The sun is shining. The temperatures are starting to warm up. The little angels you sent home for spring break have returned in full chaos mode.
Welcome to spring as a teacher.
This time of year carries a very different kind of energy. You can feel it the moment students walk back into the building. The routines are a little looser. The focus is a little shorter. The volume is a little higher. If we are being honest, our own patience can feel a little thinner too.
But underneath that energy, there are very real and very different student experiences playing out.
Some students are counting down the days to summer. They are thinking about trips, the pool, the park, and the beach. Freedom is around the corner.
Others are not.
Some students are wondering who will watch them. When will they see their friends again? Where is their next consistent meal coming from? For them, summer is not exciting. It is uncertain.
All of that shows up in behavior.
This stretch of the school year is often compared to the last miles of a marathon. You are tired. You are cranky. You are running on fumes. You are ready to collapse at the finish line. You still have to keep going.
The same is true for our students.
Recently, on the Built by Educators podcast, we had a conversation with Dr. Timothy Shampoe that stuck with me. At one point, he captured what so many students are communicating, whether they say it out loud or not.
"Don't give up on me."
That line hits differently this time of year.
Because if we are not careful, this is exactly when it is easiest to do just that. Not in big, obvious ways. But in small ones. Lowering expectations. Letting things slide. Writing off behaviors as "end of year." Mentally checking out before the calendar says we can.
This is not the time to give up. It is the time to lean in.
Students should absolutely still be learning in May and June. In fact, this might be the best time to help them learn in a different way. The pressure of testing is behind us. The rigid pacing guides can loosen just a bit. There is space to do the things we have been wanting to do all year.
Let them research. Let them create. Let them build. Let them present. Let them collaborate.
All the things that got pushed aside can finally take center stage.
For many students, especially the ones who struggle the most, this kind of learning is where they finally find success. It is where they feel seen. It is where school starts to make sense.
So when the chaos picks up, and it will, it helps to reframe what we are seeing.
It is not just "end of year behavior." It is excitement. It is anxiety. It is uncertainty. It is a quiet, or sometimes very loud, way of saying: "Don't give up on me."
These last couple of months matter.
They matter for learning. They matter for relationships. They matter for how students remember this school year and, more importantly, how they see themselves as learners moving forward.
So yes, you are tired. That part is real.
But you are also still incredibly important in this moment.
Keep showing up. Keep pushing. Keep caring.
Because for some of your students, what they need most right now is simple.
Someone who doesn't give up on them.