Every year,
this is what it’s like.
I can’t get my grades
in on time because
instead of a multiple-
guess scantron test
I ask my students
to make things or
write things,
things which I must
then look at and think
about; and there’s
never enough time
to look and think
properly, so I turn
up the music and I
look at things and think
about things and I
dance. And finally
when I submit my
grades a half an hour
late, students are
still attempting to
send me more things
to look at and think
about and I just can’t.
Eyes buggy from
looking at a computer
all day, legs tired from
dancing, heart aching
a little bit for students
suffering or failing
and colleagues leaving,
I make a lame attempt
to clean up my room,
I pack up the things
I need for the summer,
and I get on my bike
and ride, the last guy out,
leaving behind
a mess for the end
of August.
michael jarmer 
Happy summer, Michael!!
Michelle D. Williams | Paper and Pixel LLC | 503-762-2524
>________________________________ > From: michael jarmer >To: michelledelaine@yahoo.com >Sent: Friday, June 13, 2014 12:36 PM >Subject: [New post] #136: Again, The Last Teacher Out The Door > > > > WordPress.com >michaeljarmer posted: ” Every year, this is what it’s like. I can’t get my grades in on time because instead of a multiple- guess scantron test I ask my students to make things or write things, things which I must then look at and think about; and there’s never e” >
This poem is wonderful and heartbreaking. Hope you have a restful summer.
Beautiful. I love the image of you dancing while trying to grade. The joys of schoolteaching, especially the mess at the end of August. I taught elementary school for five years and the last days of getting the classroom ready for summer were filled with impatience, just wanting to get the hell out. Have a wonderful summer!
So true…so true…