our final morning message

This was the last Morning Message I wrote to my students. Instead of posting it on the easel, I included it in our First Grade Memory Book of which they all received copies. We read it together at the end of Morning Meeting and then we all looked at each other quietly for a moment or two.

Part of me wants to write about the moments afterward, while another part of me knows that I could never put it into words. They all know. So, here it is (names are edited out), our final Morning Message of First Grade ~


Dear Friends,

Today is Friday, June 13, 2008. We will go outside to watch the kickball game and go to the Talent Show!

This is the last Morning Message that I will write to you as First Graders. I have been thinking a lot about what I wanted to say on our last day of school. You may remember when I told you this before: that our community is special because of all of us. It's not just one teacher, or one kid, or two kids. It's everyone. It's the way each person shows empathy toward each other, the way we take responsibility for our own learning and for making everyone in our class feel important.

We are important.

We are important because of all of you. Remember that. On days that you feel upset or lonely or worried or angry, remember that you are so important. Remember what we learned together this year:

All our vowels are in blue -- a, e, i, o, u / Hidden Pond / Benjamin Franklin / buyers and sellers / north, east, south, west / doubles / Columbus Day / evergreen and deciduous trees / Chicken Soup with Rice / roots, stems, leaves, and seeds / beginning, middle and end / using exciting words / punctuation / The Chicken Dance / ways to make 10 (8+2 and more!) / Raise the Roof / Reston Zoo / Field Day / the Bald Eagle / Family Night

Remember [our names]. Remember [our names].

You have all learned so much this year and I am so proud of you. Please come and visit next year. I will miss you.

With so much love,
Ms. L

Now that the school year is over, I keep finding half-written posts that I wanted to put here. Over the next few weeks, I'll pull them back out and try to edit them into readable format and put them here for my own reference.

Apparently my thoughts about teaching never seem to wane. ♥