One of the very best things about my job is reading what my students write. No matter what, I always make the time to read everything they write. Even if I have to weed through and “round file” other assignments (hey, there really are only so many hours in a day), I always read every writing center assignment, every journal entry…every single word of every single thing they write. And I am always well rewarded.
We have recently taken on the challenge of writing friendly letters. We start by writing them to each other (the students pick a stick and write a letter to whoever’s stick they pick…this way they are forced to write to someone other than their BFF and it’s an easy way for me to make sure that everyone gets a letter).
Here are some sentences from our first couple of attempts that made me laugh out loud. I hope that you, too, get a good chuckle out of them.
“I think you are a good friend because you sometimes make me laugh.”
“You know your prayers at church.”
“The special thing about you is that you share!”
“You are asoum at the computer lab.”
“This morning I had fun playing with you even tho is wasint really a game.”
“You have a very good maner.”
“I noticed that you are fabulous at playing around the world.”
“What kind of work do you do at home?”
“You are good at howling.”
“You are a silent person.”
“You have sellf cuncherill.” (self control)
“You list in to the teacher.” (listen)
“You know me very well.”
“You are my 1st best friend. I’ll be playing with you every 3rd recess from now on.”
“You always let me play with you sometimes.”
“You are really fast at running.”
“You are beautiful, sweet, and sometimes funny.”
“You are a trific friend.”
“I like your righting.”
“I like your smile.”
“You are butiful.”
Teaching the kids the art of letter writing made me nostalgic for all the letters my friends and I wrote to each other back in high school. It kind of makes me sad for this generation of kids. I mean, you can’t sit on the floor surrounded by a heap of emails and texts, can you? There’s something comforting about that box that's in my garage…that box that’s full of memories…memories tucked securely into the folds of notebook paper…memories that are ready to be relived at a moment's notice. Like magic, I can simply unfold a piece of paper and a lifetime ago returns in an instant. In a way, those letters give weight to my existence…they are proof of my life when I was just me. See kids? I really was young once. See kids? I really was your age once. Yes, it was a long time ago, but it really did happen, the proof is right there...on paper, which will stand the test of time.
The art of letter writing seems to of got lost. The "leash" .....the cell phone, has taken over. Thank goodness for teachers like you!
ReplyDeleteThank you! And you are right, totally lost. My aunt and grandmother used to write me the best letters ever. You are also right about the cell phone being a leash...what a great analogy.
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