I told my students today that I'm moving. I wanted to do it a while back, but my principal told me to hold off. I couldn't believe he'd tell me to do that. I really wanted them to know. But the longer I waited, the more I decided to put it off. I had this fear that they would refuse to do anything I asked them to from that point on. Gilbert said I was giving them too much credit, to assume that these sweet, innocent eighth graders would think that way. Yeah. Right.
Some were shocked. Some seemed disappointed. Some were glad, I'm sure. They couldn't believe I hadn't told them yet. The room was filled with questions, most being asked at the same time. How long had I known? Have the other teachers known? Why Indiana? Why now? Will you teach? Do you have a job? You're moving to Indiana, and you don't even have a job? What will happen to us? Who will be here when you leave? Will the substitute be mean? Can we have a party on your last day here? Can we throw away our grammar books? Will there still be write-ups after you leave? Will we have to do on-demand writing when you're gone? By sixth period, I could predict what they were going to ask.
At the end of the day I asked myself a few questions. Should I have told them in September when I wanted to? Was my principal actually right in his advice? Probably so. But, was Gilbert right? Had I given them too much credit? I guess the next eight days will tell.
4 comments:
I remember when I told my kids that I was pregnant and would be out the last three months of school, only then to tell them that I wasn't coming back at all... whew. It is a hard thing to do. Only 8 days..... where has the time gone?
I can't believe it's eight days away. I am so glad you are blogging though, now we can keep up with you and the fam.
Welcome to the world of blogging!! I am sad to see you leave GWP, even though I am no longer there, its going to be sad when we visit and the Kerrigan's are not there. But I look forward to keeping in touch via our blogs.
I have some of those same questions when I think about you leaving. Just not the ones about grammar books and mean substitues. I mean, c'mon, any sub would be mean compared to you. I put a few pics of the party on my blog this morning. I hope that disk copied.
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