In my opinion, one of the hardest parts of teaching is always saying goodbye.
For nine months, teachers learn about their students’ joys and disappointments, strengths and weaknesses, families and friends. Together, they struggle through difficulties and persevere through challenges. They embrace growth and make memories. They develop trust in and practice care for one another.
The goodbyes are necessary because this group of students needs to have new experiences in learning. Likewise, a new group of students needs to fill those empty desks for their own new experiences in learning. Teachers have to let go so that there is room for the new students. Students have to let go so that there is room for the new teacher.
These goodbyes can be hard. But, to honor the experience and soften the transition, teachers can create moments for closure.
I like to start the closure process by taking a class picture. In my own classroom, those pictures hang on the walls, and my current students know that they, too, will smile at me from that wall for years upon years. In our homes, we display pictures of people who have been meaningful in our lives. In my classroom, I do the same. What they did in room A113 mattered. They mattered.
I also like to give a short goodbye speech. I acknowledge the role my students played in my life that school year, I honor their efforts, and I offer some final advice. Because I get to teach a lot of juniors in high school, I often share my thoughts about senior year: Some seniors walk into school looking to be served. They are the oldest and the most experienced. Other seniors walk into school looking to serve. They want to leave their school better than how they found it. This is legacy. Which senior will you be?
Then I give my students the poem “Retreating Light” by Louise Glück or one of my favorite quotes from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself: “He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher.” They don’t need me anymore! They can move forward with the lessons learned in room A113. They are ready.
Some teachers give a small gift or note to their students, maybe even a copy of that class picture they took. A notepad, a pencil, a poem – the remembrances need not cost much money. Other teachers plan a small party, ceremony, or celebration. What matters is that they provide the closure that we all need when a relationship ends or even just changes.
