Final Final

I gave my very last final exam for high school English I hope I ever have to give. I have turned in my resignation, received my five year service pin, and I am packed up and done. I will miss my students--well, many of them. There are many things I won't miss, though, but all that's better left behind. I plan to just keep the odd and funny memories with me, like my Japanese students yelling konpyuuuuuutaaaaaa as loud as they could to their teammates. I'll miss my teacher friends. Fortunately, I will still get to see some of them since they play dodge ball and kick ball or whiffle ball every Sunday just down the street from me.

I do feel I have to say something about my overall experience and where I think public education is headed. Now, I am only speaking of my school, a school that ranks in the bottom fifteen percent in the state of Texas. They are truly headed in the wrong direction. They have been talking about giving teachers an extra conference period, which I do think is a good idea, especially for English teachers who have to read essays from 130 students. However, in order to accomplish this, they have to increase class size. I adamantly oppose this idea. Classes should be smaller. All they have to look at to see this is the grades of my small classes versus my large classes. I think they would see the difference across the board for all teachers. It seems like such an obvious solution to many problems teachers face that I can't believe this is not a solution they are trying their best to implement. I think I would have gladly worked seven periods a day if my classes had fifteen students, maximum. I know this isn't the only option, but I wish they had tried that out instead of all these other inane ideas that fade away long before the school year is even out. Eh. Enough about that. Summer vacation, here I come!