Reflections on the last day for the class of 2017

I like being a teacher. However, it can be hard to let students go at the end of the year, especially the seniors. I'll get over it.

Here are a few thoughts from the last day (5/26) of our 2017 class.

One of the interesting things about having a composite science certification (meaning that Texas recognizes my ability to teach any high school science class) is that the classes I teach can change from year to year. Two years ago, I taught many of our just finished senior class in chemistry. Just regular chemistry, not PreAP and not IPC. Still, it was great to see so many returning faces this past year when I taught primarily senior classes.
David Kim made an amazing tribute video for the senior class. You should watch it.
Good pranks this year. Nothing destructive, just mildly annoying. For example, my science prep room was lined with cups filled with water.

That's my mobile desk in the middle

I was also given the following teacher superlative:

I just realized that they misspelled my name.

Three of our international students are returning to China before our commencement next Friday. So we had a small graduation ceremony after school in the library. It was very nice. The only incredibly awkward bit was when our school president asked the teachers to begin humming "Pomp and Circumstance". We had not prepared. After a few false starts, Mr. Jameson pulled it up on his phone.
I helped out for a while at the Senior Grad Night. It's not as much fun if you are not a graduate yourself, but it did give me one last chance to exercise my teacher authority before everyone graduates.

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