Last day of student teaching

Hard to believe it's already down to the last day. It's been quite an experience, and one that I'll confess that I'll miss in some ways...I wrote a poem for my class which about sums things up:

Poem for Ms. B’s Class:

A “Series of Unfortunate Events” occurs every day,
Between 8:30 AM and 3:00 PM, between Mondays and Fridays,
Where innocent children do Math, Geography, Reading, Writing, and Science,
In a room down the hall, full of Nikes and notebooks, full of attitudes and Addidas,
Full of backpacks and basketball players, full of A---and D----,

There’s binders with pictures, held together by tape, that shouldn’t be on the back shelf,
But there’s blue jeans that should be in seats and not wandering around the room,
There’s baskets overflowing with papers, books on desks, books on shelves, books about anything and everything,
These are the paperback years, full of romance, mystery, and adventure
“Reading is fun”,
Recess is funner,

There’s a classroom full of braids and cornrows, full of notebooks that say “I love Chris Brown”, blue plastic calculators, and chairs scraping across the floor,
"Don’t tick at me”, put away those football cards and basketball cards,

Everywhere I look, there’s dismembered pens, planners peeking out of binders, the plinking of falling pencils,
Erasers scraping across notebook paper, and foreheads resting on hands,
Giggling giggly-girls and goofy-goofing-off boys,
Heads on desks, hoodies, hoop earrings, Captain Underpants and Dr. Seuss, Hiphop, rap, gospel,

“I believe I can achieve and succeed”,
I am a good student,
I am a good writer,
“I am smart, I have potential, I am unique”

“Soy intelligente”
I learn best by reading, I love math, naw man, I love sports,
“I know what I do today will influence what I become tomorrow”,
I like to hang out with my friends,
I like to play basketball, football, and soccer,
I like to talk to my friends
“I will be a good listener”,

I can learn, but I don’t like rainy days,
“I’m bored”, I sometimes get into trouble at school,
“The trouble with bad is that bad is trouble”,
“I didn’t do anything!”, “I wasn’t talking”,

“Soy unico”: I want to go to college; I want to be a fashion designer, a football player, a pediatrician, a marine and a marine biologist,
I will be safe, respectful, and responsible,

I can learn, I will learn,
I will not hinder my own or my classmates learning in any way,
It is my decision,

Juice boxes, laptops with missing keys, a litter of looseleaf papers balled up like basketballs (somebody needs to work on their foul shots),
Messes, messes! Too many messy desks, messy floors, messy words, messing around,
Some days there’s passing notes and the annoying grate of pencils sharpening,

Planting trees in the cold and watching them grow a little every day as I walk down the street every morning after getting off the #4 on Alberta and Albina,
”Se responsible, respetuoso, y seguro,”
There’s the twitch of ponytails as heads turn, black and red Portland Trailblazers shirts,
Questions of the day on recycled paper,
Scissors and rulers,
Shy and talkative,
Shhhh!

Sleepyheads sitting in class, spirals with names on the back, Spongebob stickers, staplers and sticky notes, spray-painted hair on “Crazy Hair Day”,
“Tengo potencial”
Star Reachers sitting next to pen thieves,
The bell finally rings, there’s too many think-sheets and too much talking today,
“Uh oh!”
Writing, writing and more writing, “…will influence what I become tomorrow”
“Yo creo que puedo alcanzar”