End of the year wrap-up

Whew! What a trying year. I had more students, more preps, more classes, and more responsibilities. Oh yeah, and I'm 9 months pregnant!! But I've survived and I think I've made a difference in my students' lives. I say "I think" because I just handed out my end-of-year survey to my students and it's always uplifting and bums me out as well. Is it too much to want to be everything to every student?? As usual, there were a couple of kids who felt that I didn't care about them. That breaks my heart. My husband and I were talking about this last night: give any student a year or two and all the "bad" feelings a teacher may have had about them disappears. I can forgive every student everything after a year of maturity because I know that none of my students is evil. Every student has their reasons for acting up in class (whether that be home problems, immaturity, etc), and I love them anyways (even as I am pushed to the edge of my reason). But here is what I got from my surveys this year: 1. I am doing a better job of greeting every student and making them feel that I care; I still have more room to grow, but most of my students did feel that I care!! 2. My kids feel cared about when I smile, ask them about their day, say hello, show them their grades often, and allow them to re-take tests. 3. My level 2 kids (advanced) were really ticked off that they "couldn't take notes." I put that in quotes because I have never forbidden notes in class except for during story time. At that time, I ask that the desks are cleared to avoid the temptation for distraction. Next year, I will do a better job of explaining this and carve out a couple of minutes at the end of each day for those note-takers to take notes. 4. My level 2 kids were also very upset that my assessments were unannounced. However, almost every single block day had an assessment of some sort. A TPRS class is very hard for those grade-grubbers to adjust to. I'm hoping that my French 2 kids next year, who will have no experience with any other French teacher, will not be so upset by this. We'll see... 5. My level 2 kids were also super upset that I didn't allow them to go to the bathroom without taking off PAT time. I don't think I will be changing this any time soon... The students who complain about it are so few that it makes it worth it to me because I don't have to deal with the constant pass writing every hour of every day. Instead, I have maybe one or two students per week who choose to take advantage of my bathroom policy. That's all I can think of for now. I'm still kicking myself that some students think I "hated them" or "played favorites." One thing that is clear over the years that I've done the survey: EVERY student wants to be validated and wants attention. Even the ones with the super long bangs who cower in the corner and you think they would shrivel up and die if you talked to them. I hope your years are ending just as well. Feel free to share any lessons you have learned this year!