Back in 2001, when I first began to teach fourth graders at Top of the World Elementary, someone told me there would be bad days. Days when I wasn’t sure why I was teaching, days when parents weren’t nice to me, days when students didn’t do their work, days when I would doubt I made the right career choice. So some smart colleague (was it Susan Dick?) told me to start a cheer up file. That’s where I should put all the cards, letters, notes, and mementos that students and parents gave to me. So I did that. God, that was a hard year. I think I lost about twenty pounds that year. I would get so busy at lunch time preparing for the last half of the day, that I’d forget to eat.
Yesterday, I got a care package from a friend in Oceanside. When we moved to the islands, I gave away all my teaching materials from those early days of teaching. Literally, truck loads of items like math manipulatives, pentominoes and counting cubes, student samples from fourth and fifth graders, books, books, and more books, both for students and teachers, art supplies– you name it, I gave it away. And somehow, I gave away my cheer up file. Luckily, I gave these things to a friend whose daughter is in fourth grade now. And in turn, she gave them to her daughter’s teacher. And that teacher was kind and thoughtful enough to give this file back to me, even though I’m 3,000 miles away now.
Today, I sat down to peruse the items that I thought would cheer me up. There are cards from parents and principals who appreciated my efforts, notes from kids I only taught for two days when I had to transfer up to Thurston, pictures, gifts, thoughtful ideas the students had…to say thank you to me in their own special way. Here are some names that popped up time and again. If you are one of my cheer up file friends, it’s my turn to say thank you.
Hailey Zoellner, Heather Coulter, Kelsey Linton, Elissa Shopoff (who never signed her name but had the most memorable handwriting!), Melia Watkins, Mr. Maxsenti, Mrs. Hilleman, Dr. C, Ron LaMotte, Nicole Thomas, Ryan (Morgan’s best friend) who loved Harry Potter and legos, Lasslie Martinez, and many more.
Today, I wonder if I will ever get to teach again. I miss it now more than ever. These early memories temper my own feelings about teaching middle schoolers. The ones who act all cool, and don’t know how to say thanks. I have another cheer up file from my middle schoolers. It’s here somewhere. Maybe one day, I’ll get a card or a letter from some one person who claims that I’ve made a difference in their lives all those years ago. And to Marlena, who gave me the best compliment a teacher could ever hope for: that I remind her of the book the The Secret.
I cannot possibly name all the kids who have made my teaching career memorable. But it’s for you that I devote myself to teaching. I can forgive and forget all the parents who misunderstood me, who treated me unkindly, or unfairly. But I will never forget the names and faces of those of you who said I made a difference.
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