Endings. And beginnings. They tug at my heartstrings and make me a bit sentimental. Or maybe I am sentimental by nature – maybe endings just legitimize those emotions. Either way, they trigger feelings of gratitude in me – gratitude for what has been. While I have many reasons to be grateful this year, I would like to share just one with you.
Last fall, I wrote my first blog. I had never done anything like that before, and honestly hadn’t a clue what I was doing! I wasn’t at all sure that anyone would read it. I just knew that I needed to do it, perhaps to feel connected to my Montessori community or to the ebb and flow of the school year. Whatever the reason, throwing caution to the wind, I jumped in with both feet and committed to a weekly posting. As is true with so many new adventures, it required more of me than I anticipated and I learned more than I imagined I would. I am so grateful to each of you who spent your precious free moments outside the classroom reading my weekly musings, and feel deep appreciation to each of you who encouraged me to continue by commenting, or sharing, or stopping to chat at the AMS conference in March! I also owe a thank-you to my former co-teacher, Laura, who years ago planted the seed when she said, “These weekly journal topics are really good – you should write a book.” I doubt she even remembers that moment, but I certainly do.
I will be taking the summer off to return to Boulder to teach, but plan to resume blogging again in the fall. If there is a particular topic that you would like to see addressed next year, please PM me. I will be compiling a list of possible topics over the next 3 months. And if you are at the VIMA conference as you read this, I will be speaking early Saturday morning (5/11). Please stop by and say hello!
I sincerely hope that each of you found something this year to raise your spirits or something to nudge you out of a rut. Or both. And I wish you each a restful and rejuvenating summer full of new memories!
-Betsy
Reflection for children and adults: What about you? For what are you grateful as this school year comes to an end?
“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. I’ve felt that many times. My hope for all of us is that “the miles we go before we sleep” will be filled with all the feelings that come from deep caring – delight, sadness, joy, wisdom – and that in all the endings of our life, we will be able to see the new beginnings.”
― Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember