Day 27: The End of the School Year Playlist

I am so very happy to report tonight that the terribly long run of consecutive school days reaching from the middle of March until Memorial Day weekend is at an end. I know many non-education would read that and think, "Oh, cry me a river, teachers. I have to work 5 days a week all year long." Fair point. But a typical response I might offer that argument in the real world would likely be, "True. But you don't do this."

The last day of school for the students is now a mere two weeks away. The teachers still have to come back for one more work day after that (on a Monday this year, no less) to take care of some final organizational business and packing and so on. But I'm okay with that. That last non-student work day has a different feel to it. Personally, I love those days. The pace is slower, you see your friends more, and unless you're the kind of person who puts things off until the very last minute and are caught up in a panic scramble, the day just has a lower stress level.

One of my favorite things about those non-student days are how I get to play music in my room, all day long. In fact, I get so excited about this that I'll make a project out of creating a playlist for the day, and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you it's a full-fledged project. I put a lot of work into constructing any of the playlists I make, regardless of their purposes, but I easily put the most thought and effort into the ones I make for the last day of school. 

If music is going to provide any kind of soundtrack to effectively mirror what's happening emotionally that day, the songs need to be chosen carefully. Obviously there has to be a good share of a celebratory tone. The last day of work before getting the next seventy-six days off is absolutely cause for celebration, so a lot of the songs need the energy to reflect that. However, it's often bittersweet to see students growing up and becoming former students, so there needs to be a few songs in the mix that offer a chance to reflect on that as well. On top of that, this year my school is experiencing an unusual number of changes in the staff, so that element of bittersweet is going to be even more pronounced as a lot of people who have become close friends will essentially be saying goodbye that day. As we all know though, every goodbye also leads to some kind of new beginning, so that hopeful optimism of facing whatever the future holds in store also crawls into the tone of some songs. 

I know I won't be sitting in my classroom the entire time listening to every song that comes up, so I don't plan the playlist length down to the very number of minutes I know I'll spend at school that day -- that'd just be crazy, wouldn't it? Instead I'll figure out the number of minutes I expect to be there, basing that count on what time I figure I'll arrive and when I think I'll be done and able to leave, and then I'll add an hour on top of that, just to guarantee there will be some surprise in which songs come up in the shuffle. That's perfectly normal. Right?

After I decide on the number of minutes I'm working with, I'll scan though the music library and start looking for candidates. I have a few perennial favorites that have last-day emotion imprinted on them. I know I'll need a few that would sound great in the car with the windows rolled down. There have to be some classic rock standards that might launch someone into a quick dance break if they step into my room at the right time. I always need to add a few of my current favorites in as well, just to help me place the time I'm living in and remind me that yes, it is indeed the beginning of summer break, and there is a whole wide world of possibility and promise and adventure stretched out in front of me. Or at least seventy-six days worth of it. 

But tonight is a Friday after a long week and a long ten weeks, so I think I'll wait until tomorrow to get started. But hey, if anyone at school wants to check out the results -- you'll know where to find me!