What I am most proud of last year was ... my students.

 

Last year, we did an assignment that had my students writing back and forth to some very wonderful "People of Wisdom" (PoW). Through these writings they were learning about what life was like for those PoW's growing up.  My students were learning so many things, yet often, I had to explain what the PoW's were talking about. For instance, one of my students could not understand that a phone used to be attached to the wall.  Funny as it was then, it showed my students how much the times have changed.  The individual stories these wonderful people shared with my students was beyond anything I could have possibly imagined.  Stories about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and then how all the Japanese people were collected, and sent to Internment Camps, was something my students had trouble imagining.  The chores that were expected to be done in comparison to the chores my students do at home today were a real eye-opener.  When the "People of Wisdom" showed up in my classroom for the student's presentations my mind was blown away at the kindness and grace my students displayed.  They were fixing plates of treats, retrieving drinks, or just sitting and chatting one to one. It was so much more than I ever expected.  

 

Side-note: The student included in the picture above, David A., was killed April 6, 2020 - I am truly grateful that I had the opportunity to witness his interaction with his 'Person'.  It will be a memory that I hold dear.