The Last Day

What a bittersweet day: on the sweet hand, I was eager for Friday, the last day of the last week, to finally show up because I desperately craved summer vacation; but on the other bitter hand, it meant my final day as the 3^rd grade teacher at Abundant Life Christian School in La Unión, Honduras. Which emotion was stronger? Bitter? Sweet? I’m not sure if I can still answer that, but this is how my last day played out:

Thankfully all of the classes were finished by this day… except math. I am pretty sure it would take me maybe another two or three or ten years in the same teaching position to actually figure out how to pace out the end of the year. Even though I did not have standards or district goals to meet, I still felt that sense of panic settle in as the end of the year crept closer: Have I taught everything I needed to cover? Are they ready to move on to 4^th grade? I remember last year really cramming in some final material at the end and torturing my kids with tests that they were simply not ready for. I vowed to never do that again after tossing those tests in the trash. This year I approached the end at a much calmer rate but still probably put too much pressure on them. Anyways, I knew better than to drop every test on them for that final day… while it may be easier for me in regards to planning that is not how I wanted them to say goodbye and remember me! We needed to spend two class periods working on the math material. Their final test was over ‘time’ and teaching elapsed time is quite the challenge. I knew they had not really mastered that subject so I wanted to help them out as much as I could. We spent one class practicing and reviewing together, and then they went into another class period to take their final test. Once they handed that in… Relief! They were academically finished!

One of the reasons I adore kids so much is that you can turn any task into an exciting activity with the right attitude. We spent the rest of the morning having ‘fun’ cleaning up the classroom. Fully aware of their hoarding and trash-digging tendencies, I forced each one to throw away their papers and then walk away from the garbage can. It took some convincing that no, they did not need any old tests, worksheets, or notebooks and even more so, they did not need the old tests, worksheets, or notebooks that their classmates had thrown away. Since I wouldn’t permit them to fill their backpacks with useless papers, I let them take home all the classroom decorations instead. We went around and anything with their name on it or any artwork on the wall that they created, they could rip down and stuff in their backpacks. This made my classroom-cleaning job easier because their little fingers quickly and eagerly went to work as they stripped my classroom of any decorations and supplies. Then they got to take their desks outside and scrub away. I provided the buckets, water, soap, and sponges and they created their own fun. They were so into washing their desks that I had to tell a few of them that they had clearly fully-cleaned their desk and it was time to let someone else have some fun doing the same. The cleaning ladies can thank me for the sparkling desks by the end.

After lunch I took a break from my wildly-cleaning munchkins and planned to say goodbye to my 8^th grade math class. As I started down the stairs and stopped a few of them coming up with one more annoying, “Ready for math class?” (I always knew the answer was a unanimous ‘no’ but that never stopped me from asking), one of them gave me the strangest look ever and declared that they were watching a movie instead. He was clearly confused by my question and now I joined the ranks as confused after his statement. Sometimes they would forget about our afternoon math class on Fridays (because we had math in the mornings on every other day of the week) or I just had to straight battle them to get in the classroom and make it to the end of the day, but this time… they were right. I made it to the room and was confronted with a boarded up classroom. All the windows were covered and as I crept in, they were all fully engrossed in a movie and feasting on snacks in the pitch black. While it was sweet to personally get the class period off, it was even more bitter knowing that I did not get a proper goodbye with them. I quietly went around and handed back their final exams with a piece of candy, and whispered a goodbye to each one.

The day ended with a combined 3^rd and 5^th grade water games! Rachel and I planned and set up various games that guaranteed the kids would have a fun start into summer vacation and might even get a little wet (ok, definitely soaked). My kiddos started with a balloon stomp: they each blew up a balloon, tied it around their ankle, and then had to protect it while battling their classmates and trying to pop others’ balloons.

We then went into a sponge race: we made two lines and filled two buckets with water. Each team had to soak the sponge and then pass it down the line in an alternating over-under pattern until it reached the end where someone squeezed whatever water was left into an empty bucket. Then we had a water balloon toss and fight: we started with the toss and I have to admit, the pairs made it a lot farther than I anticipated! Whatever balloons were left over afterwards became ammunition in a water balloon fight.

The water games and day ended with an epic slip-n-slide. Rachel and I stretched out a tarp down a hill, lathered it with fabric softener, and hosed it down while the kids slid down it and dog-piled on each other at the bottom. There was not a dry 3^rd or 5^th grader in sight. They could not be stopped as they kept running up to the top of the hill, throwing themselves down the tarp, and then crashing into each other at the bottom. They were soaked, muddy, and covered in grass all at the same time.

Once the bell rang, they took off. Here come the bittersweet feelings again… It was bitter to see them all run off and head home – some of them I would never see again. But it was sweet to get wet goodbye hugs, not from tears but from the insane fun we just had together. It was the best way I could have imagined finishing off the year with them. I didn’t want them to be sad or cry as we said goodbye and parted ways. Instead, I wanted them to be excited about their summer vacation and remember 3^rd grade, and me, by the fun last day we had together. I certainly will.