I can barely believe that the final term of 2012 is already upon us.  What a busy year it has been including a fantastic musical under the belt.   My little girls excelled themselves at cuteness when they did their “Your feet are too big,”dance in the foundation phase production of Cinderella and Rockefeller.   Yes there were some tiny mistakes with the bossy ones instructing the others what to do but oh boy it was adorable with the princesses dressed in their ever so cut blue and white checked parlour maid pinafores over red puff sleeved blouses and bright red ribbons in their hair.   The Grade 7 girls expertly did their makeup –their little lips in red heart-shapes, cheeks all rosy and bright eyes shadowed beautifully.   While waiting in the classroom I had constantly to reassure them that nothing had smudged and that they all looked gorgeous (which of course they did!)

The show was only over by 10:00 p.m. and each cast had to perform two evening and one matinée  show.   They were exhausted, and indeed with all the rehearsals and performances I wondered if we would ever get back to normal again – but we did,   I was worn out so you can just imagine how they felt!

That all ended on Tuesday 16^th and we have just completed a regular school week!  And wow – am I delighted with my girls.   Looking back over the year I am freshly amazed at how much they have grown from that first, fresh new day of Blasting Off to Big School.   Thirty-two nervous, excited, brand new learners unable to read, write or do arithmetic have become competent, confident readers, writers and calculators and I swear I don’t know how!  Did I really teach them so much in such a short time?   I asked them, “”How did you learn to read all these words?”  These are some of the replies – “I just know them!“ “I taught myself”   “I’m clever!”

I cannot explain how rewarding it is to teach the first year of school to fresh, eager young children so ready to absorb whatever you throw at them.  It is a challenge, a responsibility, a privilege to be entrusted with these young minds.   I don’t have to fill them – I have to create an environment in which they discover for themselves – and when I hear their answers to how they got there I know I have succeeded.  Nobody responded with “You taught me Ma’m”   And that makes me proud – they have learnt simply by being in my class and they’re as mystified as me as to how it all  just happened,

I am excited and thrilled that my girls are doing what they’re doing.  It blows my mind and I am humbled.  No two have the same learning style – each has her own individual way of getting there  Each has her own individual problem, talent and drive and I am proud that each one is making progress at her own pace – in spite of me.

If I have provided a learning environment in which they feel confident enough to strive for their own perfection then I have succeeded as a teacher and that is what it is all about – that is the reward and right now I am feeling so fulfilled.