I read this today and it rings so very true:

The last weeks of school is something that few people really understand.  When I was in business I often thought that teachers had it easy.  To those business people (including my former self) – I ask them to imagine if budgeting, taxes, capital budgets, montly operations review, and quarterly reports were all due in the same 7 days.  Ending school is like nothing you experience in business.Cool Cat Teacher Online, project based learning, May 2009

Today is a non-working PED day at our school board, in preparation for the last stretch of the year. Non-working my butt, though. I’m preparing presentations for history tutorials and correcting student writing. Oh, and there’s that 5:30 Lacrosse game this afternoon I need to be at :) Our team is undefeated so far!

I basically come back to myself about 2 weeks after I walk out of the school at the end of June. But, like Vicki, I wouldn’t trade this for the world. In fact, I almost did but couldn’t hack the grieving process that went with it. Not being in the classroom creates a hole in me. I have learned so much from my students this year. I am a different person because of them. They have taught me how to be more me.

I had coffee with a friend of mine – Sebastien Moreau, a wonderful painter – about a month ago and we got to talking about painting. He said,

When I paint it’s like I’m having a conversation with myself

That is how I am starting to feel when I work with students. They help me to have that creative conversation with myself. I don’t get that raw conversation as deeply and as heartfelt anywhere else as I do with them. I almost do when I am painting or gardening. But even then, it is more often than not a continuation of one that began in the classroom. With kids.