What I'll miss most about teaching

The past week or so has been absolutely insane! First, I'm still pregnant! Baby P is due on Saturday, so we'll see how closely s/he comes to the due date! Work has kept me incredibly busy, though, as I try to tie up loose ends and make sure I have everything in place for the end of second trimester and the beginning of third. 

Logistically, I knew it was going to be difficult to leave partway through the year. We're on trimesters at school, and I won't quite make it to the end of second trimester, so it's an awkward time to leave. There are things I'm trying to wrap up and lessons I'm trying to leave for the people stepping in to my role. 

But the past two days, I've been extra emotional at school, and I know that's because come Monday, I won't be there to see my kids. That's truly the hardest part of going on maternity leave. I love my students, and the thought of not seeing them every day makes me really sad. Because they are some of the best people I know. 

After nine years at LaPorte, and ten years of teaching total, I feel like I'm in such a good place in the classroom. I truly love going to work every day (and I don't know very many adults who can say that!). And although everyone tells me I'll think about the classroom less when our baby is here, I know part of my heart will stay at school with all of those students I'm leaving there. 

It's weird to think that they'll take finals and have the first day of a new trimester and publish newspapers and go on spring break and ask people to prom and I won't be there for any of it. It's weird to think that 2-hour delays and snow days won't greatly impact my daily plans anymore. It's especially weird to think that I won't hear the stories and see the triumphs of my students on a daily basis. That's literally breaking my heart right now. 

So, while I love lesson planning and seeing projects and grading (okay, I don't always love the amount of grading!), my incredible students and my amazing coworkers will be what I miss the most. I know they will have a wonderful end to the school year, but I will miss so much that I am not there with them. 

When I walk out of school on Friday, I know it's because the rest of this school year holds a different agenda for me. But there will always be a part of me that wants to be there too. Because while I will be having my own child, I'll miss my school children too!