As of right now I’m experiencing my first end-of-the-year as a teacher, (my school goes until the 22nd – eek!) and it is MADNESS. It’s as though every parent got the notion to email me in the same day, their kids are turning in late work left and right, and wondering what they can do to “help their grade.”
Not to mention that on a personal note – I’m getting married in 18 days, so the stress level is already at a super fun high.
I’m glad the kids care about their grades, but why do parents insist on not getting involved til the last minute? Why care now? Why not care three months ago when your kid was failing tests and you could have actually done something? It drives me nuts. But I think the real crazy thing is when parents helicopter in on kids who already have A’s – so they can get higher A’s. Are you serious? Am I the only person who realizes that the number grade never matters after this school year, it’s only the letters high schools and colleges look at? Not to mention that’s the definition of asinine. and overkill. and obnoxious.
I’m also left wondering where on earth I’m supposed to store my stuff over the summer. The school makes everyone take their stuff down over the summer, and I’m not 100% certain where it’s all supposed to go while I’m waiting to start working again. The bright side is that I’ll be working in this same classroom next year – yay for getting hired! The downside is that I have a little apartment with not a lot of room for lamps, plants, and posters of Rosie the Riveter. Suggestions?
So at my school they have this really cute pen pals program, where kids in a computer skills class are assigned pen pals among the staff members. Luckily, the program started in March so I was able to be there in time to participate – and I have to say it’s the cutest thing ever.
I got two little pen pals, one boy and one girl, and every week they write me letters telling my about their home lives & asking me questions about my puppy, spring break, etc. Well today was the culmination of that project, and the kids got to interview their pen pals in person with some few final questions.
What I really liked about this whole thing was getting to know these kids better, and the conversations that started from our interview. The one girl who had me is one of my secret favorite kids, just because she works so hard in my class – not to mention she’s just a likable kid. Her letters were especially revealing – I learned that she and all her siblings are adopted from different orphanages in Russia, and that we both have a love for pitbulls. (I’m a sucker for underdogs) But the best part about just her letters was how it made her noticeably more comfortable in class. She even brought in pictures of her pitbulls for our in-person interview today so we could share about it! So cute – I love 7th graders.
Getting back to the interviews – the process of getting to sit one on one with the kids was again revealing and really nice to get a chance to talk individually with them. (Something that doesn’t happen much when you have 135 students) It did get me thinking though – this could be a really great year long history project, if I had kids write to family members, or maybe even veterans – if I could tie it into first hand accounts, or primary sources. Not to mention that I wish someone had made me have this kind of communication with older family members when I was in 7th grade. It’s still in the works, but it’s something that has a lot of potential, and I think would be really cool to do.
So the question is – has anyone done something like this? Successful, or unsuccessful!