Losing and Gaining

Working in a "high-mobility" school such as mine, I've learned to not get too incredibly attached to a particular student, because at any given time they could very well leave with little to no notice.
In some cases, a student may casually mention on the last day before a break that they're not coming back afterwards. In most cases, they just stop showing up to school one day.

I've also learned not to be surprised when I hear a knock at my classroom door, and open it to find a new student standing with their parent staring (sometimes smiling) back at me. Their arrival is always unannounced and rarely at the start of a school day - they usually choose to show up more like 2 hours in. Like right when I'm in the middle of teaching a lesson.
It helps to always keep an extra desk on hand.

Here are my stats for the 2010-2011 school year thus far:

August (after the start of school)
Gain 1

September
Lose 1
Gain 1

October
Gain 1

November
Lose 2

January
Gain 2

February
Lose 1

March 
Gain 2
Lose 1

I've mentioned this before on my blog but, again, flexibility is key here, folks.

It's difficult to easily and quickly assimilate a new student into a pre-existing environment… Reteaching procedures, reviewing expectations, AND recreating materials each time a fresh face shows up can be tedious and, frankly, inconvenient. (I may sound insensitive, but I'm just being honest.)

My goal for next year is to be better planned for this inconsistent flow of students, and have some specific things prepared in advance to help newcomers feel immediately welcomed and adopted into our classroom.
I will expect the unexpected :)