-laden rise and fall of Halloween into the shortened week of Thanksgiving.  December can feel complete or not, simply based on when the holiday break falls and how much of a groove you can get into with your kids.  But May, of all the months in a traditional school calendar, always feel like the shortest or even non-existent month…at least in hindsight.

May speeds in after a weeklong Spring break, revealing what has come to feel like a finish line of a year’s learning pushed along by the overwhelming force of all the topics unexplored, final tests to give, check, reflect upon, report cards to be completed and cast blindly with no further conferences, piles of paperwork summarizing the individual experiences we’ve shared with each, and all, of our students.  Then there’s the personal side of May, also passing us so quickly, we might not realize all that goes through us…the retirement of friends, planning for summer escapades, unique challenges that may need some thought before the fall, let alone any of life’s personal dramas that unfortunately know no month.

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June brings peace to teachers.  I’m not talking about leaving our rooms for summer bliss.  The peace I find in June is that I’ve gotten through May.  In June, I see my classroom kids again as people whom I’ve cared for and learned with through the year, not the cogs helping me get through May’s wheel.  In June, I realize that many of my kids are acting differently because they realize that our secure place of learning and caring is about to change.  In June, I have reflected deeply on each child, writing long report card appraisals of their personal attributes, academic accomplishments, and targets yet to achieve that I will send as my final words to their homes.  Following my toughest years, June has brought me a solemn peace that I can only liken to a feeling I’ve experienced following hurricanes as a child, when I walked through debri-littered streets glad to have witnessed the power, to have lived through the destruction, and to face a fresh start.  In June, I happily mourn with a parent’s pride and try to tap into that mourning to understand the mixed feelings my students must have.  In June, I wish for you to seek this peace with your classroom kids and recognize how wonderful you, and they, really are before that last day of school when hugs, high-fives, and final waves make it not matter if May existed or not.

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2 Responses to Does May Exist?

  1. Colleen says:

    Good stuff, Walt. I happen to love May. We finish school at the end of May, and May is the month that is in the wake of our standardized tests (that stress everyone out!!!) May brings a few minutes of extra recess in our Texas spring (not yet too hot!), time to teach things you wanted to teach but couldn’t squeeze in when the tests hovered, and time to absolutely delight in my kids. The dang pressure of testing and time crunch has my mind always in the “go! go! go!” mode, and in May, I can take the time to hear their stories, listen to their jokes, and interact with them more. It is crazy busy, but in a different way. I love, love, LOVE May! :-)

  2. Walt says:

    How delightful! I can’t wait until Michigan gets their stuff together and moves back to a Spring testing schedule for state tests. Doing it in October really loses a lot of ground!