They come and they go.

The class list gods must have heard me griping about getting another student, because one of my students left without warning.  Today when I went to take attendance, the online system told me that "I-- F-- has been dropped from your class.  Please press OK."  I didn't want to press OK! But, I needed to take attendence, and it wouldn't let me do so without pushing OK.  

This girl was the absolute worst student to leave because she was strong in Spanish and English, and she could read (she was one of the very few students already reaching my principal's reading goals), and she was an amazing model and teacher for the other students.  "Remember Teacher, if you want us to calm down go like this," she would remind me.  Or, during reading groups, "No, Miguel, you have to read a sentence, and then stop to make sure that the words match the picture so that you understand.  Then take a breath.  Then go on."  She memorized exactly what I would say, and then would MAKE SURE her partner was doing exactly that.  I always strategically partnerered her with a few kids, and I was really starting to see improvments in the work of her seatmate, a very quite student who, while testing "proficient" in English is still very much developing, and also struggles a bit academically.  Sitting beside someone who could always explain and understand what was going on was fabulous for I--'s seatmate.  

Some other teacher will be very, very lucky to get I-- in his or her class.  

Does it ever get less sad when students leave from your class without being able to say goodbye?  I know it happens with some frequency - it happened when I was student teaching, too.  But it's simply so sad.  One day the student is there, and then *poof!* he or she is gone forever, hopefully off to experience success in another classroom somewhere else.