And so it ends.

Today was the last day of the summer term at the community college, so we had a "math party". That just meant I awarded 10 points extra credit to everyone who brought food - we got cupcakes, pizza, grape soda, sugar free peanut butter cookies, and a few small bags of chips that I'm pretty sure were bought in the bookstore across the way 10 minutes before class started. But hey, I can't be subjective about awarding extra credit points.

And now that's it. The end of the semester is always a strange one to me. As a teacher, my students become important to me. I get frustrated with them sometimes, especially when I see them jeopardizing their own chance at success, but I also find myself really caring about them as individuals. This is especially true when the class is as small as mine was this summer, with only eight students attending by the end (this is not unusual for summer term). But then at the end of the semester, they take their last test, and turn it in, and walk out, and chances are pretty good that I will never see them again. Most of them say goodbye, a few say thank you, and I wish them luck and send them on their way. It feels very anticlimactic.

I had a good bunch this semester. Last year when I taught this same course I had a difficult student. I had had difficult students before - lots of them in high school, and even a couple at BYU. But I had never dealt with a difficult adult student. I hadn't really imagined that they existed. When combined with the fact that I had never taught a developmental college math course before, it made for a difficult semester. I found my footing eventually, but I had a rough start and was anxious for the class to be over by the end.

This semester was much better. I had more confidence because I had a much better idea of what I was doing, and of the snags my students would run into, and of what mathematical concepts early in the semester were going to be useful later. And my students were a good-natured bunch. I'm pretty sure they liked me, and while I know that having students like you does not necessarily mean you are a good teacher, having good rapport with your students does, I think, create an environment where good teaching and successful learning can more easily occur.

One thing I can say at the end of the summer is that I like what I do. A lot. It's a nice feeling, after having spent so much time questioning myself in the three years I have been here in Michigan.

Oh, and I have another book review on my book blog: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Go over to my book blog and check it out if you get the chance.