What a last day. The final hours of a two-year loop are always bittersweet. I'm so proud of these kids for their growth and thankful for their friendship. It's sad to see them go. We've spent more than 2,000 hours together in the past two years. That's a lot of time. Though I've mentioned it in the past I want to take one final opportunity to thank each of you for sharing your children with me. It's an incredible responsibility and one that I can promise you I take very seriously. I've recently been working on an article about inquiry and in the final paragraph I wrote...
"[Teaching] keeps me young. Inquiring alongside my kids allows me to see the world again through their fresh eyes and endless curiosity. I have found over the years that as much as I am teaching my kids, they are teaching me. Their questions become my questions and before long I find myself driving home in the late afternoons continuing the conversations of the day in my mind. Wondering."
This could not be more true. Your children are not only super bright but they are willing to take on all sorts of work and explore all sorts of ideas and subjects. They are not afraid of not knowing and are comfortable with both considering other perspectives and disagreeing with those around them. I hope they never lose this.
As part of our final class circle we took time to reflect on all we've done together over the past two years. I asked them to share a favorite memory/moment. Here is what they chose:
Cooking s'mores at the camping trip bonfire
Having a "Global Lunch" with the foods from countries each of us researched in second grade
Cooking projects for our Winter Party
Creating special dances (The "Isaiah Dance")
"Hypnotizing" Mr. Hass at recess and making him act like animals
Singing the very first song together
Drawing 1/2-sized versions of ourselves
Mr. Hass' jokes
Animal expert projects
Having a songwriting unit and making our own songs with our friends
Reading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Doing "trustfalls" with Mr. H at recess and having him tell us he was not going to catch us this time
Listening to Bohemian Rhapsody and then watching the muppet version during indoor lunch
Seeing Mr. Hass finally come to school in a brightly colored shirt (It was blue)
Watching my sister's 5th grade Gathering where their class made up all those songs about their CFI memories
Sharing "Weekend Rules" each and every Friday before heading out the door for the weekend
A few years ago I ran into a former second grade student who was now a young woman out of college. We made plans to have breakfast together. While visiting she shared her memories of our time together. I was not surprised to find that her most lasting memories were about times rooted in friendship, caring, and love. It was shared jokes, games, conversations, get togethers outside of school. Curriculum is an incredibly important part of schooling but cannot happen without relationships. Kids need to know they are loved and accepted for being exactly who they are - even if there are a few things we're trying to outgrow. I hope each of your kids felt just that, loved and accepted in so many ways.
I hope you all have a wonderful summer with your kids. If any of them would like to write me a letter I'll post my address below as well as on the class blog. I'd love to hear from them about their summer adventures and would happily write them back about mine.
And finally, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the wonderful contribution you made to our classroom garden as an end-of-the-year gift. That is such a special place for our classroom and I greatly appreciate your support in helping to make it an inviting and practical space for learning, eating, and relaxing!
Take care,
Chris
119 Stoneridge Ct
Blythewood, SC 29016
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