The End of the Beginning?

Well, I just taught my last class for this year. I feel: relieved, tired, sad, excited, reflective and grateful. Relieved and tired and sad to be finished, excited to have survived my first year and to be planning for next year and grateful that I have landed myself in such a supportive school environment for my first years. One thing that I can say about this year is that no matter how difficult a day has been or how hyperactive a particular class have been on occassion, I have not once felt that I was in the wrong profession. Where else do you get to form so many relationships both with staff and students that are so uplifting and worthwhile? In what other profession do you have the challenge of people management, coupled with public speaking, improvisation, problem solving, welfare, curriculum planning and implementation and the responsibility for the minds of your charges? And what a massive responsibility we take on every day. However it is not a responsibility that is daunting or overwhelming, rather, for me, it is a responsibility that is exhilarating, and one that I am happy to carry every day.
I went on a four-day camp last week during which I was responsible for feeding the 20 students (with only a tent, barbeque and hot-plate at my disposal) three square meals a day and snacks in between! Rather than being a negative experience, I had the most fantastic time, and it was all because of the students.
I learnt: That my taste in music is exactly the same as the students (I wonder how long that will last!)
That despite the fact that punk and rock and metal were the order of the day in terms of the music the students enjoyed, they still had the mindfulness to offer to help me out constantly, to run errands to the supermarket, to help with the house(or should that be tent)work, and to make my camping trip as easy as possible.
Even when the students were waking me up at 2 am in the morning to get help to find the panadol, they were so polite and apologetic that it really wasn't a chore.
The students at this school, and I am sure many others, really are so pleasant to be around, and it comes out even more so in situations where we take them away from school.

My year 7 Form group, who I also teach for English are another bunch of students that I could happily spend all day with. There is something about the energy and enthusiasm of the students, no matter how over-the-top they are being that means that despite the fact that they are exhausting more often than not, I am never tired of them.
So I guess that this is the end of the beginning…the end of my first year of teaching, and the beginning of the next installment for me, with new students, new subjects and new challenges.
I am more than ready to face them all!
(Well…maybe after Christmas!)