One Teacher's Thoughts - I Am Fertilizer

As I was leaving work on Friday, I was approached by one of the Seniors, a young lady who has been in my class all year. She was standing at the door waiting for her mother to pick her up from school on the last day of her high school career. Earlier that day she had sent me an email thanking me for all that I had done for her during this school year. She stated that she appreciated all that I'd done for her through the year.

As I went to leave she gave me a hug and burst into tears, which of course made me cry as well. I told her that she shouldn't be crying. She should be happy. This door was closing, but another one, the one for the rest of her life, was opening.

I cried all the way home.

Thinking about it now, I'm getting misty eyed.

The end of each year is bittersweet. As someone who works with their nose to the grindstone most of the year, by the time May hits, I am seriously ready for a reprieve. However, simultaneously, it's a time of deep reflection on many things. Good teachers reflect all year - daily as a matter of fact. We think about what works and what doesn't. We think about how we can make it better, or how we can change it on the fly to make "it" work for the next class of students. At the end of the year, we look at the year as a whole assessing what worked, where improvements can be made, what we can add to improve things, what we need to scrap, etc.

Personally, I love the end of the year for the learning that occurs about myself. I love getting feedback from students - it's amazing the things that they see and don't see. Usually the things that bother me the most, are things that go unnoticed by them. Hairbrained ideas that I hear and decide to employ in class are typically the things they love the most.

This was my first year teaching AP Literature and Composition - after the test the students were elated that I had driven them all year. They realized how important reading is and how much more of it they should have done during their high school career. It's a pat on the back for the students to come and say thank you, especially when it's unexpected (but that's the praise we all appreciate the most).

So, driving home, thinking about the year and the student who made me cry I was inspired. I thought about what exactly it is that I do, and the processes of teaching and learning when I realized that I am fertilizer. I am fertilizer for the world. I fertilize the minds of children. These children bloom into wonderous beings. They leave me and school. They go out into the world and experience life, and they blossom. They become teachers, accountants, business people, doctors, lawyers, factory workers, tatoo artists, writers, and the list goes on and on...
thankfully so do they.