During the past week, teachers heard many thank yous from administrators, corporations, and faceless memes. Teachers have been pampered with chocolate bars, school supplies, lunches, and relief of recess duties. It is, however the personal messages from parents and students that mean the most to us.
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The messages received this week can be simple and concise, but they can also contain deeper meanings when you know who wrote them:
Thank you for all your hard work with [my son] this year! You rock!
Thank you for always being patient and forgiving. You are so encouraging and willing to help.
I love your sence of humor. I love hearing your storys, you tell them in a way that evan the most boring storys are still interesting.
Once a Hoggatteer...always a Hoggatteer.
Our fifth graders shared some reasons why they loved being in my class in the fourth grade (Unfortunately, writing in the past tense almost sounds l more like a eulogy.). I found something interesting about every one of their papers. Here are some snippets from their writing:
He made my life better when he helped me...He helped me when I got stuck on something. He was a good person but when he was mad he was mad. He tryed to teach me alot. | [H]e is a kind and loving teacher...[H]e likes to do projects instead of just doing papers. He made an impact in my life by teaching me that just because you make a wrong does not mean you cannot make a right. |
[H]e was really funny kind, and nice. He taught a lot of history and I like history. And he cared about my classmates and I...[H]e taught me to never give up. | [H]e was the funnest teacher ever. He was also kinder than my little brother. He also taught me more history than can seach up on google. |
[H]e was probably the most funniest teacher I have ever had. He never gave up on me and kept on pushing me to succeed...He also created really fun games...He made an impact on my life because we used to watch these videos and then talk about them afterwards, now I stop to think about what's going on in other people's lives before I whine about mine. | [H]e treated his students like family. Another reason is he is sarcastic like myself and he has a lot of self humour...he reminds me a lot of myself. One more reason is that he always holds me accountable for my actions. He made an impact in my life by showing me I can be a better person. |
[H]e helped us with getting better at fractions. Also he taught us a lot of history.
he is very incouraging,...because he made me want to learn more about black history.
[H]e was a cool teacher. And I liked that he taught us lot's of history and he did lot's of cool stuff with us and he taught us how to greet people. | [H]e was all ways nice to us unless we where not respectful. He helped me learn our past history. He was also funny during the whole school year. |
[H]e makes it fun to learn. He is nice as long as you are on his good side. He is a little strick but thats OK. | In my opinion, Mr. Hoggatt was the best teacher I ever had. |
He is respect full. he is Awsome. and he is my favorit.
Can you tell what kind of teacher I am from these writings? They certainly help me to reflect on my teaching abilities and the things that make me who I am. Have I projected my values well? Have I made a difference? That's not for me to say...but it's nice to hear some of the specifics from the people who may know.
