37 days

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to countdown.  Starting about mid-March, I keep a days left 'til summer break count and let everyone know where we stand.  It is NOT that I am necessarily looking forward to the end or wish to be there now.  I like to know how much time I have for different events.  Knowing that there are 8 weeks of school left or 37 days (minus holidays and in-services) helps me stay on track so that I am not in panic-mode the last week of school trying to cram in last minute lessons.  Knowing that there are only 7 Monday's left helps me persevere through my longest day of the week and make the most of every moment left with my students.

Today, my colleague and I spent a good chunk of time working on our combined class/project web-sites.  As I stopped and scrolled through all of the pictures from this year on our sites I have to admit, a tear came to my eye.  All the memories.  All the fun.  All the ah-ha's.  All the projects.  As teachers, we will start again next year with a fresh group of students and recreate these memories once more.  As students, I hope they will always remember the awesome year we shared together in first grade.  I hope my students remember how much I care for them, how excited I would get when they had success, how I made them feel.  I hope they will always look back and have fond memories of the first grade year!

It is hard for me to accept that I only have 37 days left with this class of heroes!