This week, I’m saying goodbye to my fifth grade band students. I’ve been teaching them for two years. That’s about 60 small-group lessons and 85 band rehearsals– a lot of student-teacher contact time. I’ve gotten to know many of them quite well, and I’m going to miss them very much.

It’s something that isn’t discussed much in teaching circles: the perpetual need to say goodbye. We talk about the stress of the end of the year, how crazy the students get when the weather turns warm, and how much we can’t wait to relax. Sometimes we say, “This was a good group of kids. I’m going to miss them.” But we don’t really talk about the deep loss we feel. We swallow it and move on. It’s the nature of the job.

That’s how it is when you’re a teacher: the students move on, and you’re supposed to stay the same. But you’re not the same. You’re different, because they’ve changed you. They change you, and then they leave you.

It’s like having your kids grow up and move away every single year. It’s not something that gets easier with time. In some ways, as you become a better teacher and learn to connect better with kids, it gets harder.

To my students, past and present, and their families: you are missed. You were loved. You had an impact on me.