Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Goodbye Grade One

Today was my last day of teaching.  I have been anxious for today, because I knew that had to say goodbye to my kids.  Saying goodbye is definitely not one of my favorite things to do.  Coming to China, I had to say a lot of goodbyes.  I was extremely sad saying goodbye to my family at the airport.  However, I knew that I would be able to see my family in a couple of months.  Saying goodbye to my kids was a lot harder because I don't know if I will ever see them again. 

For the last day of teaching we had a movie day.  They thought it was so much fun!  They were so focused in the movie and their eyes were glued to the screen.  It made me have a flashback to when I was a child and how excited I was when we would watch movies in Elementary school.  Whenever I would watch a movie in class, I would consider it the best day ever!  As we were watching the movie,  I would randomly sit among the kids because I wanted to make sure that I spent time with each of them.  I was making my rounds, and decided to sit by Bobby last.  As I sat next to Bobby, he reached for my hang and clung on tight.  I am going to miss Bobby!  He can't speak much English, but this small gesture was all I needed. 

After the movie, we split the kids up into our homeroom groups and we gave out gifts.  Everything was going well, and I was holding my emotions, until the kids had to line up to go back to Chinese class.  They were standing in line and I made eye contact with Steven.  He immediately burst out into tears.  Steven is a trouble maker!  He is very wild, and was the hardest to handle during class.  I couldn't believe that out of all of the kids, he was the one crying.  Sara and I rushed over to Steven, and hugged him as all of us cried.  This started a chain reaction, before I knew it all of the children were crying and hugging us.  They didn't want to let go.  I held onto each of them as they cried.  Some of the children asked us why we had to leave.  They told us that they loved us and that they were going to miss us. 

Even though today was an emotional day, I know that my kids will be okay.  I know that they are in good hands and that they will be taken care of.  They are all amazing and have so much potential!!  They each are brilliant students and they have a great future ahead of them. 

I came to China because I wanted to experience something new and different.  Little did I know, that not only would I experience something new and different, but I would love the teaching aspect!    Teaching here in China has actually helped me decide what I would like to do for my career.  I have been thinking for a long time what I would like to do, and I think that I have decided that I would like to become an Elementary teacher.  I have found that I love spending time with children.  What a better way to spend time with children than to teach?  Not only was I able to find my love for teaching, but I was able to spend time with the cutest children!  Each child had something to give, and I was able to learn and grow because of their examples.  The children that I taught, definitely made my teaching experience!  If it weren't for them, I would still be unsure of what I want to do for my education path.

WO AI NI GRADE ONE! 


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