I've finally been teaching long enough (this is my 11th year) that my former students are near the end of their formal education. Students from my first year of teaching turn twenty-one this year, and most of them are finishing up their third year of college.
I try my best to be aware of what's going on with my former students - even if it's just through 3rd party word-of-mouth. I know where most of them are at school, and I'm up on major life events - be they positive or negative. In addition, there are a handful of students that I still keep in regular contact with. I'm grateful for the time they make for me, and I always enjoy hearing their memories of the time they spent in my classroom and what they've been up to since.
It's such an odd feeling to have my students grow old. My fondest memories of them are forever frozen at the age of 10, when they were innocent and carefree. To see them at twice that age is astonishing. I don't feel like I've changed too much over the past 10 years, but my students have lived half their life in that time and grown enormously - in so many ways. They've had numerous other teachers and school experiences in that time, which make those of 5th grade seem to pale in comparison.
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| Emilee talks to my students while they take notes. The students wrote news articles about her visit. |
One of my former students who is making her dreams a reality came back to visit my current 5th-graders recently. Her name is Emilee, and she is a professional race car driver and full-time college nursing student. I was her teacher 11 years ago, and then later I was her tutor and even her basketball coach for a season. Emilee visited my classroom last month to share about her up-and-coming racing career and to talk to my students about the importance of believing in yourself and following your dreams. She is the embodiment of the message that I try to give to my students, and so I was happy to see that they hung on her every word. I just sat back and watched her give advice to these kids that are sitting where she used to sit, and as I did I couldn't help but think that perhaps I was seeing the growth of some of seeds that I planted. That was a pretty incredible sight to see!
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| A wall of student news articles about Emilee's classroom visit and/or career. This was the culmination of our journalism unit. |
I know exactly what you mean! I started teaching the year my daughter entered Year 1 (K). She's now 22 and in college and I've had a veritable host of children pass through my hands in that time. When former students visit it's amazing what they remember of some lessons - and what they don't - and what they took away as important. I was in the library and teaching PSHE for a long time so I got to know every child in the school. Now that I'm in the classroom I don't know the little ones so well (until they reach my year group) which I miss but I find I develop much stronger relationships with the 16 - 20 who are my especial charge. Most of all I want them to take away from grad 3 the fact that I cared and that they CAN achieve and do whatever they want. Like you said - planting seeds. I hope they turn into roses :) (or sunflowers, or petunias, or giant trees :) )
ReplyDeleteLynn
PS That looks like a great journalism unit - I'd like to try something like that with my kiddies. We have a class blog now that they love - perhaps a newspaper article/report post is called for :)
Fun in the Fours
Thanks, Lynn! I love your thought about roses, sunflowers, petunias, or giant trees.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's amazing what the students remember from their time with you. Several of my former students have shared memories about something I said to one of them or to a classmate that they've never forgotten. Sometimes it's something I'm not always proud of. Two of my students who are now in 11th grade came back to visit me and were recalling how I handled a dispute between them. They said that I called one of them a camel and that the other one was the straw that broke the camel's back. Although I'm sure I was trying to make a reference to the fact that there had been many little things leading up to their fight and this last instance was "the last straw," they took away only the camel reference. I couldn't believe how they were holding on to that memory. They said that they always talk about that and jokingly refer to that student as a camel. Why they are storing that in their memory is beyond me. If only they remembered how to multiply fractions that well :-). I guess we throw so much at them and you never know what's going to stick.
That's awesome that you are doing everything you can to motivate your students. I know it can be difficult, but the fact that you are making every effort says a lot! I'm your newest follower!
ReplyDeleteBrittany
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