Today is the first day back to school after my school’s spring break (and approximately 85 days until Baby Finnley gets here, but who’s counting)! I am so excited to be back with my students, but also already starting to feel anxious about these next few weeks.

The thing about the weeks after spring break is that they go by fast. Like really fast. It’s like once we return from winter break in January, it’s an arduous uphill battle to get to spring break, but once we get back from spring break we are flying!

We only have eight weeks left of school at this point, which to some may still seem like a lot, but they are eight action-packed weeks. I teach at a high school in Michigan, so the first two of these weeks are filled with SAT/PSAT prep and then the actual test days. Then, because my admin loves our students and likes to recognize hard work, we have a reward day for our young scholars. We then have prom, and community clean-up day, and again because my admin loves to celebrate our students we have a senior decision day to celebrate our graduates. After that is graduation, final exams, and then ultimately the last day of school.

It’s like I’ve been pushing and pushing and encouraging students to take the time to explore the topics we have been covering…but suddenly there’s no time left. I feel as though I’m in such a rush to pack in as much as I can while I still have time, but at the same time I’m kind of just ready for the year to end so I can start making changes and planning for next year. I don’t know. It’s a lot and a heavy mix of emotions.

I don’t know if there are any teachers reading this (past or present), but if so, has this been your experience? What have you done to level out all of the chaos and emotions during this time of year? Also, what is your favorite way to wrap up each school year? It may be my fifth year, but I’m still trying to figure it all out.