36
The number of days I have left with my students. That doesn’t subtract the days where I am not teaching because we are doing special events making the number even smaller. It is the total number of days that I have left to make a difference. Left to teach. Left to help.
I used to do the countdown in my head, not because summer beckoned me, but because I felt a growing sense of dread. Did I do enough to teach them? Did I reach every child? Did I actually teach them anything? Was 5th grade worth it to my students?
Now, I do my silent count down as a reminder to make every moment count. As a way to say that yes, summer may come and steal you away, but until then we are still together and we are still on a learning journey. We still have things to explore. We still have things to mess with. Our brain still has mysteries to ponder.
So while I may know how few days we have left together, I will not cling to it for celebration, but rather to push our purpose. To focus even more on the learning. To grow even bigger together. I will never be able to do all of the things I had hoped for but I will keep trying until the very end.
36 more days to go, make each one count.
I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” can be pre-bought now from Powerful Learning Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.
Pernille Ripp 